Uncategorized Archives - Foreign Policy In Focus

Venezuelan Term Limits

by Joshua Frens-String, Emily Schwartz Greco | Feb 20, 2009

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and his supporters scored a significant victory on February 15, winning a national referendum to amend Venezuela’s constitution and allow the Venezuelan leader to run for re-election in 2012. With almost 95% of the votes counted, the results indicated that approximately 54.4% of Venezuelans approved the measure while only 45.6% voted in opposition. This was Chávez’s second attempt to end term limits. He tried this 15 months ago and failed, and in regional elections in November the opposition made significant gains, leading many to believe Chávez’s proposal might be defeated again in Sunday’s vote. But with just over 67% of eligible voters turning out to cast their ballots, the referendum prevailed. And while the wording of the referendum presented to voters on electronic voting screens across the country never mentioned the word "re-election," the vote did end term limits for all elected officials in Venezuela.

North Korea Sends Message: ‘Don’t Ignore Us!’

by John Feffer | Feb 18, 2009

Just as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was arriving in Asia this week, Pyongyang was threatening to test a long-range missile. That’s its way of saying, “Don’t ignore us!” North Korea’s nuclear program is not in the top tier of foreign policy issues facing the Obama administration. The new team in Washington believes it has to deal with other priorities — the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the global economic meltdown, climate change, and Middle East peace — before it can address the North Korean conundrum.

A Multipolar Moment?

by John Feffer | Feb 17, 2009

After the Berlin Wall collapsed and the Soviet Union followed suit, the United States was the last superpower standing. America faced a choice. It could use the unprecedented opportunity to help build a new international system out of the rubble of the Cold War. Or it could try to maintain that unipolar moment as long as possible. The neocons preferred the king-of-the-hill approach.

The Making of a New Global Strategy

by Ehsan Ahrari, John Feffer | Feb 17, 2009

The Obama administration started with a bang in developing its own strategy toward different regions of the world. There are several ingredients in that strategy. The new president has promised a return to multilateralism. It’s searching for common ground with Russia. There are outstanding invitations for negotiations with America’s traditional adversaries like Iran and North Korea. And the administration’s approaches to Palestine, Pakistan, and Afghanistan are likely to be radically different from those the Bush administration pursued unsuccessfully.

A New Era in U.S.-Iranian Relations?

by William O. Beeman, John Feffer | Feb 12, 2009

Iran is in the middle of celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Iranian revolution that ousted Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and with him, the extraordinary influence the United States had on Iranian life. According to many right-wing pundits, the revolution was the start of an era of hostility between the United States and the Muslim world — an era that they see as still underway.

They Voted for One Iraq

by Bonnie Bricker, Adil E. Shamoo | Feb 12, 2009

(Editor’s Note: This op-ed was originally published in the Baltimore Sun on February 10, 2009.)

Obama’s Canada Trip May Spell Change for NAFTA

by Rick Arnold, Emily Schwartz Greco | Feb 11, 2009

Canadians are looking forward to Barack Obama’s February 19 visit to Ottawa — the president’s first trip to a foreign country since he took office. Many of us here dare to hope Obama’s "change" agenda will inspire some fresh thinking among our own politicians. Ironically, Canadians concerned about our country’s economic future (along with the well-being of our social programs) may now find a more sympathetic ear in Washington than in Ottawa — particularly when it comes to the subject of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

What’s the Matter with China?

by John Feffer | Feb 10, 2009

You might have missed the news: China is now No. 3.

The Promise of the Six-Party Process

by John Feffer, Wade L. Huntley | Feb 10, 2009

Over the past two decades, engagement with North Korea by the United States and the rest of the world has waxed and waned. This vacillation is evident even in the past year. The Six-Party Talks process produced both optimistic progress toward disabling Korea’s nuclear facilities and, more recently, a return to negotiation stagnation and new North Korean threats to resume nuclear weapons development.

The Risk of Military Keynesianism

by John Feffer | Feb 9, 2009

With government budgets shrinking and the economic crisis putting greater pressure on social welfare programs, a shift of money from military budgets to human needs would appear to be a no-brainer. But don’t expect a large-scale beating of swords into ploughshares. In fact, if early signs are any indication, governments will largely shelter their military budgets from the current economic crisis. Call it the new military Keynesianism: the use of military spending to stimulate the economy and pull the country out of recession.