Carnegie Endowment Vice President of Studies Douglas H. Paal provides a concise overview of the year ahead in Sino-American relations. From Google to Taiwan arms sales, Paal highlights the challenges that have already made themselves evident in 2010. He also provides context for political posturing in the months to come, such as the Dalai Lama’s visit to the U.S. and the implications it carries for diplomatic relations.
At the Halifax International Security Forum in November of last year, maritime experts came together to discuss Arctic security. Though traditionally portrayed as a threat, the panel of experts heralded Russia as leading innovators in the region, saying that cooperation, not competition should be stressed.
Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton celebrated the recently signedNorthern Ireland accord that will consolidate “hard won gains of thepast decade.” Clinton says that the United States willwork to help Northern Ireland reap the benefits of peace by encouraginginternational investment and fostering continued economic growth.
The New America Foundation and WorldPublicOpinion.org host anevent on what the Iranian public really thinks on key issues and itsimplications for US foreign policy. In this discussion,WorldPublicOpinion.org presents the findings of an in-depth analysis oftwelve well-documented polls from three different sources addressingthe central questions of whether the Iranian people perceive theirgovernment as illegitimate, how they voted in the June 12th election,and how the opposition views the US and Iran’s nuclear program.
WorldFocus’ Daljit Dhaliwal speaks to Geneive Abdo of the CenturyFoundation about the implications of President Ahmadinejad’s latestcompromise for a nuclear agreement. Skeptics look to impendingsanctions on Iran as well as planned protests in Iran next week asmotivation for Ahmadinejad’s latest deal.
Three Americans were killed as the result of a roadside bomb inPakistan, near the Afghan border. The deaths were the first of theirkind since the U.S. military’s involvement in training activities inPakistan’s tribal regions. Though the Taliban has claimedresponsibility for the attacks, it is unclear whether the U.S.personnel were the targets of the attack or were just a byproduct of anattack meant to deter attendance at an inauguration for a regionalall-girls school. NewsHour’s Gwen Iffil speaks with Dawn TV’s SaimaMohsin.
There is a renewed effort to beef up Afghanistan’s indigenous policeforce while battling a reputation for corruption and illiteracy withinthe force. These new recruits will be at the front lines of thecounter-insurgency effort, with an average of four dying each day onthe job. From Kabul, Al Jazeera’s David Chater reports.
Special Representative Richard Holbrooke and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack brief the press on their recent trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Vilsack discusses what he calls the United States’ top non-military priority, farming. He says that while visiting, he visited a juice factory in Kabul that is working with more than 50,000 farmers to produce juice concentrate from apples and pomegranates to be sold worldwide. The secretary continued that efforts in Afghanistan’s agriculture sector will be made to reverse the detrimental effects of deforestation, bolster the infrastructure of the ministry itself, and to reinvigorate a once thriving agri-business, both domestically […]
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair testified before a governmentinquiry in London into the Iraq war. Blair remains adamant that hisdecision to go to war was the right one, saying that Sadaam Hussein was”a monster” and someone who he and former U.S. President George Bushhad to “deal with.” VOA’s Sonja Pace reports.
The war in Afghanistan is paying particular attention to Afghanfarmers. The Obama administration has made a point to focus onincreasing the quality of life for farmers and arming them with thetools they need to trade in their opium business for other lucrativecrops such as saffron. Experts say that if the initiative issuccessful, it will not only help the Afghan export business, but willalso help to gain the trust of locals in rural areas.