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. […]
To mark the 60th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army Navy, China paraded its naval fleet in the northern port city of Qingdao last week. China flaunted its ambitions as a global power by displaying nuclear submarines, destroyers, an amphibious-assault ship and fighter bombers. To allay fears of China’s burgeoning military might, the official theme […]
Despite opposition from top military generals, Russia is moving ahead with an overhaul of the country’s armed forces. 35,000 officers will be fired in 2009 to streamline the military. The shrinking numbers are part of Russia’s wider military reforms and modernization. Moscow wants to trim the force below one million by 2012 (the Soviet Army […]
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute released a report today detailing the global arms trade. The United States, Russia, Germany, France and the United Kingdom are the five biggest suppliers of major conventional weapons. The US and Russia account for over half of all exports. Two rising powers – China and India – are the […]
Scoreboard on Central Asian energy: Russia: 0 Europe: +2 Turkmenistan: +10 Euraisanet reported on Friday that Russia maintained a huge loss to its energy portfolio at a recent two-day energy security conference in Ashgabad, Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan, a very energy rich Central Asian dictatorship and former Soviet republic, is undoubtedly close to Moscow for historic reasons. […]
South Africa’s governing party, the African National Congress, romped to victory in the country’s national and local elections. (With over half of the votes counted, it remains unclear if the ANC will reach the two-thirds majority needed to change the constitution.) The ANC’s win paves the way for Jacob Zuma to assume the presidency. Some […]
23. In a symbol of China’s growing influence around the world (albeit a small and indirect sign), only 23 countries maintain formal relations with Taiwan. Beijing contends that there is “one China” and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. Through political power and pocketbook diplomacy, Beijing pressures the international community to disavow Taiwan’s statehood […]
Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, C. Fred Bergsten and others are pushing for the United States and China to jointly tackle issues of global concern. The thinking goes that the so-called G2 partnership is central and the relationship should be strengthened. In the current issue of Foreign Affairs, Elizabeth C. Economy and Adam Segal, both senior […]
Central Asia has taken center stage this week in series of military maneuveres and developments. In a broad way, these developments can be seen as evidence of larger posturing between Russia (and to a lesser extent, China) on one hand and NATO and the US on the other. First, on Saturday, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan […]
In order to demonstrate the country’s responsible and “peaceful rise” and protect its interests abroad, China has increased its participation in United Nations peacekeeping efforts. Last week, the International Crisis Group released a report detailing China’s growing role in UN peacekeeping. “China now has over 2,000 peacekeepers serving in ten UN peacekeeping operations, making it […]
The Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad included the much-publicized American initiative to open up to Cuba. President Obama continued to present his new, more acceptable face of America, put forth with grace since his inauguration in January. He even unleashed his charm offensive against Venezuela’s irascible and mercurial Hugo Chavez, joking and smiling with him […]
This weekend US President Barack Obama was the center of attention at the 5th Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Obama even eclipsed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s entrance with, according to the Associated Press, “thundering applause and a few whoops” from the heads of state at the summit. Reviews of […]