Column Archive

AMMAN, Jordan — Ever since Barack Obama proved to be a viable presidential candidate, news that America might elect a man with an African father, a Muslim stepfather, and a widely multicultural background to the White House has electrified the world. After eight years of the Bush administration, analysts suggested that simply electing Obama, regardless of any subsequent policy changes, would begin solving America’s severe image problems around the globe. Nowhere was this phenomenon supposed to manifest itself more powerfully than in the Middle East. If America elects Obama, the argument went, Muslims will give Washington the benefit of the […]

Last week, the U.S. government completed one of the largest nuclear recovery operations in history when it helped relocate 341 pounds (154.5 kilograms) of highly enriched uranium — enough to construct six nuclear weapons — from a Soviet-era nuclear research reactor in Hungary to a more secure storage site in Russia. The operation was led by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semi-autonomous agency of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and involved the cooperation of Russia, Hungary, Slovenia, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Euratom Supply Agency. While lauding the Russian and American governments (.pdf) “for […]

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING SUMMIT — The Bush administration’s announcement of an emergency financial summit on Nov. 15 in Washington ruffled some international feathers, notably in Spain and France, but in other countries as well. The meeting of global leaders to address the current crisis and bring a measure of control to the unruly financial world was originally proposed last week by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He pushed for the United Nations as the venue, and encouraged the widest possible participation. That’s not what the White House announced Wednesday. To the more or less private annoyance of the French, the White […]

When Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert traveled to Moscow earlier this month, he hoped to achieve three objectives: to ensure that Israel’s pre-August military ties with Georgia had not unduly damaged Russian-Israeli relations, to convince Russian policy makers not to provide Syria or Iran with advanced weapons that could be used against Israel, and to induce Russian leaders to pressure Tehran to moderate its nuclear ambitions. Olmert did not mention the Georgia issue at his public cabinet meeting prior to departure, saying only that he would discuss several subjects “that cause deep concern and require immediate action,” including Russian “arms […]

RUSSIAN RIGHTS DEFENSE A POISONOUS AFFAIR — In a twist that could have been lifted from the plot of a dime store spy novel, a Russian human rights lawyer prosecuting the case of an assassinated journalist missed pretrial hearings last week when she and members of her family fell ill after discovering a suspicious substance in their car. Karina Moskalenko has built a career participating in some of Russia’s most notorious cases, defending some of the Kremlin’s harshest critics along the way. Last week, she and her children fell ill with bouts of dizziness, headaches and nausea after discovering balls […]

The Russian government may not yet describe itself as a superpower, but its latest military exercise, “Stability 2008,” clearly aims to affirm Russia’s global military reach. The exercise’s hypothetical scenario posited a local conflict (e.g., over Georgia) that escalates into a world war, pitting Russia and its ally, Belarus, in a conflict with the West in which both sides employ land, air, maritime, and eventually nuclear forces. All three components of Russia’s strategic nuclear deterrent (bombers, submarines, and land forces) participated in the maneuvers, which were the largest conducted on Russian territory since the collapse of the Soviet Union in […]

Despite several days of intense lobbying, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the senior American diplomat for Korean nuclear issues, has apparently been unable to persuade the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to continue its denuclearization process. Instead, events during the past two weeks suggest that Pyongyang is returning to its rogue ways, at least for the time being. Last week, the DPRK ordered the removal of international monitors and their surveillance equipment from its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon. This week, the North Korean government has begun taking nuclear equipment out of storage and returning it to the […]

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE DRAWS SCRUTINY — The impending announcement of this year’s Nobel peace prize winner is drawing more speculation than usual from human rights advocates, the media and governments, as 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Most observers believe the nominating committee, which is scheduled to make its selection announcement Oct. 10, will pick an individual or group involved in human rights, with the winner most likely related to China. While speculation regarding a China-related winner has been growing for several years, many observers believe that concerns over how such a move would […]