Back in March, Saudi Arabia reportedly offered to join the Abraham Accords in exchange for the transfer of U.S. civil nuclear technology, among other things. Washington is reluctant to do so, as that technology could be used to develop nuclear weapons. But a nuclear-armed Saudi Arabia should not be particularly concerning for Washington.
With NATO membership for Kyiv off the table in the immediate term, some are calling for an alternative mechanism dubbed the “Israel Model,” in which the U.S. would provide Ukraine with the kind of security it provides Israel so it can defend itself after the war ends. But there are several reasons why that approach is inappropriate.
The failed rebellion by Yevgeny Prigozhin in late June has created uncertainty about the Wagner Group’s future operations in Africa. U.S. and European policymakers should focus on making Wagner unviable should it try to regroup from the debacle back home, while building an approach to do the same when Russia tries again with other outfits.
Some observers are worried that the U.S. decision to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine will damage the international norm against their use. But while there are many other good reasons to be concerned, the reputational impact of this decision will likely fall on the parties themselves for violating the norm, not on the norm itself.
This week, the leaders of CELAC, comprising the states of the Western Hemisphere excluding the U.S. and Canada, will meet with their EU counterparts in Brussels to discuss the two regions’ relationship. Early indications suggest that differences over Ukraine could potentially hinder progress on other important topics at the summit.
This week’s NATO summit was an opportunity for the alliance to take a clearer position on its own role in the war in Ukraine, while also setting the direction for NATO’s future evolution. But rather than paving the way forward, the summit indicated that the alliance members are only ready for more of the same.
There is a general consensus in Washington that the Abraham Accords—the series of normalization agreements between Israel and Arab countries launched in 2020—have been an overwhelming success and that expanding them to include Saudi Arabia will only increase their benefits. That might be an overly rosy assessment.
When news of Yevgeny Prigozhin and Wagner Group’s march to Moscow broke, there was palpable shock among EU and U.S. officials. The extent to which Western governments were blindsided by a crisis that had been building for months was a reminder of how institutions in the U.K., EU and U.S. struggle to manage geopolitical risk.
The true danger for NATO is not the emergence of European defense capacity, but the lack of it. A rebalanced alliance will require a new paradigm based on closer NATO-EU cooperation with a stronger European pillar within NATO. That will only happen if Europe adopts, and the U.S. supports, a more ambitious European defense agenda.
Last month’s Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris solidified support for providing financial incentives to low-income countries to help address climate change. The summit represented a huge win for the developing world and especially for Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who has championed the issue for years.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the question of whether women make better leaders in a crisis gained prominence. Now, the near-absence of women from the world stage has returned to being something of a “So what?” issue. But with the world continuing to face numerous crises, women’s political leadership is more, not less, important.
The U.S. holds leverage in efforts to ensure that Venezuela’s presidential election next year free and fair enough to advance a democratic transition. But due to a trust deficit, governments that are in a better position to prod Caracas into permitting a credible election must work to complement Washington’s efforts.
When Myanmar’s junta responded to peaceful demonstrations against their 2021 coup with a bloody crackdown, the opposition turned to armed resistance. In recent months, the conflict has been escalating, and the ruthlessness of Myanmar’s military has greatly intensified. Still mostly below the world’s radar, Myanmar’s civil war is raging.