Resources Archive

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s April 15-16 visit to Kazakhstan marked an important step forward in India’s ties with the rising Central Asian nation. Relations between the two countries have gained momentum since January 2009, when Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations. India and Kazakhstan established diplomatic relations in February 1992, with then-Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao paying a visit to Kazakhstan in 1993. Prior to his 2009 visit, Nazarbayev had visited India in 1996 and 2002. In a positive development, Singh and Nazarbayev signed a “Joint Action Plan” on furthering the strategic […]

Vietnam’s defense minister traveled to China last week to meet with the vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, and the two countries signed a series of bilateral economic agreements later in the week. In an email interview, Brantly Womack, a professor of politics at the University of Virginia and author of “China and Vietnam: The Politics of Asymmetry,” discussed China-Vietnam relations. WPR: What is the current state of China-Vietnam relations? Brantly Womack: In the past 50 years China and Vietnam have been both bosom buddies and implacable enemies, which would suggest that the relationship is unstable. But China has […]

The head of India’s navy, Adm. Nirmal Verma, recently met with senior military and civilian officials in Bangladesh, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and President Mohammed Zillur. In an email interview, Sreeradha Datta, a research fellow at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis in New Delhi, discussed India-Bangladesh relations. WPR: What is the recent history of India-Bangladesh relations? Sreeradha Datta: Although they began as friends following Bangladesh’s independence, India and Bangladesh quickly lapsed into indifferent if not hostile and antagonistic relations. The worst phase in bilateral ties occurred from 2001-2006. The two subsequently emerged again as friendly and supportive […]

In March, a few international media outlets quietly reported that Mongolia and the U.S. had been holding informal discussions on a proposal that would have Mongolia serve as a regional depository of spent nuclear fuel. The arrangement would allow South Korea and Taiwan, which the U.S. supplies with nuclear rods, to dispose of their spent fuel, resolving what has become an increasingly thorny problem for the U.S. News of the story spread quickly in the Mongolian press, and public opinion came out decidedly against the proposal. The Japanese nuclear crisis in Fukushima has compounded opposition in Mongolia to nuclear energy. […]

In March, the Nile River Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement garnered enough national signatures to allow it to be presented to national parliaments for ratification. In an email interview, Aaron Wolf, a professor at Oregon State University specializing in water resources policy and conflict resolution, discussed the political maneuvering over water rights in the Nile Basin. WPR: What is the significance of the finalization of the Nile River Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement? Aaron Wolf: I’m not sure “finalization” is the right word. It seems clear that discussions over management of the Nile will continue for some time before anything is really […]

This is the first of a two-part series examining diversification efforts by Latin American drug-trafficking networks. Part I examines the FARC’s illegal gold-mining operations in Colombia. Part II will examine Mexican drug traffickers’ use of oil-tapping to generate revenues. For more than 40 years, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, has waged a bloody war against the Colombian government, financed largely through cocaine trafficking. Over the past decade, as the Colombian government marshaled U.S. military assistance to greater effect, the FARC has seen its guerilla ranks diminished by about half. Meanwhile, coca eradication programs in the Colombian countryside […]

The United States spends around $40 billion to $50 billion per year to protect the free flow of oil from the Persian Gulf to the global economy, more than the entire defense budgets of all but a few countries. China, by comparison, spends virtually nothing on Gulf security, while pursuing its strategy of building political and economic relations with oil-rich countries in order to secure oil for its growing economy. This is nowhere more apparent than in China’s relations with Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil power. Beijing’s focus on the Persian Gulf began in earnest in 1978, when it […]

According to documents made public by WikiLeaks, improving ties between Russia and Norway have caused strain within NATO. In an email interview, Pavel K. Baev, a research professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, discussed Russia-Norway relations. WPR: What is the recent history of Russia-Norway relations? Pavel K. Baev: The post-Soviet history of Russian-Norwegian relations is by no means problem-free. The long list of incidents and grievances includes spy scandals, arrests — and subsequent dramatic escapes — of trawlers for overfishing, the radar at Vardø administered by the Norwegian Intelligence Service, and Russia’s failed test of a Bulava missile that […]

Japan recently arrested a South Korean crab fisherman for operating illegally not far from group of islands claimed by both countries. In an email interview, Min Gyo Koo, an expert in East Asian island disputes at Seoul National University, discussed the territorial dispute between Japan and South Korea. WPR: Briefly, what is the history of the territorial dispute between Japan and South Korea? Min Gyo Koo: The disputed islands known as Dokdo in Korea and as Takeshima in Japan are de facto controlled by South Korea, but Japan does not recognize South Korea’s de jure sovereignty. Japan’s fundamental legal claim […]