Will the twenty first century see a positive transformation of India-Pakistan relations? Over the past nine years, the question has elicited several optimistic answers. Alas, all but one of them are based on assumptions that are not only defective but downright dangerous.
My search for truth in Burma began in a sleepy embassy in Vientiane, Laos, where I sat sweating on a patent leather sofa in a crumpled silk shirt and tie, pulling phony business cards from my wallet and lying through my teeth. It was two months after the monk-led anti-government uprisings of last September, and I had already been rejected a tourist visa twice in Hong Kong and Bangkok. I decided to hit the diplomatic backwaters with a different tack.
The study of political terrorism is one of the fastest growing areas of academic research in the English-speaking world, producing thousands of publications annually, as well as new study programmes, research projects, PhD theses, research institutes, think-tanks, conferences, seminars, and other academic activities. It was the events of 11 September 2001 that really galvanised the contemporary study of political terrorism and animated a whole new generation of scholars. However, as with any new field of research, it faces a number of problems and challenges.
Despite the common claim that China can’t be moved by international pressure from human rights or advocacy groups, the campaign to link genocide in Darfur to Beijing’s hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games has thoroughly belied this notion. It is a campaign which must not give way to political expediency.
I believe in appreciating the EU for what it is: a uniquely well developed form of interstate cooperation focussed around a single market. Yet Europe could be made to suit us still better. Rather than playing on people’s fears of a power hungry EU that is the stuff of fiction, let us begin this task.
Although a downturn in the economy has taken some attention away from the Iraq war in the US, very soon a period of reflection will begin. The war continues, but after 5 years and over 4000 deaths it is apparent to everyone except Vice-President Dick Cheney that the US will begin to pull its troops out in the next administration, especially if one of the democrats wins the presidential race. Even now, political struggles to shape the “the lessons of Iraq” have begun.
The question about what the international community should demand from Tehran may seem inappropriate in light of last autumn’s NIE. ‘Why should we demand anything at all?’ one may ask. Perhaps from now on suspicions should be erased and Iran should enjoy its “inalienable rights” to conduct unlimited enrichment on its soil. This is simply not the case.
On May 27, John McCain took what appeared to be a strong stand in favor of nuclear arms control and disarmament. He argued that “it is our responsibility to build” a world in which there are “far fewer” nuclear weapons “than there are today.” Therefore, he said, “the time has come to take further measures to reduce dramatically the number of nuclear weapons in the world’s arsenals.”
The presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy has certainly brought a change in the style of French foreign policy, but has it altered the substance? The answer, I will argue, is a qualified yes, not least because it is characteristic of the new French president to blend style and substance until the two become indistinguishable.
According to a widely-accepted myth, NATO’s military intervention over Kosovo, bear-led by the US and UK, was a grand success. This misperception helped to encourage the blundering attack on Iraq four years later, and may yet lead to further blunders over Iran. So it’s important to learn the true lessons of the Kosovo events if mistakes made then are not to be repeated yet again.
Before you download your free e-book, please consider donating to support open access publishing.
E-IR is an independent non-profit publisher run by an all volunteer team. Your donations allow us to invest in new open access titles and pay our bandwidth bills to ensure we keep our existing titles free to view. Any amount, in any currency, is appreciated. Many thanks!
Donations are voluntary and not required to download the e-book - your link to download is below.
