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BASRA, Iraq — British forces signed a memorandum on Sunday formally surrendering their lead role in providing security for Iraq’s most economically important province. Oil-rich Basra, home to Iraq’s only two seaports, is the last of four formerly British-occupied provinces to return to Iraqi control. “It’s in your hands now,” Iraqi National Security Advisor Mowaffak al-Rubaie said, addressing Basra’s security forces. The handover means a reduced role for the 4,500 British troops concentrated at Basra’s international airport outside the city. The dwindling U.K. contingent will leave its compound only when asked to do so by the Iraqi government. “We are […]

Kenyans will elect a new president Dec. 27 in polls that are expected to be the most competitive since the East African country gained independence from Britain 44 years ago. More than 14 million voters, the highest number ever, will pick from nine contestants for Kenya’s top seat and from about 2,600 candidates for the country’s 210 parliamentary seats. But the real presidential contest will be between friends-turned-foes Mwai Kibaki, the incumbent, and Raila Odinga, a maverick opposition leader. Kibaki, the country’s third president, fell out with Odinga after the former allegedly reneged on a power-sharing agreement sculpted by a […]

NUSA DUA, Indonesia — The 13th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Bali over the last two weeks, had it all: anger, frustration, intense politicking, drama, tears, and finally a decision, although it was reached one day later than expected. The final document, nailed down on Saturday, is not the whirlwind of change that environmentalists had hoped for, but rather a gentle breeze that may pave the way to a cooler tomorrow in a warming world. The Bali Roadmap, as the final document is known, is the beginning of a long process that sets 2009 as the […]

‘ELDERS’ LAUNCH GLOBAL SIGNATURE CAMPAIGN — A group of distinguished veteran statesmen, diplomats and human rights campaigners known as the “Elders” launched a global drive to gather signatures from one billion people who are committed to living their lives according to the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The “Every human has rights” campaign aims “to create an atmosphere in which no person, government, or entity can deny freedom and liberty for any human” and in which “one united human family join[s] together to protect and defend the rights of each other,” Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an elder, said […]

The obituaries for political Islam have begun to be written. After years of seemingly unstoppable growth, Islamic parties have begun to stumble. In Morocco, the Justice and Development Party (or PJD) did far worse than expected in last September’s elections, and Jordan’s Islamic Action Front lost more than half its seats in last month’s polling. The eagerly awaited manifesto of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, a draft of which appeared last September, showed neither strength nor boldness. Instead, it suggested the group was beset by intellectual contradictions and consumed by infighting. It is too early to declare the death of political Islam, […]

The words are remarkable, above all, for the self-assurance they express: “Mr. Ahtisaari and I completed the intellectual part of our assignment when we presented our plan in the spring. Nothing more should be changed in this proposal. It is a complicated work. We only have to accompany the plan and explain it.” The speaker is Albert Rohan: the Austrian diplomat and deputy to the U.N. special envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari. The plan in question is the “Ahtisaari Plan” for a “supervised independence” of Kosovo. It was the rejection of that plan by Serbia that precipitated the 130 days […]

WASHINGTON – It remains unclear whether Congress will support the Bush administration’s request for an initial $550 million to help Mexico and other Latin American countries beef up their law enforcement and militaries in the fight against drug cartels and other organized crime. The proposed aid package, known as the “Merida Initiative,” has been hailed by the White House and Mexican President Felipe Calderón as “a new paradigm” of strengthened law enforcement and counternarcotics relations between the United States and Mexico. However, the initiative has no shortage of skeptics here and in Mexico, where, according to one Democratic staffer with […]

A series of recent studies have warned that climate change could exacerbate north-south tensions, increase global migration, spur public health problems, heighten conflict over resources, challenge the institutions of global governance, and possibly shift the balance of power. Although the probability, extent, and urgency of such threats remains uncertain, U.S. policy makers should prudently hedge against them. Developing a range of tools to mitigate and address climate change is essential given the possible advent of at least some of these challenges. Many Western leaders have made clear that they already perceive serious challenges to their national security from these consequences. […]

It’s not easy being a dictator any more. Once upon a time, you could just hop on a tank, line up some well-armed supporters, and fire a few shots at the presidential palace. The previous resident would move out, alive or otherwise, and voilá: You had yourself a country. All it took after that was a pledge of hatred for Washington or Moscow and automatically the un-hated superpower would start writing checks and sending arms. The country was yours until the next guy hopped on a tank. It’s not so easy any more. These days, the pesky idea of democracy […]

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — The diplomatic row sparked by President Hugo Chávez’s mediation in Colombia’s hostage crisis continues and shows little sign of abating, sparking fears that bilateral trade will be affected and dashing hopes of a humanitarian exchange of hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The involvement of Chávez was hailed as a historic opportunity to secure the release of dozens of hostages held by FARC rebels, but has caused Venezuela-Colombia relations to sink to their lowest point in two years. Now they are consigned to the “freezer,” according to Chávez. The row began when Colombian […]

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS — President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe was the rogue elephant in the room at last week’s summit of African leaders and the European Union. Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel publicly denounced his poor human rights record, but otherwise European participants simply tried to ignore him. Other African leaders had insisted no Mugabe, no summit, and the Europeans wanted to deepen their penetration of the continent more than they were willing to be high minded. “At the end of the day, to see him [Mugabe] strutting around was a bit irritating,” an official in Valetta commented dryly this week, “but […]

The dispute over international monitoring of Russia’s recent parliamentary and upcoming presidential elections — underscored by President Vladimir Putin’s denunciations against foreign interference in Russia’s parliamentary elections — must be understood as a broader divergence in how Moscow and other member governments envisage the future of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the world’s largest regional security institution. In particular, Russia and its allies want to rebalance OSCE both functionally and geographically. They seek to reduce the OSCE’s democracy promotion efforts while increasing its role in countering transnational security threats like terrorism and in advancing economic development […]

CHINA URGED TO END CHILD LABOR IN SCHOOLS — Human Rights Watch Dec. 3 called on Chinese authorities to end the use of labor programs in Chinese middle schools because of rampant abuses. “China claims that it is fighting child labor, and repeatedly cites its legal prohibition against the practice as proof. But the government actively violates its own prohibitions by running large programs through the school system that use child labor, lack sufficient health and safety guarantees, and exploit loopholes in domestic labor laws,” Human Rights Watch Asia Advocacy Director Sophie Richardson said in a press release. The Chinese […]

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — If there is any beneficiary of the recent breakdown of Hugo Chávez’s mediation for a Colombian hostage exchange, it may well be the Venezuelan president himself. He was able to use Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, the man who revoked his mediation mandate, as a foil for his populist rhetoric. Ever the able opportunist, Chávez thereby distracted from internal problems by manufacturing an external enemy — though he still could not win Venezuela’s recent constitutional reform referendum. In Colombia, however, the scenario resulting from this presidential spat is bleak: primarily for the hostages who look set to remain […]

NUSA DUA, Indonesia — As the 13th meeting of the parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) enters its second and final week, there has been mixed progress on the resort island of Bali, where representatives of some 190 countries have converged to plot a roadmap for mitigating global warming when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. The second week coincides with the arrival of national delegations’ ministers and is meant to seal the deals negotiated by technicians during the first week. However, although most UNFCCC observers would agree with Emil Salim, head of the host […]

Late last month, U.N.-sponsored negotiations on Kosovo’s final status came to a close — predictably without an agreement. The negotiations have been conducted under the auspices of a “troika” of envoys from the European Union, the United States, and Russia. Dec. 10 is the deadline set for them to complete their work and submit a final report to the U.N. secretary-general. The longstanding demand of the Kosovo Albanian side is well known to the general public: independence. But what has the Serbian government brought to the negotiating table? And what, if any, compromise solutions were proposed by the international mediators? […]

NEW DELHI – India’s Communists continue to wage an aggressive campaign to derail the landmark U.S.-India nuclear deal that would ensure stronger ties with Washington and the reliable energy supply needed to fuel India’s scorching economy. Debate over the deal in the upper house of Indian Parliament this week– replete with personal verbal attacks and walkouts — peaked Wednesday when leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) declared that a “big majority” was against it and insisted the government not undermine democracy by trying to move forward. Prakash Karat, general secretary of the CPI-M, challenged that “any move to […]