An Emerging Power? The Council on Foreign Relations recently published an interesting memorandum titled “Renewed Violence in Iraq.” The contingency report, authored by Douglas Ollivant of the New America Foundation, offers suggestions as to how the U.S. can help the Iraqi government cope with myriad internal security threats. Ollivant begins by identifying the major social/national fault […]
Last week, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak visited a group of rocks that feebly boasts only two occupants. And yet, this visit prompted a rising in tensions between the two Northeast Asian economic powers that turned heads worldwide. What is it about these rocks that is so important and why are U.S. experts calling the […]
First Take by Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) offers analyses by CFR fellows and experts on key foreign policy issues. The latest issue of First Take, “Syria: Beyond the UN Veto” is by Richard Haas, President of CFR. Mr. Haas suggests that the United States and other like-minded governments should not equate the United Nations with multilateralism nor should […]
Last month Steven Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations published an excellent summary of the ongoing investigations in Turkey and how they continue to roil the politics of that country. “The Weakening of Turkey’s Military” is available here. Those interested in the topic should also take a look at Soli Ozel’s blog at World […]
Likely a further sign of his government’s economic woes, President Hugo Chávez’s administration is offering oil contracts to foreign companies. The response to the bidding for concessions was not as strong as it has been in the past, as many companies have been burned by Chávez’s expropriation of assets. Still, Chevron and Repsol (of Spain) […]
For those who missed last week’s Foreign Policy Association event featuring Julia Sweig (in which she drew on her recently published book, “Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know”), check out the full footage from the event here.
Steven Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations has released an excellent report on “Political Instability in Egypt,” through the Center for Preventive Action. The report begins by noting US policymakers’ bias toward assuming that Egypt “will muddle through its myriad challenges and endure indefinitely.” As anyone who has ever tried to study revolutions knows, it […]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is off to India to talk of many things, not the least of which is climate change. In a session at the Council on Foreign Relations earlier in the week, she said “We know that India and China have understandable questions about what role they should be expected to play […]
Today’s New York Times featured two contrasting views of how the US should fight the Afghan insurgency and prevent international terrorism from breeding in the region. Leslie Gelb, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, while asserting that defeating the Taliban threat is ‘not achievable’, argues for a steady military drawback from the conflict, […]