Europe & Central Asia Archives - Page 190 of 433

Multilateralism in Munich

by Hannes Artens, John Feffer | Feb 13, 2009

Team Obama’s debut on the world stage at last weekend’s security conference in Munich was highly anticipated. With his pledge for a "new era of cooperation," Vice President Joe Biden struck the right note for a European audience still haunted by the Bush administration’s "with us or against us" approach. But once the memory of Bush fades, Europeans will realize the price of Barack Obama’s multilateralism. Like the U.S. president, they’ll be forced to define what kind of multilateralism they want and what they’re willing to sacrifice for it. More than any other issue, Afghanistan will produce this moment of truth sooner than might be expected, while determining NATO’s relations with Iran to a greater extent than expected.

Pacific Freeze: Call to Action

by John Feffer, Foreign Policy In Focus | Feb 9, 2009

With multiple crises affecting our world – global economy, climate change, resource depletion – we must urgently redirect the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on preparing for war. The United States, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, and North Korea spent about $970 billion in 2008 on the military. That figure, alarmingly, is on the rise. For about one-tenth of this near-trillion dollar amount – about $90 billion a year – we can achieve more genuine security by eliminating global starvation and malnutrition, educating every child on earth, making clean water and sanitation accessible for all, and reversing the global spread of AIDS and malaria.

Russia and Iran Get Strategic

by Sam Gardiner, Erik Leaver | Jan 27, 2009

While many analysts predicted a rosier picture for U.S.-Iranian relations with the Obama administration, the situation is rapidly becoming profoundly more difficult and more complicated. The new dimension is Russia.

Postcard From…Banja Luka

by John Feffer, Emily Schwartz Greco | Jan 23, 2009

Detail from “Re-production” by Mladen Miljanovic. Photo by John Feffer. Mladen Miljanovic, who won the prestigious Bell Award in 2007 as the best young visual artist in Bosnia Herzegovina, grew up during the wars that split apart Yugoslavia. He lived in the area of Bosnia that became Republika Srpska. His home was near one military […]

Pakistan and the Islamist Challenge

by John Feffer, Zia Mian, A.H. Nayyar | Dec 31, 2008

The murderous assault on Bombay by Islamist militants, at least some of whom were from Pakistan, has exposed once again the grave danger that radical Islamist movements pose to Pakistan, its neighbors, and the world. The urgent challenge now is for Pakistan and its neighbors, together with the international community, to work together to confront the risk of Pakistan spiraling into chaos and collapse.

No More Axes

by John Feffer | Dec 17, 2008

In Poland, in the first years after the fall of communism, the architects of its “shock therapy” economic reforms often compared their program to cutting the tail off a cat. If, for some reason, you were given the assignment of removing the unfortunate creature’s tail with an ax, it was best that you did it with one chop.

Excerpt: ‘The War Comes Home’

by Aaron Glantz, Emily Schwartz Greco | Dec 16, 2008

Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from Aaron Glantz’s The War Comes Home: Washington’s Battle against America’s Veterans (University of California Press). Tragically, the death described here occurred nearly six months after the Walter Reed Scandal broke.

Review: ‘Joschka Fischer and the Making of the Berlin Republic’

by John Feffer, Emily Schwartz Greco | Dec 15, 2008

The United States wasn’t the only country transformed by the social activism of the 1960s. Peace activists, Greens, and cultural hippies practically turned Germany upside down. And the man who has symbolized this thoroughgoing change more than any other German is Joschka Fischer.

Film Review: ‘Football Under Cover’

by Chiara Becker, Erik Leaver | Dec 12, 2008

A distinct mixture of cross-cultural communication, intra-gender relations, and love of all things soccer, Football Under Cover (2008) documents the story of one German recreational female soccer team’s quest to play a historical game of soccer against the "international" female soccer team of Iran. Due to Iran’s strict cultural and religious laws, Tehran’s team had never played a game against another team.

Mumbai Wake-up Call

by Frida Berrigan, Emily Schwartz Greco | Dec 11, 2008

A few months ago, trucks loaded with goods crossed a border. All over the world, this kind of thing happens every day, but not here. October marked the first time in 60 years that Indian trucks loaded with apples and walnuts traveled to Pakistan. The trucks returned carrying a shipment of Pakistani rice and raisins. […]