Latest Archive

The recent takeover by Indian firm Essar Africa Holdings of Zimbabwe’s state-owned iron and steel company, Ziscosteel, is a prime example of India’s efforts to ramp up its economic involvement in Africa. In an email interview, Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, national director of the South African Institute for International Affairs, discussed India’s economic relations with Africa. WPR: What is the current state of Indian investment and development aid in Africa? Elizabeth Sidiropoulos: Indian companies have been operating in Africa for many years, although more recently there has been a substantial increase in investment — from $556 million in 1997 to some $18 […]

This is the second of a two-part series examining China’s telecom sector. Part I examined the domestic telecom market. Part II examines Chinese telecoms’ international expansion. SHANGHAI — Building on strong domestic development, China’s telecommunications sector has enjoyed a period of impressive international expansion over the past decade. Under the banner of the “Go Global” campaign, national flagship companies have built up their international operations through a range of overseas purchases and cooperative ventures with foreign partners. Greater technological capabilities and cost advantages have also allowed Chinese firms to rapidly establish themselves as important vendors of telecom products and services […]

The Russian government has effectively managed to balance its competing interests regarding Libya, despite having much less influence on events there than many other governments. The Russian delegation to the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) voted to impose sanctions against Moammar Gadhafi’s regime for its violent suppression of peaceful demonstrators, but abstained on the crucial March 17 vote authorizing the use of force to protect civilians from the Libyan government. Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said that Moscow could not support the resolution since it lacked clearly defined limits on using military force. After Western countries initiated wide-ranging military operations against […]

On April 5, the Obama administration delivered a stark evaluation of Pakistan’s counterterrorism campaign to Congress, stating that “there remains no clear path toward defeating the insurgency” (.pdf) festering in the country’s northwestern regions. Over the past decade, militants have killed thousands of Pakistani civilians and wreaked devastation on the country’s fragile economy. And since 2001, 2,575 Pakistani soldiers have been killed in counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations. Why, then, have Pakistan’s leaders failed to develop a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy? It is true that Pakistan has made important progress against militancy in recent years. Starting in mid-2009, the army began a […]

Amid high tensions in the Middle East, Omani Foreign Minister Yousef bin Alawi recently met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran and committed to strengthening bilateral ties. The two countries also held joint military exercises in February. In an email interview, David Dunford, a U.S. ambassador to Oman from 1992-1995 who currently teaches political science at the University of Arizona, discussed Iran-Oman relations. WPR: What is the current state of Iran-Oman trade and diplomatic relations? David Dunford: Oman and Iran have long had diplomatic relations, and there was no break in those relations after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. […]

This is the first of a two-part series examining China’s telecom sector. Part I examines the domestic telecom market. Part II will examine Chinese telecoms’ international expansion. SHANGHAI — In less than 20 years, the Chinese telecommunications sector has developed from a primitive government monopoly into the largest cellular and Internet communications market in the world. This change is a testament to the country’s rapid social and economic development as well as the increasing sophistication of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the industry. But with domestic markets rapidly approaching their saturation point for basic services, sustaining this growth will require deepening […]

Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi’s announcement on April 5 that Egypt is prepared to reinstate full diplomatic relations with Iran comes at a strange juncture. With popular protests still ongoing, Egypt’s domestic political scene has yet to find its feet. In addition, the trust between the people and the army has been shaken by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces’ decision to issue an interim constitution. So why, in the midst of domestic uncertainty, has the transitional government chosen to tackle one of its most complex foreign policy conundrums — namely, Iran? Egypt’s relationship with Iran has long been […]

Much of the global perception of America’s long-term decline as the world’s sole surviving superpower is in fact driven by our fiscal decline. That’s why I was disturbed to hear Democrats so quickly dismiss GOP Sen. Paul Ryan’s bold, if flawed, federal budget proposal on the grounds that it would “end Medicare as we know it.” Frankly, arresting our decline means ending a lot of things “as we know them.” That’s simply what being on an unsustainable path forces you to do. But as difficult as reforming federal entitlement programs will be, it is absolutely necessary, because a look at […]

The first round of balloting went smoothly in Peru’s presidential election Sunday, setting the stage for a June 5 run-off between left-leaning former military officer Ollanta Humala and Keiko Fujimori, a pro-market congresswoman and daughter of jailed former President Alberto Fujimori. Humala won 31.6 percent and Fujimora 23 percent in the initial round of voting, according to the Wall Street Journal, which noted Humala’s strategy of employing “Brazilian political advisers who tried to cast him in a more moderate light, in the style of that country’s former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.” If true, it apparently worked, says Christopher […]

This is the second of a two-part series examining diversification efforts by Latin American drug-trafficking networks. Part I examined the FARC’s illegal gold-mining operations in Colombia. Part II examines Mexican drug traffickers’ use of oil-tapping to generate revenues. Mexico’s crime syndicates are well-known as exporters of heroin, marijuana and methamphetamines, importers of firearms, and perpetrators of violence. Their business has produced bloody internecine turf wars, with rival gangs battling it out for control over distribution routes mainly within the drug-producing states of northern Mexico. But over the past five years the drug trade has been squeezed between the pincers of […]

A recent issue of the prestigious European magazine Europe’s World contains an eye-catching advertisement for NATO: “Question: Which organization adopted a new vision of its geopolitical role in Lisbon? Hint: It wasn’t the European Union!” The ad’s not so subtle jibe has been borne out by the Libyan crisis, which caught the EU, but not NATO, by surprise. Despite the $43 million the European Commission made available for humanitarian assistance to those in Libya and neighboring countries most affected by the crisis, as well as the EU’s prompt imposition of an arms embargo and an asset freeze on the Libyan […]

President of Yemen is rejecting the offer from Gulf Cooperation Council nations, led by Qatar, to sponsor mediation over political transition in the country. “We derive our power and legitimacy from the people of Yemen,” he said, as thousands of supporters and opponents gathered in capital Sanaa.

One year ago, Moammar Gadhafi’s Libya was being praised for its efforts to become a responsible stakeholder in the international system. Meanwhile, Gadhafi’s children, especially his son Saif al-Islam, were being cultivated as the best hope for initiating a process of political and economic reform, so that Libya might replicate the path blazed by Taiwan, where another dynastic transfer of power from father to son led to democratization. Indeed, Gadhafi’s son Khamis was in the United States on a professional internship when the current crisis broke out. He was quickly recalled to take command of the 32nd Reinforced Brigade of […]

Greece again ruled out restructuring its sovereign debt after experts from the EU and International Monetary Fund met with government officials to review its economic reforms on Wednesday.

The Israeli President met with American politicians in Washington over the political crisis in the Arab World. But he expressed optimism over the wave of political change.

This footage offers an inside look at the fighting by rebels in Libya. According to the Russia’s government-owned global news network Russia Today, rebels in Libya say they’ve been hit by a NATO airstrike, with some reports suggesting as many as 13 people have been killed. This comes as UK officials are investigating Libyan claims that British planes destroyed the Arab state’s largest oil field, killing three guards.

SHANGHAI — North Korea has long been an important link in East Asia’s organized criminal networks. But recent reports suggest that, as the collapse of the country’s planned economy continues, the scale of these activities may be expanding and the dynamics behind them changing. While Chinese, South Korean and other Asian criminal networks have historically been active in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), traditionally the North Korean government was also a major participant in illegal activities. It is known to have been engaged in narcotics production and trafficking, people trafficking and currency forgery. However, as the country’s planned […]