WPR Blog Archive

Interesting to note, as Nicolas Gros-Verheyde does, that the current evolution in Sweden’s military doctrine — including the adoption of a professional, non-conscripted force, and the distinction between neutrality and passivity — is driven by its desire to become more compatible with NATO forces in anticipation of eventually adhering to the alliance. As Gros-Verheyde has pointed out previously, Sweden is a strong proponent of EU defense. It has already identified developing the Union’s crisis-management capacity, in both political and military terms, as a central plank of its EU presidency, which begins on July 1. But when it comes to what […]

Obama administration officials say efforts are underway to get the U.S. signed on to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The treaty, which allows countries to sign on in whole or in part, affirms that children have the basic rights to education, health care and protection from abuse. Every U.N. member except the U.S. and Somalia has ratified it. The Clinton administration signed it in 1995 but never submitted the treaty to the Senate for approval, amid warnings from senators that the motion would fail to achieve the two-thirds majority needed. Opponents charge the treaty would […]

I thought this, from David Brooks’ analysis of President Barack Obama’s Cairo speech earlier this month, was on the money: This speech builds an idealistic facade on a realist structure. Andthis gets to the core Obama foreign-policy perplexity. The presidentwants to be an inspiring leader who rallies the masses. He also wantsbe a top-down realist who cuts deals in the palaces. There is a tensionbetween these two impulses that even a sharp Chicago pol is havingtrouble managing. What made me think of it now was this passage from a Der Spiegel feature on the strain in U.S.-German relations: In pursuing […]

So far, all the coverage I’ve seen of the U.S. and Venezuela normalizing diplomatic relations suggests that Caracas is far more impatient to get the process finalized than is Washington. This Latin American Herald Tribune article, citing a government-friendly Venezuelan daily is typical. But even this BBC article, which at first glance seems to suggest that both sides are on board, on closer inspection cites the Venezuelan foreign minister. That probably has to do with the fact that the Chavez-Ahmadinejad lovefest the past week makes for less-than-ideal political optics for President Barack Obama. But Chavez’s eagerness to formally restore ties […]

According to Defense News, the only real change at the Manas base supplying the Afghanistan war will be in its name: instead of calling it an air base, it will now be called an transit corridor. Besides the nomenclature, though, the military activities, mainly basing tankers for refueling missions, will continue. According to RIA Novosti, Russia’s okay with the sleight of hand, with President Dmitry Medvedev calling the “transit center” a contribution to the fight against the joint terrorist threat. The fact that the lease was only extended for a year strongly suggests we haven’t heard the last of this. […]

One of the peculiarities of the French parliamentary system of government is the strategic cabinet shuffle. It can serve a variety of purposes, the most prominent being to register popular disapproval of a specific government action, or even its general record, without calling new elections that could jeopardize its majority. That’s how former President Jacques Chirac responded to the brutal defeat of the EU treaty referendum in 2005, at a time when many suggested that political honor dictated he resign. It can also be used to reward loyalty, as well as to settle political scores and hobble party rivals, for […]

This week’s Economist paints a rather dispiriting portrait of the tenure of U.N. head Ban Ki-Moon. (“More Secretary, than General,” opines one quoted wag.) Although the article is critical of the “first-half” performance of Moon, it is nothing compared to the hit he takes from Jacob Helilbrunn, who in the latest issue of Foreign Policy calls Moon, only half in jest, “the world’s most dangerous Korean.” Given the intensely political nature of the secretary general appointment and the incredible number of constituencies that have to be satisfied, it’s a wonder they can ever find someone willing to take the position. […]

Joshua Foust highlights the disconnect between the public COINspeak surrounding Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s appointment to run the Afghanistan war and the private KILLspeak surrounding his appointment to run the Afghanistan war: [W]hile publicly McChrystal says everything rightabout being population-centric and all that, very few, and I mean thisseriously, VERY few of the groundpounders within USFOR-A are gettingexcited about finally executing a proper counterinsurgency. Instead,all the excitement is about “finally” being able to “take the fight tothe enemy,” “now we get to kick some ass,” and similar sentiments. In other words, at least a large number of soldiers, both within andwithout […]

In light of the hand-wringing Stateside about what the U.S. official reaction to events in Iran should be, it’s interesting to take note of the reaction of a country whose stance arguably has more of a direct impact in Iran — namely, Turkey. Yigal Schleifer flags this Der Speigel interview, in which Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu steps very gingerly around the issue of passing judgment on the Iranian election and political process. He also de-dramatizes the recognition of Ahmadinejad’s election “victory” as a mere diplomatic formality between “nations with friendly relations,” and explains why Western perceptions of Iran’s political […]

Alex Evans, writing at Global Dashboard, flags the declines in net private capital flows to emerging markets as a form of hidden protectionism: These are precipitous declines — and the reason that theyconstitute protectionism is because developed country policymakers havebeen putting pressure on their banks to curtail to poorer countries,which are seen as riskier investments. Meanwhile, Le Monde flags the rising “Buy Chinese” sentiment in China, as domestic firms vie with foreign competitors for economic stimulus contracts: At the same time that foreign groups counted on the significant infrastructure spending anticipated in the government’s stimulus plan, a dozen state agencies […]

Third-round talks between the U.S. and Russia started yesterday in Geneva with the goal of working toward a replacement treaty for the existing Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), due to expire in December. The hope is to reach consensus on the agreement before President Barack Obama’s upcoming state visit to Russia in early July, so that interim results can be jointly announced then. The current round of talks could prove to be more challenging than the first two, though, due to a Kremlin statement released on Saturday linking progress in the talks to the planned U.S. missile-defense system in Eastern […]

Contrary to what French President Nicolas Sarkozy might have you believe, whether or not to allow women to wear the burqa is not a burning issue in France. In fact, this is the first time I’ve heard the question raised in eight years. So why did Sarkozy bring it up? Art Goldhammer wonders out loud: Is it because Obama, while in Cairo and again in France, ruffled somerepublican sensibilities by suggesting that a free society oughtn’t totell individuals what they ought to wear? When it comes to pithy takedowns of Sarkozy, Goldhammer’s actually been on quite a roll lately. I […]

The paradox of the situation in Iran is how such an opaque regime operating in such a confusing media landscape can be revealing so much about itself. One thing I’d add to the list of “minutae” to be watched are any Revolutionary Guard deployments to locations that are not on our list of “known knowns.” My hunch is that this is the kind of climate in which the regime will secure the most sensitive facilities involved in the nuclear program. Since any weaponization activity at this point has to be conducted in a “black site,” a major deployment could be […]

So in the end, Kyrgyzstan’s threat to close the Manas air base we’ve been using to supply the Afghanistan war effort was just a bargaining ploy. A successful one, at that, since it almost quadrupled the yearly lease we’re paying, while apparently rolling back the terms to now include the transit of only non-military supplies. (Question: What are we going to shoot at the bad guys in Afghanistan once we can’t ship in any ammo anymore?) Some folks might read this as a U.S. victory over Russian meddling. But the fact that the terms of the lease have now been […]

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s two-hour White House session last week raised eyebrows in the capitals of Europe. There is always a thinly veiled race among Europe’s leaders to be the first in Washington when a new president takes over. Although Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown was already the first to visit President Barack Obama’s White House, the Italian made it there ahead of the two leaders who share the heavy lifting in Europe: French President Nicolas Sarokozy, who has been fishing for months for such a meeting with Obama in the U.S. capital, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who […]

As the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme kicks off a three-day meeting today in Namibia, rights advocates are questioning the efficacy of the system designed to prevent diamonds from conflict areas from reaching international markets. To combat the widespread illicit trade in blood diamonds, campaigners charge, the Process must find better monitoring mechanisms to address non-compliance, corruption, smuggling and human rights abuses in diamonds fields. “The clock is running out on Kimberley Process credibility,” said Annie Dunnebacke of Global Witness, one of the groups behind the original 1990s blood diamond campaign. “The work it was set up to do is vital […]

Relations between Cambodia and Thailand will be sorely tested this week, with Bangkok expected to ask UNESCO to review its decision to list the 11th-century temple of Preah Vihear as a world heritage site. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has ordered Thailand’s representative to the World Heritage Committee to object to the 2008 listing of the Angkorian temple when the committee meets for its 33rd session in Seville, Spain. According to the Thai News Agency, Thailand will protest on the grounds that the listing has brought about conflict and losses between the two countries, running counter to UNESCO’s aim in […]