For those interested in the growing U.S.-China rivalry in the South China Sea, a very good read here. It opens thusly: The nations of Southeast Asia are building up their militaries, buying submarines and jet fighters at a record pace and are edging closer strategically to the United States as a hedge against China’s rise […]
For those looking for an update on the status of the Obama Administration’s Missile Shield plan, the Washington Post had a great one yesterday. Some highlights: The program will ultimately be a combination approach that will notably include Aegis-Class U.S. Navy ships and an effort to upgrade and link the missile defense systems of allied […]
The United States and South Korea have planned joint exercises in the waters off the Korean Peninsula. The move is in response to the sinking of a South Korean navy vessel named the Cheonan, which is believed to have been sunk by a North Korean attack. While the North Koreans are criticizing the move as […]
In spite of President Obama’s popularity in Europe, there is a relatively wide gap between the U.S. and Europe on several of the issues tackled at the recent G20 meeting held in Toronto on June 26-27. This phenomenon creates an opportunity for countries to attempt to bridge the divide between the two sides – a […]
The oil disaster in the Gulf has revived the Obama Administration’s interest in promoting its green technology agenda. President Obama used the occasion of his recent Oval Office address to restate his view that the U.S. is falling behind China in the race to become the world’s green technology hub, with the implication that legions […]
I recently authored a post regarding the crisis in Kyrgyzstan, and it has come to my attention that the piece could be interpreted somewhat differently than I intended. A clarification is in order. What I was trying to suggest was that U.S. intervention would have been pretty much out of the question no matter who […]
With the beginning of the 2010 World Cup last Thursday in Johannesburg, a large amount of attention has been focused on the quadrennial tournament, which is being hosted on the African continent for the first time since the tournament’s founding in 1930. However, there have been some other stories relating to Africa and U.S. foreign […]
Things are very bad in Kyrgyzstan right now. The Central Asian republic recently underwent a dramatic political upheaval that resulted in the replacement of a sitting government for the second time in five years, and it is now experiencing violent ethnic riots targeting Kyrgyzstan’s Uzbek population. The riots have spiraled out of control to the […]
The recent Flotilla Affair has sparked a round of reflection regarding Turkey’s role in the Middle East and the wider Muslim world. The questions being raised suggest that the U.S.-Turkey relationship is in a state of transition as the logic that cemented the alliance during the Cold War gives way to a variety of changing […]
Multilateralism has been a key feature of Barack Obama’s foreign policy vision since he first entered the political arena. The recent National Security Strategy correctly characterizes NATO as “the pre-eminent security alliance in the world today”, and in order to maintain this designation, the Obama Administration states its intention to use NATO’s Strategic Concept Review […]
This past weekend, President Obama delivered the commencement address to West Point’s graduating class of 2010. In it, he stressed to the cadets the importance of diplomatic engagement in addition to military might as part of U.S. national security, saying, “America’s armed forces are adapting to changing times, but your efforts have to be complemented. […]
Interesting commentary by the Atlantic Council’s James Joyner on what the UK election results will mean for the Anglo-American “Special Relationship” here. Joyner believes the abundance of common interests in the U.S.-UK relationship will ultimately prevent it from fraying too much, and history suggests that he is right. In addition to those interests, the “Special […]
Last week, Senator Joseph Lieberman (I – Conn) introduced the “Terrorist Expatriation Act” – legislation that would allow the State Department to revoke the citizenship of Americans who provide support to a foreign terrorist organization. Yesterday morning, Attorney General Eric Holder and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani discussed last week’s attempted terrorist attack in Times Square […]
On April 27, a little-noticed hearing took place on Capitol Hill regarding an important and controversial issue that has been a sore spot in U.S.-Russian relations for some time: the status of the historic Jackson-Vanik Amendment. Not only is this issue worth examining for its effect on the Obama Administration’s “Russian Reset” agenda, it is […]
The 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons begins in New York today. All of the statements given will be published on the official website. Iran’s President Ahmadinejad was notably not invited to President Obama’s Nuclear Security Summit last month, but he will be attending this conference, […]