U.S. Foreign Policy Archive

WASHINGTON — Concern in Washington about political freedom in the energy-rich former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan is growing, including among the new Democratic leadership of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. World Politics Review has learned that Sen. Joe Biden last week sent a personal letter to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev airing his frustration over the slowness with which the transformation toward “transparent democracy” is occurring in Kazakhstan, the second-largest of the former Soviet republics. Biden’s office is refusing to release the letter to the press. However, in a telephone interview, the Delaware Democrat’s chief of staff, Alan Hoffman, acknowledged the […]

MIAMI — U.S. forces in Colombia may have pushed the outer envelope of their rules of engagement by accompanying Colombian troops on a recent raid of a rebel stronghold where American civilians were being held, said some experts. Others, including officials on Capitol Hill, maintain that the operation was well within the rules of engagement for U.S. military personnel operating in the restive South American country. According to Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, which first broke the news over the weekend, American troops and their Colombian counterparts in late January entered a rebel base where three U.S. contractors have been held […]

The main debate at this year’s National People’s Congress in Beijing centered on the balance between socialism and capitalism, what Premier Wen Jiabao called the “two unswervinglies.” The communist country’s first private property law, a new tax code for businesses, and increased social spending for rural regions were debated contentiously in the Great Hall of the People — at least by the standards of China’s highest legislative body — as well as in the state-controlled press. Less controversial amongst the 3,000 delegates and Chinese press was a significant increase in military spending. However, this announcement caused the greatest anxiety outside […]

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — If Colombians were ever in doubt about the special relationship their leader enjoys with the White House, then President George W. Bush’s words last week left no room for speculation. As Bush embarked on his five-nation tour of Latin America, he gave Colombia’s President, Alvaro Uribe, a glowing report. “In my judgment, President Uribe has done a fabulous job in leading this country. He has been very firm and very dedicated and the results are impressive,” said Bush, in an interview with Latin American journalists at the White House last week. “I think his leadership places him […]

KADENA AIR BASE, Japan — Eyeing the threat of a potentially nuclear-armed North Korea, Japanese leaders are navigating delicate domestic politics and a complicated relationship with Japan’s closest ally, the United States, as they embark on selective military improvements. The Japanese constitution, written with U.S. guidance in wake of Japan’s catastrophic defeat in World War II, categorically prohibits a standing military. Since the 1950s, the nation has maintained “self-defense forces” that are military services in all but name. Nevertheless, legal limitations and a deep vein of pacifism among the Japanese electorate have hamstrung the development of these forces. Japan devotes […]