6. Six countries chose not to participate in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s ongoing military exercises in Georgia. Largely to appease Russia, Armenia, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Moldova and Serbia withdrew from the “war games.” Stratfor notes that “while most of these countries either hold strong political ties to Russia or are wary of angering Moscow […]
Despite Russian objections to “meddling” in its sphere of influence, the European Union launched an “eastern partnership” with six former Soviet republics – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – at a summit yesterday in Prague. The plan is designed to extend political and economic ties and promote democratic reforms. Notably, leaders from Britain, […]
So, where does our moralistic support of national self-determination of peoples begin and end? The Abkhaz and South Ossetians? The Chechens? The Basques of Spain and France? The Kosovar Albanians? The Palestinians? The Tibetans and Taiwanese? The Kurds, the Armenians, the Azeris? The Sunni of Iraq? The residents of Darfur and of southern Sudan? Kashmiri Muslims under Indian rule? Tamils in Sri Lanka? German speakers in the Italian Sud Tirol?
The current issue of the Economist highlights the changing balance of economic power in Europe. European powers have been unevenly impacted by the global financial crisis. The article argues that a “new European pecking order has emerged, with statist France on top, corporatist Germany in the middle and poor old liberal Britain floored.” While the […]
Check out this article (thanks to Robert Nolan for sending it along) about Goldman Sachs’ latest report on the shift of global economic power towards the East.
This week saw another confrontation between the US and China over Beijing’s growing naval power and what appears to be Washington’s attempts to retain control of the dominance to which it has grown accustomed in the East and South China Seas. On Sunday 2 Chinese fishing vessels reportedly “harassed” an American surveillance ship in the […]
NATO should focus on what really matters to Western interests over the coming half-century: arresting the proliferation of WMD; stopping Iran from acquiring the above; anchoring the Great and Rising Powers (including Russia and China) into Western institutions in order to more effectively resolve regional conflicts and other global problems; and, gently pushing human development in the direction of Fukuyama’s End of History.
It is legitimate in foreign affairs to employ both the carrot and the stick. Both policies can secure a nation’s interests; the trick (and difficulty) is to employ the strategy a given situation warrants. In spite of partisan name-calling, whereby stick-wielders are called warmongers and carrot-salesmen weak, all Great Powers, all statesmen (and women), must […]
Yesterday I wrote about US Secretary of State Clinton’s statements from last week explaining her concern that China, Russia and Iran are seeking to gain influence in Latin America. One example of Iran’s growing clout in the region was this week’s planned trip by President Ahmadinejad to Brazil and other nations in the region. It […]
Al Jazeera has published a “breaking news” report about the evangelical Christians serving in the U.S. military in Afghanistan. Of course – as Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said, the U.S. Army is not intentionally involved in “promoting religion.” On the other hand, and as the media is now […]
Democracies with weak and/or fragmented party systems seem to produce sub-optimal public policies, including heavy government debt burdens. From Israel to India, Italy to Japan, Brazil to Belgium, governing coalitions held together by paying off key constituencies have yielded chronic deficits and high debt. By contrast, countries with a small number of strong political parties […]
Obama’s appearance at the 5th Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago 2 weeks ago was largely viewed as a diplomatic coup. There, the American President reassured his neighbors to the south that the US wants to work as a productive “partner”. No discussion was brought up concerning China’s business ventures in Ecuador, Venezuela, […]
Thomas Wright, an expert on international relations, says the “great dramas of the 21st century will play out in Asia rather than Europe.” Mr. Wright is the executive director of studies at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and previously served as the senior researcher for the Princeton Project on National Security. I interviewed Mr. […]
“I’m confident in the future but I’m not content with the present,” said President Barack Obama on his 100th day in office. Two public events were organized to mark the “Hallmark holiday” and Obama emphasized that the administration is “off to a good start, but it is just a start.” When Obama was elected President […]
Swine flu is all the rage in the press these days it seems. And Mexico is suffering. The entire country has been placed under a virtual economic shut down as public assemblies have been banned and many open areas quarantined. Exports are now looked at with caution and US trade is likely to decline significantly. […]