During Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s three-day visit to China, the two countries announced the opening of a pipeline that will triple the supply of Russian oil flowing China beginning next year, and they touted closer regional security cooperation. They also extended the terms of an agreement for supplying Russian natural gas to China, but failed to agree on a price for the gas.
U.S. President Barack Obama met with leaders from the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries in New York Sept. 24. In his opening remarks, Obama reiterated the U.S. intention, as “a Pacific nation,” to play a leadership role in Asia, and characterized closer relations with ASEAN as essential to that goal. Obama also confirmed that he would attend the East Asia Summit in Jakarta next year.
In parliamentary elections on Sept. 26, Venezuela’s opposition Democratic Unity Coalition is looking to weaken Chavez’s hold on that country’sgovernment. They seek to win at least a third of the seats in the national assembly. The election is the first parliamentary election since opposition parties boycotted elections in 2005.
USAID Administrator Raj Shah talks with former U.S. Senator Tim Wirth (D-Colo.) on how the Obama administration thinks about the “third D” in U.S. foreign policy: development. The discussion at the 92nd Street Y in New York Sept. 23 occurred the same day that Obama delivered a speech to the UN General Assembly that heavily emphasized development as a component of U.S. foreign policy. Watch live streaming video from mashable at livestream.com
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O. Blake held a press briefing on U.S. policy in Central Asia, U.S. cooperation with Russia in the region, and the situation in the Kyrgyz Republic. The briefing occurred at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York City, Sept. 22, 2010. For more on this region, browse WPR articles on Central Asia.
Responding to UN sanctions on Iran, Russia has reportedly reversed a 2007 decision to sell Russian-made S-300 air defense systems to Iran. The delivery was previously postponed. “The repeated rumors and confusion regarding a possible sale indicate that Russian policymakers are divided over the issue,” Richard Weitz wrote in his March 2009 WPR column, “Russia, Iran, Washington Battle Over S-300s.” “It also illustrates the degree of mistrust between the Russian and Iranian national security communities over the subject of bilateral arms transfers in general, and disagreement over the extent to which Moscow should support Iranian defense aspirations over American and […]
In this four-part video opinion series on Afghanistan, WPR contributor David Axe examines obstacles to NATO and U.S. victory in Afghanistan. These include terrain, a culture of corruption, the agrarian nature of the economy, and the technology employed by U.S. and NATO forces, he argues. -o- Lesson I: Terrain -o- Lesson II: Culture of Corruption -o- Lesson III: Thinking Like a Farmer -o- Lesson IV: Technology
President Obama, President Mubarak of Egypt, King Abdullah of Jordan, Prime Minister Netanyahu of Isreal, and Palestinian Authority President Abbas speak about achieving peace in the Middle East in Washington DC.
NewsHour’s Margaret Warner talks to United States Vice President Joe Biden about the U.S. troop drawdown in Iraq and what’s next for Iraqis. Biden talks about what the remaining 50,000 troops in Iraq will actually be doing as well as the evolving role of Iraqi security forces.
President Barack Obama announces the end of the combat mission in Iraq, discusses the future of the United States’ commitment in the country, and further discusses U.S. engagement and ways forward in Afghanistan.