Recent headlines underline China’s burgeoning military power. Last week, both China and the United States sought to reduce tensions over a sea dispute and increase future talks to limit military confrontation. This month, Beijing announced that the country’s defense budget will rise by 15 percent in 2009. Is China the next military superpower? Every year, […]
Last week, we discussed soft power in Asia. The Center for Strategic and International Studies recently published a report on China’s soft power and the implications for the United States. The authors highlight China’s projection of soft power – through investment, humanitarian aid, exchange programs, diplomacy and participation in multilateral institutions – in Africa, the […]
With this post, I launch a discussion of two issues in American foreign policy relevant to the Rising Powers blog. The first issue deals with two extremes that have driven foreign policy formulation since the early 20th century – Wilsonian idealism and assertive interventionism. In today’s post, I open this topic by suggesting an approach […]
Two “under-the-radar” stories for rising powers took place this weekend. 1.) (this one is more prominent) Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited the White House on Saturday. The visit was amicable and jovial at times and is a good omen for positive US-Brazil relations. 2.) (not in the headlines) China and Iran signed […]
The Center for New American Security released a report on the importance of the Asia-Pacific region to the United States. Despite Asia-Pacific’s growing political and economic weight, China’s rise, the fear of nuclear proliferation and the need for multilateral cooperation to solve the world’s ills, the US has “often been focused elsewhere” over the past […]
In moves characterizing the country’s resurgence, Russia continues to regain and assert influence over its neighbors and in America’s backyard. First in Russia’s “near abroad,” both Central Asia and the Caucasus are considered by Moscow to be within its sphere of influence. Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev decided to close the United States air base in […]
Today Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao expressed his worry about the security of Chinese investments in American debt. The US has taken hard hits from the global financial crisis and Beijing is naturally worried. Wen said: “To be honest, I am a little bit worried and I would like to … call on the United States […]
Gaffes by the United States in dealing with the world’s rising powers seem to be happening frequently. Joshua Keating writes an entertaining post in Foreign Policy Passport about rescheduling Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s meeting at the White House, misspelling his name and giving DVDs as a gift to British Prime Minister Gordon […]
Over 40 years after Charles de Gaulle tossed NATO and United States forces out of France and withdrew from NATO’s military command, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced France’s intentions to become a full member of the alliance. In a speech on Wednesday, Sarkozy remarked that times have changed since de Gaulle’s decision and it was now […]
How long are they? His coattails, that is. He’s at 84% approval, largely due to the perception that Brazil is doing better than most in this global financial crisis, and it is. His pick for his successor is his chief of staff, Dilma Rousseff, a stalwart in the PT (Lula’s leftist Workers Party), who […]
My colleague David Kampf in his posting today, draws our attention to the current Economic Cooperation Organization summit in Tehran in which Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad predicts the collapse of capitalism. Scary, right? It is another firebrand speech from an energetic leader of a rising regional power with a productive nuclear program and a lot […]
If the end of the Cold War marked the defeat of communism and the rise of the United States as the world’s dominant power, can the financial crisis and end of US hegemony signal the defeat of liberal democracy and capitalism? No, but Iran’s president seems to think so. In a speech to regional leaders […]
When assessing the world’s rising powers, we often focus on the most evident forms of strength – military, economic and diplomatic. But, does a country’s soft power impact the global balance of power? The term soft power was coined by Joseph S. Nye Jr., a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School (and rumored new United […]
This blog mostly has discussed the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China) as the main rising powers of the world. One often overlooked rising power is Turkey. Turkey has been an important bridge between the East and West for centuries (as the modern Turkish state and previous national and imperial incarnations). In the 21st century, […]
It will be difficult to “reset” relations between the former Cold War foes if the United States and Russia can’t communicate. In an effort to jokingly symbolize a fresh start, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a fake reset button as a gift to her Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a meeting […]