By: Richard Gowan | Column
Diplomacy
is back in fashion in Washington. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
has restored much of the confidence the State Department lost in the
Bush era. Her successor, Sen. John Kerry, is likely to continue the
healing process. But history may be about to play a trick on the Obama
administration. The diplomatic renaissance in the U.S. seems to be
coinciding with a decline in diplomacy among other powers.
By: Catherine Cheney | Trend Lines
Last
week, Myanmar’s military launched airstrikes against ethnic rebels from
Kachin state in a conflict that has escalated since a cease-fire fell
apart in 2011.
By: Alex Thurston | Briefing
In
the Central African Republic, a rebel coalition has captured at least 11
towns and cities since launching an offensive on Dec. 10.
Efforts
at dialogue between the rebels and the government are underway, but both
sides have presented demands on which they refuse to negotiate. Given
the current impasse, talks may well fall apart, spelling trouble for
President Francois Bozizé -- and the CAR.
By: Matthew Duss | Feature
As
President Barack Obama begins his second term, it is safe to assume that
events in the Middle East will continue to occupy a considerable amount
of bandwidth for the administration, even as Washington continues to
manage a rebalancing of U.S. security investments toward Asia. Chief
among the president’s Middle East agenda items will be Iran. It is
important, however, to understand how other regional dynamics relate to
and impact U.S. policy.
By: Catherine Cheney | Trend Lines
Protests
have erupted in Northern Ireland in response to a vote by the Belfast
City Council to fly the United Kingdom’s flag, with its trademark Union
Jack symbol, above City Hall only on designated days, rather than every
day of the year as has been the tradition for the past century.
By: Richard Downie | Feature
Many
Africans had big expectations about the amount of attention they would
receive from the U.S. during President Barack Obama’s first term. Yet,
the administration’s approach to Africa was relatively low key compared
with the Bush presidency’s flurry of big-ticket initiatives. Looking
ahead to Obama’s second term, new administration will have to work
harder than ever to advance its objectives, and think strategically
about what it can offer Africans that others cannot.
By: Mark Leonard, Hans Kundnani | Feature
In
many ways, Barack Obama is the kind of U.S. president that Europeans
have always said they wanted: a pragmatist who is willing to change
course when plans fail, and who is inclined to work with any power that
shares his objectives. Yet this pragmatic worldview, which Europeans
welcome, is actually loosening the bonds holding Europe and the U.S.
together -- and may even be contributing to the hollowing out of the
liberal order itself.
By: Edward Alden | Feature
The
trade agreements under negotiation in 2013 could produce the biggest
negotiated liberalization of trade since the early 1990s, when NAFTA and
the Uruguay Round of world trade negotiations were completed. These new
moves are not the result of any grand strategy by the United States or
any other country, but instead are the flowering of initiatives that
have either been under consideration or moving forward slowly for many
years.
By: Amitav Acharya | Feature
The
idea of an Economic Asia and a Security Asia in a seemingly
irreconcilable relationship makes for a fashionable sound bite, but it
misreads the nature and implications of the emerging economic and
political order in Asia. Even if a “two Asias” scenario materializes,
greater regional instability will not necessarily ensue. In fact, there
would be advantages to Asia’s security and economic relations being
dominated by two different great powers.
By: The Editors | Trend Lines
In an
email interview, Antonio Ramalho, an expert on Brazil-European Union
relations at Brasilia University, explained the obstacles and
opportunities facing the France-Brazil bilateral relationship.
By: Steven Metz | Column
While
both the U.S. Army and Marine Corps were created during the American
Revolution, until the 20th century they had very different missions.
Eventually, though, the distinction between the two services narrowed,
and both Army and Marine leaders assume this convergence will continue.
If the only real distinction between the Army and the Marine Corps is
one of size, does the United States still need both?
By: Richard Javad Heydarian | Briefing
After
a year of intense diplomatic brinkmanship over the management of
maritime disputes in the South China Sea, Cambodia passed the rotating
chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to the tiny
kingdom of Brunei. Despite Brunei’s size and penchant for low-key
diplomacy, there are reasons to expect a relatively more constructive
and decisive ASEAN leadership under its leadership this year.
By: Catherine Cheney | Trend Lines
A
Pakistani soldier was killed today near the Line of Control, the de
facto border dividing the disputed Kashmir region between India and
Pakistan, becoming the fourth fatality in a week of cross-border
violence.
By: Frida Ghitis | Column
During
almost 14 years in office, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has tried
at every step to antagonize U.S. goals and undermine Washington’s
influence. Perhaps the greatest irritant of all was the close
relationship he forged with Iran. The question for Washington now is how
to maximize the chances that once Chávez leaves the scene, the ties
linking Caracas and Tehran will fade.
By: The Editors | Trend Lines
In an
email interview, Salvador Raza, a former Brazilian naval officer and
current adjunct professor at National Defense University, and Peterson
Silva, a doctoral student at the University of Sao Paulo, discussed the
state of the Brazilian defense sector in an email interview.
By: Nikolas Gvosdev | Column
The
first iteration of President Barack Obama's approach to national
security was an attempt to channel the moderate realism of the George
H.W. Bush administration. The beginnings of the "Arab awakening"
heralded a second phase, where the realists lost the major arguments
over Libya and Egypt. His nominees this week for State and Defense could
herald the third phase of Obama's national security approach.
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