WPR Articles March 24, 2014 - March 28, 2014 Global Insider: Signs of Discontent Grow in Gaza as Hamas Finances Deteriorate By: The Editors | Trend Lines Recent reports have indicated that Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs the Gaza Strip, is in the grip of its worst budget crisis since it took over the territory in 2007. In an email interview, Omar Shaban, the founder and director of the Gaza-based think tank Palthink for Strategic Studies, explained the origins of the crisis. Kagame’s Rwanda Presents South Africa With Delicate Balancing Act By: James Hamill | Briefing Relations between South Africa and Rwanda have suffered a sharp downturn with the murder and attempted murder in South Africa of two former high-level Rwandan security officers who had fled Rwanda for South Africa. While the Rwandan regime formally denied responsibility, the attacks have poisoned bilateral relations, which had been close until South Africa began providing safe haven for Rwandan exiles. Strategic Horizons: Planning the U.S. Military Response to Russian Revanchism By: Steven Metz | Column When the Cold War ended, the days of imperial expansion seemed to go with it. No one expected the revanchism of bygone empires to shape the 21st-century global security system. But that is exactly what is happening. Now that Russia seized a large chunk of Ukraine, policymakers, military strategists and security specialists are dusting off old ideas about imperial revanchism and reconsidering how to stop it. World Citizen: Venezuela, Once an Ideological Magnet, Now Worries Region By: Frida Ghitis | Column The continuing turmoil in Venezuela is being watched with a view toward the national interest in Caribbean and Latin American countries, most notably Cuba, which is feeling the impact of the contest for Caracas with particular intensity. The fall of President Nicolas Maduro and the end of the policies instituted by his mentor, the late President Hugo Chavez, would have strong repercussions in the region. Beijing Finds Neither ‘Iron-Fisted Rule’ Nor Development Bring Order to Xinjiang By: Kendrick Kuo | Briefing On March 1, a group of Uighurs from Xinjiang attacked a train station in southwest China using foot-long knives, killing 29 and injuring 143. The attack was a spillover from Xinjiang’s internal conflict, the source of which is a matter of dispute. Beijing’s attempts to bring order to the region through development, repression and regional coordination have so far failed, leaving it looking for alternatives.

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Full-Spectrum Diplomacy: Crimea Crisis Shows That Norms Still Matter

By: Heather Hurlburt | Column

The Crimea crisis has given realists a field day for attacking the belief structures of rules-based internationalists. Ukraine just paid the price of giving up its nuclear weapons 20 years ago, we hear. Integrating Russia into international economic institutions proved meaningless. Human rights and the rule of law don’t matter when great power interests are at stake. The reality, however, is more complicated.

Aid Under Fire: Health Care and the Costs of Conflict

By: Hannah Vaughan-Lee | Feature

In recent years, the security threats facing humanitarian aid workers have been the subject of headlines and debates. The humanitarian advocacy community has also been filled with discussions of a perceived increase in the politicization of humanitarian aid. But the debate over violence and politicization in turn raises another important and complex question that requires greater attention: Are the costs of conflict now greater for affected populations, particularly when it comes to health?

Global Insights: Global Nuclear Security Agenda at Pivot Point

By: Richard Weitz | Column

President Barack Obama’s whirlwind visit to Europe began yesterday against the looming shadow of the Ukraine crisis. While Obama will seek to rally Western resistance to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and affirm the administration’s strong commitment to European security, the trip was initially scheduled to coincide with the third Nuclear Security Summit, which focuses on preventing nuclear terrorism.

Improving the Odds: Battlefield Medicine in Iraq and Afghanistan

By: Robert Beckhusen | Feature

During the course of two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military has succeeded in reducing the mortality rate of soldiers injured in combat through a radical shift in doctrine, procedures and medical technology. Early on in the conflicts, the rate of preventable deaths was little different from 30 years prior. More than a decade later, a wounded soldier is much more likely to survive. These military practices are now being adopted in civilian settings, to the benefit of civilian medical providers.

Time for U.S. to Come Off the Sidelines on Venezuela Repression

By: Christopher Sabatini | Briefing

The arrest of two mayors by the Venezuelan government last week demonstrated that repression is ramping up in the oil-producing and deeply troubled country. Sadly, Venezuela’s neighbors are unlikely to do anything about it, and this collective failure to protect democratic norms and human rights has placed the U.S. in the position of coming forward to defend what was once thought to be a hemispheric consensus.

Unsafe Spaces: Trends and Challenges in Gender-Based Violence

By: Janie Leatherman, Nadezda Griffin | Feature

There is not sufficient evidence to determine whether the use of sexual violence in conflict is increasing or decreasing. However, evidence indicates it is widespread. Despite the prevalence of sexual violence in conflict today, we are no longer living in an era of silence and impunity. Nevertheless, the risks of sexual violence are shifting along with changes in the patterns of conflict and the spaces in which it takes place, requiring new approaches to support affected members of communities.

Despite Rift, U.S. and Russia Seek to Keep Arms Control On Track

By: Eric Auner | Trend Lines

Even as the United States works with allies to isolate Russia diplomatically and deter further Russian aggression, the Obama administration hopes to maintain business as usual in efforts to restrain threats from nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Russian cooperation is a prerequisite for almost any meaningful progress in tackling nuclear and WMD proliferation in Iran and elsewhere.

Despite Thaw, EU Struggles to Find Unified Policy on China

By: Famke Krumbmuller | Briefing

Following a period of difficult relations between the EU and China, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first trip to Europe this week—which will include a stopover at the EU headquarters in Brussels, the first such visit by a Chinese president—indicates that advances in ties will continue into 2014. But this year is unlikely to see a radical turning point due to EU leadership changes and national-level concerns.

Court Ruling Reinforces Thailand’s Coup Culture and Augurs More Turmoil

By: Elliot Brennan | Briefing

Thailand’s political deadlock has shifted from the streets to the courts. A March 21 ruling by the Constitutional Court invalidating the result of the country’s Feb. 2 election vividly highlighted the change of venue. When the court made a similar ruling in 2006, annulling an election result, the military installed a new, unelected government. The court’s most recent ruling has many concerned again.

EU-U.S. Summit Draws Focus Back to U.S. Engagement in Europe’s Security

By: Eric Auner | Trend Lines

With the U.S. and its allies ramping up the pressure on Russia over its annexation of Crimea, President Barack Obama spoke yesterday in Brussels at an annual summit between the United States and the European Union. In particular, Obama expressed willingness to help bolster NATO’s ability to defend those members most immediately threatened by Russia, and a joint statement highlighted trade and nonproliferation commitments.

The Realist Prism: Crimea Crisis Puts the Lie to America’s Long-Term Planning

By: Nikolas Gvosdev | Column

The Ukraine crisis has once again highlighted a fundamental weakness of the U.S. national security process: its inability to hold to long-term planning in the midst of short-term crises. At the beginning of 2014, it seemed that, Washington might finally begin to match action to rhetoric and concentrate on the Asia-Pacific region. Now, the talk in U.S. foreign policy circles is all about a “pivot” back to Europe.