Democracy & Governance Archives - Page 191 of 362

The End of Tactical Nukes in Europe?

by Stephen Herzog | Sep 20, 2010

With little notice from most press outlets, NATO recently developed contingency plans to defend its Central and Eastern European member states against potential Russian aggression. This move follows the disclosure in January that the alliance would create such plans for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. But in late July, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, “We have all necessary plans in place to defend and protect all allies. I think the Russians would be surprised if we didn’t. That’s the core purpose of the alliance.” This statement indicates that — in addition to developing plans for the Baltic region — NATO’s military wing has also produced strategies to protect states like the Czech Republic and Turkey, which previously lacked alliance defense planning.

Waste at the UN?

by Ian Williams | Aug 16, 2010

No matter the administration in Washington, it’s always a good time to attack the United Nations. The familiar trope is “waste, mismanagement, and corruption.” The Oil for Food investigation during the Bush years, for instance, generated immense amounts of smoke but in the end very little fire. Now we learn that U.S. auditors have “found that the Pentagon can’t account for more than 95 percent of $9.1 billion in Iraq reconstruction money.” The media that actually mentioned the story failed to acknowledge that the money was in fact the surplus from the UN Oil for Food Fund.

Iran Gains as Arabs’ Obama Hopes Sink

by Jim Lobe | Aug 10, 2010

Only 20% of respondents in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) now view the US president positively, compared to 45% who did so in the spring of 2009, according to the 2010 Arab Public Opinion Poll conducted by Shibley Telhami of the Brookings Institution and the Zogby International polling firm.

An Urgent Need to Stabilize Kyrgyzstan

by Ole Solvang | Aug 10, 2010

Just weeks after widespread ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan killed hundreds of people, destroyed thousands of houses, and caused hundreds of thousands of ethnic Uzbeks to flee their homes, widespread abuse by Kyrgyzstan’s law-enforcement agencies is again fueling tensions.

Review: ‘Fixing Fractured Nations’

by Greg Chaffin | Aug 2, 2010

In their book, Fixing Fractured Nations: The Challenge of Ethnic Separatism in the Asia-Pacific, editors Robert G. Wirsing and Ehsan Ahari compiled essays on several of the major ethnic conflicts that have plagued the Asian continent over the past several decades. The book provides a comprehensive study of major ethnic conflict throughout Asia with sections on Southeast Asia, South Asia, East Asia, and the Pacific Islands (with a focus on Papua New Guinea). In the concluding chapter, Ehrari places each of the essays into a geopolitical context shaped by the Cold War and by 9/11.

Uribe’s Parting Shot

by Laura Carlsen | Jul 30, 2010

The rupture of diplomatic relations between Venezuela and Colombia after a special session of the Organization of American States (OAS) on July 22 marks increased animosity between the outgoing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez.

Balkan Accession: Slow and Steady Progress

by Andrew Feldman | Jul 29, 2010

Foreign ministers of the 27 European Union member states recently initiated the ratification process of Serbia’s Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), a step toward eventual EU membership for Serbia. The granting of candidate status was left for a later date, though, in a move that mirrored the EU’s general strategy on Balkan accession: With one hand it giveth, and with the other it does not giveth quite yet.

Dinosaurs Can’t Dance: The Impending Extinction of the Nation-State

by John Goekler | Jul 27, 2010

Neither governments, NGOs, or political parties will succeed the nation-state. Look instead to self-organizing networks of, uh, other guys.

U.S. Hijacks ICC conference

by Francis Njubi Nesbitt | Jun 29, 2010

The United States managed to foil the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) adoption of the crime of aggression as part of its mandate during this month’s review conference in Kampala, Uganda. But the U.S. presence at the conference demonstrates a new engagement with the ICC, and the Obama administration’s interest in helping to shape international law.

Turkey, America, and Empire’s Twilight

by Conn Hallinan | Jun 25, 2010

When U.S. forces found themselves beset by a growing insurgency in Iraq following their lighting overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the most obvious parallel that came to mind was Vietnam: an occupying army, far from home, besieged by a shadowy foe. But Patrick Cockburn, the Independent’s (UK) ace Middle East reporter, suggested that the escalating chaos was more like the Boer War than the conflict in Southeast Asia.