WPR Articles 01 Jul 2013 - 05 Jul 2013 Revamped Visegrad Group Yet to Live Up to Strategic Potential By: Robert Kron | Briefing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stopped in Warsaw recently for his first summit with the Visegrad Group, an alliance of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. While the gathering was held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Visegrad-Japanese cooperation, a closer look reveals its deeper significance: The summit was emblematic of the growing importance of Central Europe in the international arena. Global Insights: Caspian Complexities Block Russia-Iran Naval Axis By: Richard Weitz | Column The recent announcement that Russia and Iran intend to hold a combined naval exercise in the Caspian Sea later this year should not have come as a surprise. The two sides have engaged in such joint drills in previous years, and they have enjoyed a surprisingly harmonious relationship regarding regional security issues. Nevertheless, the drill should be understood in the complex context of the Caspian Sea region. Vietnam’s Political Crisis Blocks Needed Reforms By: Adam Fforde | Briefing Vietnam’s prime minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, recently survived a confidence vote in the National Assembly as well as severe pressure at the most recent party plenum. Despite being theoretically subordinate to the Vietnamese Communist Party Politburo, Dung’s personal political power has allowed him to continue in office. Due to the resulting political paralysis, however, policy across the board is in limbo. U.S. Nuclear Accommodation of Brazil a Model for Iran Policy? By: Matias Spektor | Briefing Iranian President-elect Hasan Rouhani has shown interest in nuclear negotiations but has said he will not accept a moratorium on uranium enrichment. As chief nuclear negotiator in 2004, Rouhani noted Brazil’s example, saying that once the country completed its nuclear fuel cycle against the West’s wishes, “the world started to work with them.” The U.S. did accommodate Brazil’s nuclear ambitions to good effect. The Realist Prism: In Egypt, U.S. Must Choose Between Democracy and Liberalism By: Nikolas Gvosdev | Column On Wednesday, Gen. Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Egypt's military chief of staff, announced that the country's elected president, Mohammed Morsi, had been removed from office. The events of the "second Egyptian revolution" now present the Obama administration with an unpleasant choice: to support an elected but illiberal leader or to accept a military coup d'etat to preserve the possibility of a secular, liberal Egypt. More Diplomatic Fallout: Is Mali the Next Darfur for U.N. Peacekeeping? By: Richard Gowan | Column Though Darfur, Sudan, is far from calm, fresher crises have long replaced it at the top of the international agenda. Yet policymakers grappling with these newer conflicts should keep Darfur in mind. There is a risk that some of the mistakes made there are now being repeated elsewhere. In particular, there are unnerving parallels between the U.N. peacekeeping force in Mali and the ill-fated mission in Darfur. Global Insider: Syrian Conflict Amplifies Egypt’s Sectarian Tensions By: The Editors | Trend Lines In an email interview, Eric Trager, Next Generation fellow and an expert on Egyptian politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, explained how Syria’s war has affected Egypt, and Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi’s influence on the broader region. Park-Xi Summit Shows Mutual Interest in Improved South Korea-China Ties By: Catherine Cheney | Trend Lines On Sunday, South Korean President Park Geun-hye returned from a four-day visit to China that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said heralded a new chapter in bilateral relations. Strategic Horizons: For Syria No-Fly Zone, Less Is More By: Steven Metz | Column As the United States stumbles about in search of a coherent strategy in Syria, one idea that continues to resurface is the establishment of a no-fly zone. Resistance to the idea from experienced defense officials may be based on inapplicable analogies, which invariably rely on Libya and Iraq. A no-fly zone in Syria, in contrast, might have more limited objectives than the ones in those two countries. China’s Growing Security Role in Southeast Asia Raises Hopes and Fears By: Ian Storey | Briefing With the expansion of China’s regional and global interests, it is inevitable that Beijing will increasingly use security diplomacy to protect and advance those interests. This trend is readily apparent in Southeast Asia, China’s strategic backyard. But while China’s cooperative security overtures have been welcomed, the assertive use of its maritime forces continues to fuel concern among its nearest neighbors. See more Articles at World Politics Review