Defense & Security Archive

The conviction last week of Chad’s former president, Hissene Habre, for crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture is a significant victory for the civil society campaign that has fought tirelessly for more than 20 years to bring him to justice. In a Senegalese courtroom last Monday, Habre was sentenced to life in prison for his ultimate responsibility, as Chad’s head of state from 1982 to 1990, for thousands of cases of torture in secret prisons, along with killings, rapes and waves of repression against communities that opposed his rule. Delivering his verdict, the head of the specially created Extraordinary […]

Last week, El Salvador’s president, Salvador Sanchez Ceren, celebrated two years in office. El Faro, the country’s premier online investigative news source, acknowledged the milestone with a feature titled, “Seven Years of Governing Like ARENA.” It was a pointed commentary on the policy similarities between Sanchez Ceren’s left-wing Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) and its rival party, the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), which were also foes on the battlefield during El Salvador’s 12-year civil war. Since assuming office, Sanchez Ceren, a former leftist guerrilla commander, has continued the hard-line policies on gangs that go back to ARENA-led governments […]

Last Friday, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic made an unannounced visit to Moscow. The trip came amid reports of Russian concern with Serbia’s overtures to the West, including taking steps toward joining the European Union. Later that day, Russian President Vladimir Putin headed to Greece, where he discussed energy cooperation and investment with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, before visiting the male-only Monastery of St. Panteleimon on Mount Athos with the head of Russia’s Orthodox Church. The trip was Putin’s first to an EU country this year, as the debate heats up in Brussels over renewing EU sanctions against Russia […]

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and host Peter Dörrie discuss the United States’ relationship with Pakistan, evolving U.S. strategic partnerships, and the possibilities for unrest in the run-up to Kenya’s presidential elections next year. For the Report, Jan-Werner Müller joins us to talk about the growth of populism and the role it plays in European politics. Listen: Download: MP3Subscribe: iTunes | RSS Relevant articles on WPR: High Hopes, Great Disappointments: U.S.-Pakistan Relations Under Obama Are the Winds of Change Blowing for U.S. Strategic Partnerships? Protests and Clashes Likely Just the Start of Political Unrest in […]

Today the United States is more receptive to major change in its global strategy than it has been for decades. Things unthinkable or relegated to the political fringe only a few years ago are now on the table. This includes the reconfiguration of both partnerships and adversarial relationships. As his administration winds down, President Barack Obama made modest openings toward some of America’s longstanding opponents like Cuba and Iran, and sealed rapprochements with one-time adversaries like Vietnam. Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, has pushed in the opposite direction. Rather than forging new ties, he has called longstanding ones […]

U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent trip to Hiroshima, Japan, was symbolically important for historical reasons. It is also an example of the Obama administration’s ongoing efforts to manage old partnerships and solidify new ones as it rebalances its strategic focus to Asia. But the U.S. is not alone in eyeing countries in the region as potential partners. The following 10 articles are free for non-subscribers until Thursday, June 16. Managing U.S. Partnerships in Asia Looking Back to Look Ahead: The U.S.-Japan Alliance in Today’s Asia Following Obama’s visit to Hiroshima in May, Sheila Smith wrote that, symbolism aside, many still […]

Only hours after the chief representative of the Syrian rebels at the Geneva peace talks announced his resignation Sunday, citing the “stubbornness of the regime and its continued bombardments and aggression toward the Syrian people,” a new wave of air assaults battered the rebel-held city of Idlib, killing dozens of civilians. The respected Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian planes might have conducted the bombings, which struck close to a hospital. Moscow rejected the accusation, but the overwhelming evidence, regardless of the specifics in Idlib, underscores the fundamental deception at the core of Russia’s involvement in Syria, and the […]

Earlier this year, in Jeffrey Goldberg’s extended profile of President Barack Obama and his views on U.S. foreign policy, Pakistan was barely mentioned, except for one striking reference. Obama, Goldberg wrote, “privately questions why Pakistan, which he believes is a disastrously dysfunctional country, should be considered an ally of the U.S. at all.” Obama’s view is ironic, because he tried hard to strengthen Washington’s relations with Islamabad. The Obama administration came into office hoping to transform the relationship from a transactional, security-focused arrangement into a deeper, strategic partnership. His efforts, however, have largely proved unsuccessful. Obama’s Pakistan policy was doomed […]