Premature Adulation in Sudan
On July 9th diplomats celebrated the birth of Africa’s newest country, South Sudan, like over-stimulated toddlers at a party. The media followed suit, with trivial and sometimes patronising stories about the new national anthem and flag, and the admittedly strange plan to create cities in the shapes of African animals. Sadly, those involved should have focused on the agenda items they failed to address before sending out the independence day invitations.
The Foreign Policy Impact of Privatized Intelligence
America is the only industrialized power that does not use its state intelligence apparatus to steal commercially valuable information on behalf of its domestic companies. What is happening today is that many US based firms are awakening to the advantages that their overseas rivals have gained from intelligence and adopting these practices themselves to fight back.
The Politics of Famine in the Horn of Africa
It is time the U.S. and other governments took a more nuanced approach to politics in the Horn of Africa and followed the lead of international aid agencies on the ground in dealing with local leaders and communities, rather than seeking to impose a top-down central government. The solution to famine in East Africa lies in employment-generating development. It will not offer an instant fix, but it’s a start.
THE TEA PARTY SAVES DEFENSE
The intransigence of the Tea Party Republicans during the recent US debt ceiling negotiations has apparently saved the US defense budget from deep cuts that had seemed almost certain a month ago. The negotiations pushed a full agreement onto a special legislative committee which is to report in the fall.
EU foreign policy after Lisbon: what role for small state diplomacy?
While Lisbon may narrow the material differences between small and large states in terms of involvement, it is likely to sustain the differences between states in terms of influence. A strengthened global EU presence will primarily favor the large states given their more extended capacities to cope with the EU’s expanding role in matters of foreign policy.
Greed and Democracy
When making sense of the weird things currently happening in the northern hemisphere, such as the London riots, one trend should not escape our notice: a deepening crisis caused by bankers’ greed is beginning to rip the guts out of democracy. Four years into the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression, governments of vital parts of the capitalist world are running on empty.
Transatlantic Relations: A Case for Optimism
In the coming weeks as the Libya drama comes to a climax and as the debate on Afghanistan sharpens on what happens next, the European nations will have to make a decision on what kind of transatlantic relationship they want, or need, or value. The option of grumbling dependency is over, an era of shared responsibility and mutual contribution is about to dawn.
Sino/Russian Relations: The Challenge of Military Contacts as China “Rises”
The recent visit of the Chief of the Chinese Army’s General Staff Chen Bingde to Russia underscored the two states willingness to maintain their military contacts despite Russia’s fears of the rapidly growing power of its Eastern neighbor. Both nations wish to preserve trust amidst competing interests. Suspicions on the Russian side will not go away and pose challenges to closer security ties.
Diplomacy in the South China Sea
Washington’s emphasis on multilateral diplomacy underlines the point that ASEAN as a whole as well as other states have significant interests in the Sea that go beyond the territorial disputes between five states and China.
Greater Sino-American cooperation needed in Afghanistan
Considering China’s unease with a large foreign military presence on its borders, one would expect the U.S. drawdown of military forces in Afghanistan to be welcomed in Beijing and result in greater U.S.-China cooperation on Afghanistan. However, the U.S. and China have different goals and timetables regarding this conflict, which pose challenges to their bilateral relationship.
