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20 Nov 2009
The National Security Staff is consumed with day-to-day priorities, and without comprehensive strategies for the medium- and long-term timeframe in place, planning and budgeting inevitably lack coordination and coherence. Overcoming these problems requires establishing an improved mechanism
for developing and issuing guidance to the U.S. national security
community.
By Chris Bronk
13 Aug 2009 |
World Politics Review
For more than a decade, the vulnerability to networked computer systems has been considered, with worst-case scenarios running from "Electronic Pearl Harbor" to "Cyber Katrina." Preliminary moves for defending the country's computer networks have been made, but policymaking interest may outpace technical reality. We still seem to be a long way from a cohesive game plan for cyber security.
By Seth Andre Myers
13 Aug 2009 |
World Politics Review
Eighteen years of failed statehood suggest that it is time for the United States and its allies to fundamentally reassess their policy towards Somalia. In its approach to Somalia, the West has been thinking inside of a nonexistent box --
Somalia as it is represented on the map is no longer a viable entity, having instead fractured into three separate statelets representing the full spectrum of stability.
By Innocent Madawo
12 Aug 2009 |
World Politics Review
TORONTO -- Canada is regarded as a refugee's paradise. Indeed, the federal
government rarely misses an opportunity to tout the country's ever
increasing immigrant population, a significant number of which are supposed to be refugees. But the Stephen Harper administration inherited a short-staffed immigration and refugee system. And instead of improving it, the Conservative government seems to be on an all out campaign to limit the influx of refugees.
By Natalie Parke
10 Aug 2009 |
World Politics Review
After eighteen years of meddling in Somalia's affairs, we have yet to find the solution to the country's problems. Last Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with the president of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and promised to expand U.S. support. This perpetuates a long history of unsuccessful meddling in the affairs of Somalia, from Black Hawk Down to air strikes against al-Qaida suspects.
By Mark Oltmanns
10 Aug 2009 |
WPR Video
Thailand's southern insurgency has become
more violent of late, but Thai officials say the escalation is in
response to the government's increasingly effective counterinsurgency
strategy. Mark Oltmanns reports for WPR.
By David Kampf
06 Aug 2009 |
World Politics Review
On the heels of President Barack Obama's trip to Ghana last month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Africa this week on an 11-day, seven-nation tour. Compared to other U.S. administrations, this is the earliest point that
both the president and secretary of state have visited the continent. Does
this signal a change in America's policy? Is Africa now a strategic
priority for the United States? Not yet.
By Sahiba Trivedi
05 Aug 2009 |
World Politics Review
Driven by food security concerns, governments around the world have begun purchasing land in developing nations for agricultural purposes. Although this practice is not a new phenomenon, the food crisis of the
last few years and growing water scarcity has accelerated the trend. And what might appear to be a win-win situation for
both countries involved, upon deeper analysis, reveals something totally
different.
By Benjamin Katcher
30 Jul 2009 |
World Politics Review
The release last week of a European Commission report highly critical
of Bulgaria's and Romania's anti-corruption efforts serves as a reminder that both Brussels and Ankara
should exercise patience while negotiating Turkey's EU bid.
The Bulgarian and Romanian cases demonstrate that both Europe and its
potential members are best served by an exhaustive, deliberate
accession process.
By Johan Bergenäs
30 Jul 2009 |
World Politics Review
President Barack Obama's lofty pursuit of a world without nuclear weapons is off to a peculiar start. But the main reasons are not Kim Jong Il's nuclear saber-rattling on the Korean peninsula or the centrifuges continuing to spin in Iran, but rather the failure of the disarmament community to engage youth movements as an antidote to the cynicism that permeates the entire debate.
By Alan W. Dowd
29 Jul 2009 |
World Politics Review
NATO officially launched the process of revamping its Strategic Concept this month, 10 years after the last one was approved in 1999. As of now, the alliance's next mission statement is "a blank sheet of paper," in the words of outgoing Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. But NATO's recent pronouncements and current challenges offer plenty of guidance on how to fill the page.
By Marvin G. Weinbaum
23 Jul 2009 |
World Politics Review
The U.S. has not ruled out the possibility of military strikes to induce Iran to abandon its presumed goal of acquiring nuclear weapons, should diplomacy and sanctions fail. And a more recalcitrant post-election Iranian regime may make military action seem more impelling. Such a course, though, would unwittingly hand Iran an important strategic victory, and should be explicitly taken off the table.
By David Kampf
21 Jul 2009 |
World Politics Review
Has Washington forgotten about India? With U.S. attention centered on developing a partnership with China, stabilizing Afghanistan and Pakistan, re-engaging Russia, and containing Iran and North Korea, it's unclear whether India will be a strategic priority for the Obama administration. But given the two countries' common interests, serious engagement is necessary.
By Joshua Foust
17 Jul 2009 |
World Politics Review
The cliché that you must "protect the population" in order to win a
counterinsurgency has now become entrenched in conventional wisdom. This is especially so of the war in Afghanistan, where civilian casualties have become a deeply polarizing issue. But protecting the population requires knowing where it lives. Here, the Army's conventional wisdom fails.
By Michelle Sieff
16 Jul 2009 |
World Politics Review
President Barack Obama's speech before Ghana's Parliament on July 11
marked his fourth major discourse on international affairs since taking
office. Just as he did in Cairo little more than a month ago, Obama outlined
his vision of a region of the world and America's role in it. But although Obama's speech was enthusiastically received across the continent, his message was not new.
By Ranj Alaaldin and Elizabeth Iskander
02 Jul 2009 |
World Politics Review
Although Mir Hossein Moussavi is the visible face of the Iranian opposition, the Green Revolution remains undirected, transforming itself according
to events. That the movement marches on, wounded but not defeated, suggests that
all is not lost and that much remains worth salvaging. The time to act
is now, though, if the West wants it to escape
becoming another "what if" event of history.
By Jordan Michael Smith
18 Jun 2009 |
World Politics Review
Criticism of President Barack Obama's muted response to the Iranian opposition movement echoes
charges that he downplays human rights more generally in
his foreign policy approach. It's true that Obama has
prioritized the shoring up of U.S. power over the vocal
advocacy of human rights. But paradoxically, the more Obama de-emphasizes
human rights, the more he is likely to advance
them.
By Matthew Axelrod
03 Jun 2009 |
World Politics Review
When U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo tomorrow, they may want to focus some attention on a major component of the two countries' bilateral relationship: military cooperation. Over the past 30 years, military cooperation has yielded great benefits for both countries. But that cooperation now shows signs of strain, and a course correction is in order.
By Michael Cohen and Brian Katulis
03 Jun 2009 |
World Politics Review
President Barack Obama's historic address to the Muslim world in Cairo tomorrow offers a prime opportunity to outline a new U.S. vision for democracy and human rights in the region. To accomplish this goal, Obama must firmly reject the notion that safeguarding America's strategic interests in the Middle East somehow runs counter to the goal of advancing political reform.
By Ramzy Mardini
02 Jun 2009 |
World Politics Review
Following years of frustrating carrot-and-stick diplomacy, the debate over how to solve the issue of Iran's nuclear program is nearing its end. Neither coercive diplomacy, whether direct or indirect, nor deterrent threats of military attack are likely to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. To the contrary, a world in which Iran is a nuclear power is becoming a growing likelihood.
By Jordan Michael Smith
25 May 2009 |
World Politics Review
There is very little long-term strategic planning being
performed at the highest levels of U.S. foreign policymaking. The
office best known for strategic thinking -- the State Department's
Policy Planning Staff -- has plummeted in influence and prestige. And since it is unlikely to ever regain the stature it once had, U.S.
foreign policy will probably remain free of such strategic
planning for the foreseeable future.
