Diplomacy & Politics Archive

In 1992, shortly after the fall of the Berlin wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the prominent German philosopher Peter Sloderdijk wrote that Europe’s hour had come, raising a question of historical importance: Would Europe be able to bind the U.S. and Russia together in a bold trilateral relation defining the new West? Twenty years later, in the aftermath of Russia’s recent presidential election and in the final hours before Tuesday’s presidential election in the U.S., it seems clear that Europe has failed to do so. Rather than being the powerful glue that secures a renewed relationship between […]

South Sudan has embarked on a program to transform the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), the country’s preindependence guerrilla army, into a professional, conventional force by 2017. However, the success of this transformation strategy, referred to as Objective Force 2017, is contingent on a number of factors, including the absence of major conflict with Sudan, South Sudan’s ability to recover from the impact of this year’s austerity budget and the military’s ability to undertake a significant reduction in force. The precise size of the SPLA is not known, but is estimated to be as high as 210,000 soldiers. As Objective […]

The emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, recently became the first head of state to visit Gaza since it came under the control of Hamas in 2007. In an email interview, Simon Henderson, director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, discussed the Qatari leader’s visit. WPR: What was the emir of Qatar hoping to achieve by the visit? Simon Henderson: It is not clear. Officially, Sheik Hamad was showing support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Unofficially, his principal motives seem to have been to project Qatar’s growing […]

Sudan’s role in the Iran-Israel conflict made headlines over the past week after a suspected Israeli airstrike on a munitions factory in Khartoum, Sudan was closely followed by a visit from two Iranian warships to Port Sudan. Katherine Zimmerman, the Gulf of Aden team leader for the American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project, told Trend Lines that Sudan plays a key role in Iran’s regional strategy, and the relationship is mutually beneficial. “Sudan has served as Iran’s toehold on the African continent and has provided sanctuary to Iranian proxy groups, as well as al-Qaida operatives, and serves as a key […]

During last week’s presidential debate on foreign policy, Republican nominee Mitt Romney missed an opportunity to criticize one aspect of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy that has gone largely unnoticed: the shift away from U.S. international radio broadcasting in favor of more high-tech media outlets. The dangers of the shift were underscored by a new law spearheaded by Russian President Vladimir Putin that will ban radio broadcasting in Russia starting Nov. 10 by companies that are more than 48 percent foreign-owned. Without protest, the American station Radio Liberty — Radio Svoboda in Russian — has decided to comply with the […]

No matter who wins the U.S. presidential election next week, the man who governs from January 2013 to January 2017 will face several challenges during his term in office. While we don’t know who the next American president will be, we do know what items will be appearing on his agenda. In 2014, Scottish voters will go to the polls to determine whether they wish to remain part of the United Kingdom or secede as an independent nation. With separatist sentiment also on display in other key regions of Europe, especially in Flanders (in Belgium) and Catalonia (in Spain), the […]

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s recent visit to New Delhi gave India-Australia relations a major boost. In a speech at the end of the trip, Gillard stressed the “compelling” need for a robust bilateral relationship and included India in a select group of countries that matter most for Australia. Security has been catapulted to the forefront of India-Australia relations. The two countries are planning to re-engage in a lapsed quadrilateral security dialogue, an idea initially mooted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007 with the U.S. as the fourth partner. The “arc of democracies,” as the association came to […]

On Monday, Musallam al-Barrak, a prominent opposition leader in Kuwait, was arrested after making comments critical of Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, ruler of the Persian Gulf state. The arrest comes against a backdrop of heightened tensions in Kuwait. The Arab Spring uprisings have worsened relations between Kuwait’s ruling family and the elected parliament, and in recent weeks a set of electoral reforms expected to diminish the power of the opposition has been met with violent protests. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a research fellow and Kuwait expert at the London School of Economics, told Trend Lines that al-Barrak’s arrest threatens to […]

Australia is officially seeking to shore up its role in the Asia-Pacific regional order, following the United States in pivoting toward a fuller embrace of Asia. A government strategy document released over the weekend, “Australia in the Asian Century,” sets out an all-encompassing plan for Australia to engage with and capitalize on relations with its Asian neighbors. Australia has ridden out the global financial crisis largely due China’s insatiable demand for natural resources. Future economic growth, however, will require broadening Australia’s export base. The government of Prime Minister Julia Gillard commissioned the white paper to start planning for a future […]

In recent years, democratic legitimacy has become a requirement for wielding power in an increasing number of countries. Populations that endured years of dictatorship now demand the right to elect their leaders. In a growing number of cases, however, politicians with authoritarian tendencies have found a way to game the system, extending their rule, seemingly indefinitely, while technically preserving their claim to democratic and constitutional lawfulness. The most remarkable aspect of this new trend is how well it works, and how much it seems to be spreading. Politicians in places as different and distant as Venezuela and Russia have successfully […]