Diplomacy & Politics Archive

Wednesday’s release of the much-anticipated Winograd Report on Israel’s conduct of the 2006 Lebanon War is bringing the Israeli political system to the boiling point. The heat is rising quickly under the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who led the country in the war against Hezbollah, the first war in Israel’s short history in which the country did not win a decisive victory. Olmert remains deeply unpopular, but he may yet survive. In the end, it could be another politician — the other Ehud — who ends up the loser. Nobody knows what will remain after the temperature drops […]

U.N. PROSECUTOR TAKES AIM AT FORMER KOSOVO LEADER — Prosecutors summed up their case against former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj Jan. 21, arguing he was responsible for torture, murder, rape and deportation during the Serbian’s province’s battle against Serbian rule in 1998-1999. Haradinaj, a regional commander for the Kosovo Liberation Army, was legendary in the province for his fierce control over the area under his command. “There was a saying: ‘God in heaven, Haradinaj on earth.’ His degree of control was such . . . that the murders, tortures and rapes could not have occurred without his approval,” prosecutor […]

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, a staunch U.S. ally, has confirmed that a Lebanese military investigation is underway following allegations that Palestinians living in the country’s Nahr al-Bared refugee camp were beaten by Lebanese soldiers, and their homes looted and torched, in the aftermath of last summer’s battle between Islamist militants in the camp and the Lebanese army. Lebanese troops burned some homes to rid them of poison left behind by defeated militants at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, Siniora wrote in a yet-unreleased letter to Amnesty International in December. It was the first response the rights […]

SEOUL, South Korea — The White House is holding back from removing North Korea from the U.S. list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, citing the Kim regime’s failure to live up to a denuclearization agreement reached last year. Earlier this week, the State Department announced the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) had met the technical requirements necessary to be dropped from the blacklist, which carries with it a wide range of sanctions. Cuba, Iran, Syria, and Sudan are the only countries presently on the list. To qualify for de-listing, a state must be free of involvement with terrorist-related activities […]

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigned yesterday after a no-confidence vote in parliament that was, to say the least, contentious, the New York Times reports: ROME — Italy’s government finally fell Thursday, after Prime Minister Romano Prodi lost a confidence vote that made it clear that Italy’s leaders know they face a deep political and economic crisis but are venomously divided over how to solve it. Emblematic of those divisions, during the debate one senator rushed in fury to the desk of a colleague, Stefano Cusumano, and taunted and apparently tried to attack him. Mr. Cusumano, 60, reportedly cried, then […]

“When Benazir died, I started calling her by the nickname we used all those years ago: Wadi Bua, which in our dialectic in [the] Sindh [province] is a term of endearment for father’s elder sister. I don’t know. It was just natural, spontaneous. All of a sudden, she stopped being the political opponent of recent times and went back to being the Wadi Bua of my childhood games, when I was five and she was thirty-five. They tell me she was killed by a bullet in the neck. Just like my father Murtaza, her brother. I’ve sort of suspended judgment. […]

While much of the region is busy analyzing the aftermath of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s high-profile visit to China this month, one fragile nation finds itself squeezed harder in the middle. For nearly two years, leading political parties and former Maoist rebels in Nepal, sandwiched between the Asian giants, have been precariously following a New Delhi-brokered roadmap to peace. Amid the uncertainty, China has stepped up its role in the tiny landlocked Himalayan nation. The future of Nepal, including whether it becomes a republic or retains some form of monarchy, seems inextricably linked to its neighbors. Reconciling them will […]

Although Western attention has focused on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a potential threat to Western influence in Eurasia, another institution, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), currently represents a more serious near-term challenge. Last October, the leaders of the CSTO convened one of their most important summits in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. The assembled presidents and senior staff reached several important decisions that testify to the CSTO’s expanding regional security ambitions. First, they adopted procedures formally authorizing members to conduct joint peacekeeping operations. Second, by reaffirming Moscow’s willingness to sell arms to its CSTO allies on a […]

This past summer, prior to his sudden departure from office, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh announced a partnership agreement that surpassed the previously established levels of economic and security cooperation between the two countries. The timing of this August roadmap could not have been more perfect, given that 2007 is Japan-India Friendship Year. The new momentum in relations between the world’s largest democracy and its second-largest economy deserves attention, in part because these relations have historically lacked both depth and breadth. Nevertheless, while recent efforts reflect a positive trend toward deeper engagement between Japan […]

From Jan. 13-15, Manmohan Singh undertook the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to China in five years. During his stay in Beijing, Singh met with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, President Hu Jintao, and other Chinese political and economic leaders. The summit showcased the improving Sino-Indian economic ties, but did not appreciably reduce the two governments’ political-military “trust deficit.” Furthering economic ties was an important objective of Singh’s visit. A delegation of 20 Indian business leaders accompanied Singh and Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath on the trip. The prime minister delivered a keynote address at an India-China Economic, Trade […]

Editor’s Note: Today we present the second installment of Transatlantic Intelligencer, a new column written by World Politics Review translations editor John Rosenthal. Drawing from predominantly European foreign-language news sources, Rosenthal posts each “Trans-Int” item on the WPR blog as he uncovers it. At the start of the next week, we publish all of the items in this full column in our news section. GERARD SCHRÖDER, NOW AND THEN — With important elections upcoming later this month in the German states of Hesse and Lower Saxony and next month in Hamburg, former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has returned to the public […]

The most-read World Politics Review articles from Monday, Jan. 14 through yesterday: 1. State Department’s Plan to Cut Diplomats is Ill-Conceived2. Transatlantic Intelligencer: Saddam’s Money, German Iranian Trade, and More3. Iran’s Hormuz Actions Help Israel Make its Case4. Battle Over Suharto’s Legacy a Test for Modern Indonesia5. Colombia-Venezuela Rift Grows as Chávez Appears to Confirm Support for FARC6. More Allied, Not U.S., Forces Key to Success in Afghanistan7. Hamas and Islamic Millenarianism: What the West Doesn’t Recognize8. Indian Soaps Fall to Islamic Censorship in Afghanistan9. Militant ‘Farmer’ and French Government Make Common Cause in GM Crop Ban10. Corridors of Power: […]

CHINA UNDER FIRE FOR ACTIVIST DETENTION — While Hu Jia is not the only human rights activist to face detention in recent months, his Dec. 27 arrest has garnered special attention from human rights groups and governments, which are attempting to use the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games to press China to improve its human rights record. The European Parliament and U.S. State Department have joined calls for Hu’s immediate release. Chinese authorities maintain Hu is being investigated for subversion in accordance with Chinese law. Hu, a longtime environmental and rights activist, rose to prominence due to his advocacy on behalf […]

Citing unnamed EU diplomats, the International Herald Tribune reports that the United States and Germany are prepared to green-light Kosovo’s independence soon after Serbia’s two-stage elections conclude in the first week of February. Once Kosovo declares independence, according to the paper, U.S. President George W. Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will move quickly to recognize the predominantly Albanian enclave, with the rest of Europe’s major powers — Britain, France and Italy — following suit. In a world as complex as ours — and in a region as messy as the Balkans — Washington seldom has the luxury of choosing […]

It is, perhaps, surprising how much President George W. Bush has talked about democracy and freedom in the Middle East. Last weekend in Abu Dhabi, he delivered his third speech dedicated largely to that topic, which is three more than any previous U.S. president. Bush’s dedication to the theme of freedom in the Middle East is genuine. In his formulation, appreciation for the rights of the individual in the Middle East would expand liberty, undermine extremism, and enhance the security of Americans, Arabs, and others. As the president has seen things, Middle Eastern governments have been the obstacles to realizing […]

BELGRADE, Serbia — The two leading contenders in Serbia’s presidential election are mixing their messages on Europe, Russia and nationalism. Campaign posters across the country show Democratic Party candidate President Boris Tadic, a pro-European, in front of the national flag. The tricolor, however, is difficult to spot on nationalist Tomislav Nikolic’s posters. Instead, he is telling all he is a lifelong pro-European, despite also saying that EU membership will have to wait until Serbia’s sovereignty over the province of Kosovo is assured. That outcome is far from certain with Kosovo’s declaration of independence set to come soon after the presidential […]

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez’s call to remove Colombia’s guerrilla groups from lists of foreign terrorist organizations has been met with widespread condemnation by the Colombian government and has exacerbated the existing diplomatic crisis between the two neighboring nations. Last week, Colombia rejoiced following the much-anticipated release of two female hostages. But celebrations were quickly overshadowed by Chávez’s controversial declaration that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the smaller National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group are not terrorists but rather “real armies who occupy a space in Colombia.” “FARC and the ELN are insurgent forces who […]