Been spending the holidays with my 83 years young Mom so have been over eating and not blogging. I’m on my net notebook and still have not figured out how to do spell check! Sorry. Here are my thoughts on 2010. Overview 2010 saw Afghanistan become the top defense issue as the US and NATO […]
In the Rising Powers Year in Review this week, we cited North Korean aggression as the most unexpected development of 2010 and China’s tightrope walk over the issue as a key dynamic to watch in 2011. China is at once the nuclear rogue’s chief benefactor and a rising power with global responsibilities; hence the high wire act. An interesting NYTimes […]
In the Rising Powers Year in Review, we highlighted North Korea’s heightened belligerence and the advanced state of its uranium enrichment as 2010’s most unexpected developments. Today, the NYTimes reports that the North appears to be threatening to use nuclear weapons and the South continues its military exercises. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who has […]
The Senate’s ratification today of the New Start treaty comes as an immense relief, not mainly because of considerations directly associated with nuclear arms control or with U.S.-Russian relations, but because of what defeat would have said about the state of U.S. politics. So trivial and senseless were the objections advanced by Republican critics of […]
Renowned Iranian filmmaker receives harsh prison sentence and banned from making films for the next twenty years. The oppression of Iranian activists in all shapes and sizes continues. Jafar Panahi, whose passionate speech in court was reproduced in a previous blog post, is one of the latest opponents of President Ahmadinejad’s government to be firmly […]
I’ll be on holiday break until after the new year. In the meantime, the WWI Christmas truce story never fails to get me in the holiday spirit. Perhaps it will do the same for you. Click here to give it a listen. Until next year…
Overview 2010 is nearly gone, so what’s in store for the world’s rising powers and their status quo partners? 2011 threatens to be a year of discord. Keep an eye on two fronts: economic policy and geopolitics. Will the great and the good continue to coordinate policies to improve the functioning of the global economy […]
An interesting debate has begun over at Foregin Policy. Last Tuesday, Israel’s vice premier and minister of strategic affairs Moshe Ya’alon wrote a provactive article that blames Palestinians for stalling the peace process. He writes that Palestinians, “instead of concluding a deal with Israel…have demonstrated a total unwillingness to compromise, often favoring terrorism, as witnessed […]
As Martin Luther King Jr. said, the arc of history is long, but in terms of international relations, it remains unclear to which direction it bends. A continuation of the nation-state system? A move toward world government? A hybrid of the two? In 2010, we’ve seen movement. But toward what? The International Criminal Court (ICC) […]
The Economic Commission for Latin America Monday said it expects GDP growth to slow in the region to 4.2% from 6% this year. This forecast makes sense. A slowdown will be driven by tighter macro policies across the region that seek to stem inflationary pressures, as well as slower growth in the advanced economies and China, limiting demand for […]
Japan’s new National Defense Program Guidelines “will shape Japan’s defence policy for the next 10 years.” A BBC article today outlines the crux of Japan’s most compelling strategic document: Defences will be scaled down in the north, where they have been deployed since the Cold War to counter potential threats from the former Soviet Union. […]
Been a busy week on the Afghanistan issue. Earlier this week, the press was filled with reports of the release of two new National Intelligence Estimates (NIE), one on Afghanistan and the second on Pakistan. Yesterday, the White House released the Afghanistan and Pakistan review. I’ll address the NIE’s first. Classified Intelligence Reports Leaked […]
A few months ago, over at the FPA Arms Control and Proliferation blog, William Sweet, Roger Scher, and I discussed the role Israel’s nuclear program plays in creating regional instability. In particular, Roger wrote, “the acquisition of nuclear weapons in the ME is not driven by Israel, but rather, by other factors…” Today, courtesy of […]
Sunday’s Wall Street Journal reports on Japan’s predicated intention to revise its maritime defense posture to address threats in the oceans South and West of the nation: The shift will be the central theme of Tokyo’s new National Defense Program Guidelines, which will set the defense-policy framework for the next decade and replace ones adopted […]
The fact that government outrage continues to provide the international media with grist for its insatiable mill is one of the great ironies in this scenario: perturbed at the site’s revelation of embarrassing diplomatic discussions and fumblings–tales only mildly interesting to the average reader–government officials are now in the process of creating a better, and far more spectacular story over First Amendment rights and the ‘treasonable’ activities of a Dutch citizen accused of committing “sex by surprise” (in Sweden?).
Even worse, the official call from some quarters for draconian regulation of the internet has given Russia (which suggests nominating Assange for the Nobel Peace Prize) and China, a human-rights violator of mammoth proportion, opportunities to ‘prove’ to an already hostile world that when Washington suddenly finds itself looking out through wall-to-wall glass, this nation of stone-throwers is no better than anyplace else.