Washington has been reluctant to reevaluate “soft power” when it seems so obviously a fig leaf for the assertion of military dominance. But perhaps by looking at the palpable failures of Chinese efforts in Asia, U.S. policymakers could learn some lessons about strategy. Other countries in Asia that aspire to cultivate both hard power and soft power – Japan, South Korea – should also take note: you rarely can have it both ways.
With the January 22 general elections only days away in Israel, the majority of polls and media sources concede that Benjamin Netanyahu is on track to be elected for his third term as prime minister. However, few would truly consider this a triumph for the Likud prime minister, who has been overshadowed by the charismatic Naftali Bennett, a rising star on Israel’s far right.
The solution in Mali must be a multi-pronged approach involving more than just military measures. The challenge ahead is complex and treacherous. One longs for the heyday of ancient Timbuktu, when African scholars pored studiously over learned manuscripts in quiet libraries.
With President Obama’s nomination of Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense, U.S.-Iranian relations have been thrust back into the news cycle. This is a good thing. The debates surrounding Obama’s cabinet nominations offer a welcome opportunity for the public—and the administration—to review the failing U.S. policy toward Iran.
In March 2013, Falkland Islanders will vote on a territorial referendum concerning their relationship with London. While the likely reactions of Buenos Aires and London are predictable, it will be interesting to see how Latin American states, which generally support Argentina’s claim in the name of regional unity, and Washington, which has struggled to remain neutral, will respond.
“There cannot be a military solution to this crisis in Mali,” said Emira Woods, co-director of Foreign Policy in Focus at IPS. “The crisis has its roots in political and also economic processes.”
The extent and depth of Western sanctions on Iran reveal that they are geared toward inflicting economic hardships on ordinary Iranians in the hope of inciting public discontent and possible revolts. But whether these crippling sanctions will meet their ostensible political goal of changing Iran’s nuclear posture is a different story.
Conversation on the streets of Beirut since the bombing in October has a familiar vocabulary, one reminiscent of 2005 when Rafic Hariri was assassinated.
Having survived the announced end of the world on Dec. 21, we can now try to foretell our immediate future, based on geopolitical principles that will help us understand the overall shifts of global powers and assess the major risks and dangers. Looking at a map of the world, we can immediately see some hotspots lit up in red. Four of them represent high levels of danger: Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia.
Thirty-eight years ago, just before Christmas, our lives as missionaries came to a sudden end when South Korea’s military dictator, Park Chung-hee, deported my husband, George Ogle, because he prayed in public for eight innocent men who had been falsely accused of having Communist ties, tortured to confess, and sentenced to death by secret military court.