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Leading Indicators: Off the Radar News Roundup

Judah Grunstein | Bio | 09 Feb 2010

- A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman reacted favorably to NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen's call for the alliance to develop more -- and more far-reaching -- global partnerships. The spokesman said China had already conducted security exchanges with NATO and would continue to do so.

- South Korea and Russia are having trouble agreeing on which Russian arms technology should be part of an arms-for-debt swap the two countries worked out in 1995 and updated in 2007.

- Turkey continues its assertive diplomacy in the Balkans, with a fifth trilateral meeting between the Turkish, Serbian and Bosnian foreign ministers scheduled in Ankara today. Turkey already is a part of Europe. The question is whether it will be part of the EU.

- The EU parliament voted in the first post-Lisbon European Commission, ending an eight-month caretaker period dating back to last June. A cynic might add that most observers would be hard-pressed to tell the difference.

- The head of Russia's Security Council stated that Russia had still not come to a final decision about whether to buy four French Mistral-class amphibious vessels, or build them in Russian shipyards. The decision will come down to which takes precedence, time or money. With both sides now leaving themselves face-saving outs, my hunch is that this deal will probably be determined by backroom lobbying within NATO.

- Chile's outgoing President Michelle Bachelet last week proposed sweeping legislation designed to overhaul the command structure and financing of its armed forces. The move aims in particular to undo Pinochet-era regulations in order to return military budgets to civilian control.

Researched by Kari Lipschutz.