|
- What in the World is China?, Nina
Hachigian
- A Birthday Wish List, Julian Wong
- Judging Bush, Lawrence Korb and Laura
Conley
- No Obituaries Yet for Capitalism in
Russia, Samuel Charap
- The Wrong Question, Caroline Wadhams
- An Uneasy Alliance in Eastern Congo,
Colin Thomas-Jensen, Noel Atama, and Olivia Caeymaex
- The Counterinsurgency Debate: A Tale of
Two Countries, Colin Thomas-Jensen
- The G-20: An Architecture for a New Day,
Nina Hachigian
- The US and Afghanistan, Brian Katulis
- Hu Speaks - What Next?, Julian Wong
- Is Latin America Moving to the Right?,
Stephanie Miller
- Obama Must Show Leadership on
Afghanistan, Lawrence Korb
- State Secrets Doctrine an Improvement,
Ken Gude
- Afghanistan Requires More than Just
Troops, Brian Katulis
- Don't Underestimate the Sudanese Regime,
John Prendergast
- New Potential for Unity of Action in Iran
Talks, Brian Katulis
|
|
|
Nina Hachigian, "What in the World
is China?," Nina Hachigian, Los
Angeles Times, September 30, 2009
What better way to celebrate a birthday than to take to the world
stage? Last week, Hu Jintao became the first Chinese president to
address the U.N. General Assembly, a privilege seemingly reserved for
the president of the United States and colorful despots such as Moammar
Kadafi. The People's Republic, which turns 60 on Thursday, has evolved
from tin-pot polity to powerhouse. And among the spectacular
transformations China has undergone, its dramatic turnabout in how it
relates to the world stands out.
Click here to
read the full article.
Julian Wong, "A Birthday Wish List: China's Climate
Challenge and the Next 60 Years," Center for American Progress,
September 30, 2009
China now finds itself at a crossroads.
As the country struggles to
come to terms with its imminent status as a global superpower, it is
staring in the face of vast, systemic resource challenges. China faces
a triple threat to its energy, water, and food security, and there is
one common thread: climate change.
Click here to
read the full article.
Lawrence Korb and
Laura Conley, "Forging an American Empire," Judging Bush, September 30, 2009
Although presidential legacies often
become clear only in the long
term, the historical analysis of George W. Bush's two terms in office
will focus intently on the conduct and outcome of his foreign policy.
The man who came to the Oval Office with a domestic policy agenda and
no international experience will be remembered less for his attention
to such initiatives as raising test scores or expanding trade
liberalization than for taking the United States into wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq, particularly the latter.
Click here to
read the full book chapter.
Samuel Charap, "No Obituaries Yet
for Capitalism in Russia," Current
History, September 29, 2009
The global economic crisis devastated Russia’s economy. With the
exception of its neighbor Ukraine, Russia suffered perhaps more than
any other emerging market. In addition to the credit crunch and capital
flight that occurred in practically all these markets, Russia was also
hit by a collapse in demand for its main export commodities, in
particular hydrocarbons. When world oil prices dropped by more than
half in the past year, Russia found itself in deep trouble.
Click here to
read the full article.
Caroline Wadhams "The
Wrong Question," Foreign Policy,
September 28, 2009
In his
recent assessment
of the war in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and
NATO commander in Afghanistan, argued that focusing on increasing troop
levels and resources misses the point. Despite this assertion, the U.S.
public debate barrels along focused almost exclusively on one question:
should the United States send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan?
Click here to
read the full article.
Colin Thomas-Jensen,
Noel Atama and Olivia Caeymaex, "An Uneasy Alliance in Eastern Congo," Enough Project, September 28, 2009
The human cost of
Operation Kimia II—the ongoing joint
offensive by the Congolese army and United Nations peacekeepers against
Rwandan rebels in eastern Congo—outweighs its benefits. Although
Kimia
II has led to gains in the fight against the Democratic Forces for the
Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR,
by forcing the rebels to abandon a number of the lucrative mining areas
that help sustain their insurgency, efforts to protect civilians during
this offensive have been woefully inadequate. A spike in atrocities
against civilians has worsened an already dreadful humanitarian
situation in North and South Kivu provinces. Since military operations
against the FDLR began in January 2009, 800,000 people have fled their
homes—the highest number of newly displaced in any African
conflict.
Click here to
read the full article.
Colin Thomas-Jensen, "The Counterinsurgency Debate: A
Tale of Two Countries," Huffington
Post, September 28, 2009
While we discuss the way forward
in Afghanistan, a calamitous
counterinsurgency operation is unfolding in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo without the benefit of the same kind of thoughtful debate. In
the forested terrain of Congo's eastern provinces, the Congolese army
and United Nations peacekeeping forces are waging a campaign that has
little chance to succeed and has deepened what was already one of the
world's worst humanitarian emergencies. As in Afghanistan, the strategy
in Congo demands a rethink.
Click here to
read the full article.
Nina Hachigian, "The
G-20: A New Architecture for a New Day?," WorldFocus, September 28, 2009
Policies
within the established
architectures [are] changing, but
finally the architectures [are] changing too. First, the G-20 resolved
to replace the G-8 as the go-to group for global economic leadership.
As I’ve written frequently, this is the right move. But a lot of
questions remain including — who are the 20? Are they going to be
the
current 29 or so leaders, or will they find a way to shrink the group
to a more manageable size? More importantly, will they find a mechanism
to “refresh” the membership every so often? The top
economies won’t
always be comprised of this group. It would ensure the group’s
future
relevance if they brought in new blood and excused old blood every now
and again, as I’ve suggested in the past.
Click here to
read the full article.
Brian Katulis,
"Dust-Up: The U.S. and Afghanistan," Los Angeles Times, September 23-25, 2009
At this stage, Obama's reluctance to
increase troop levels is not only
appropriate but necessary. Asking tough questions about additional
troop requests is appropriate given the serious questions about our
partners in Afghanistan. Any possible new counterinsurgency strategy in
dealing with Afghanistan is dependent on having a government there that
not only has legitimacy in the eyes of its people but shares the same
goals that we have.
Click here to
read the full debate.
Julian Wong, "Hu
Speaks - What Next?," China Dialogue, September 25, 2009
Taken together, China is sending a
strong message that it is serious
about tackling climate change and is shaping a comprehensive approach
that begins to meet the expectations that the international community
has of China. This should serve not only as an indication to the
developed countries of China’s good faith on climate action, but
also
as a catalyst to other developing countries to formulate their own
robust low-carbon strategies.
Click here to
read the full article.
Stephanie Miller, "Is Latin America Moving to the
Right?," Center for American Progress, September 24, 2009
Nearly half a decade ago the dominant
political story
in Latin America was the growing strength of leftist movements, often
called the “rise of the left,” and a string of electoral
victories by
left-leaning candidates throughout the region. But now that the region
is entering a new wave of presidential and parliamentary elections, the
scales may be tipping away from the leftist trend as a significant
number of polls show conservative candidates leading in several
countries where a leftist president is currently in power. There have
also already been conservative electoral victories in several countries
where there were formerly either left-leaning presidents or majorities
in congress.
Click here to
read the full article.
Public Radio
International - Lawrence Korb argues that President Obama
must assert greater leadership on Afghanistan: "If he wants to go
ahead and accomplish what he had set out as his
objectives, he's going to have to do almost what he did on healthcare
and give a speech to the American people and explain to them a couple
of things."
Washington Independent
- Ken Gude describes the Obama administration's new state secrets
standard as a "big improvement" on previous practices: "I understand
that there may be instances when it's not possible to go
forward without certain evidence, but a judge should make that decision
after plaintiffs have had a chance to plead their case without it."
Minnesota Public Radio
- Brian Katulis argues that just sending additional military assets to
Afghanistan will be insufficient: "This sort of threat we face in
Afghanistan is not a conventional threat. ... We also need to make sure
that the other agencies [and] partners in the coalition are also
delivering on some of the basics, which include not only security but
also governance."
Washington Post
- John Prendergast warns that the administration's special envoy to
Sudan, is underestimating the Bashir regime: "They do not respond to
nice guys coming over and saying, 'We have to
be a good guest'. They eat these people for dinner."
Voice of America
- Brian Katulis says revelations of new Iranian enrichment facilities
may unify the international community in upcoming talks with the
regime: "My hope is that it will get Russia and China and some of the
other countries that were reluctant to sign on to even more
stringent economic sanctions to really send a clear message to the
Iranians... this week was a week of a lot of talk, a lot of that talk
good, but what we need right now is action."
|
|
|
The Road Forward on
Middle East Peace
October 1, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
At the United Nations General Assembly meeting
this week, President
Obama made clear the imperative of concluding a comprehensive Middle
East peace, including a sustainable two-state solution, not only to
Israelis, Palestinians, and their neighbors, but to the international
community as well. He urged all the parties to move toward final status
negotiations despite the obstacles, history, and mistrust.
Please join Middle East Progress, a project of the
Center for
American Progress, for a discussion with Congressman Robert Wexler
(D-FL), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a
leading congressional voice on Middle East issues, about how to move
forward.
Introduction by:
Winnie Stachelberg, Senior Vice President for External
Affairs, Center for American Progress
Featured Speaker:
Congressman Robert
Wexler (D-FL)
Moderated by:
Moran Banai,
U.S. Editor of Middle East Bulletin
For more information and to RSVP, please click here.
Sign
up:
Policy
e-newsletters
The
Progress Report
To
unsubscribe, click here
Support
the Center for American Progress
Comments, questions:
Email
Us
National
Security Policy Weekly
is a product of the Center for American Progress |
|
|
