EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini observes a minute of silence at Jose Marti Memorial, Havana, Cuba, March 24, 2015 (EU Commission photo).

Last month, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announced that the EU and Cuba had agreed to accelerate talks on establishing a cooperation agreement to normalize ties, which would hopefully be signed by the end of the year. Mogherini was in Havana for the third round of talks between the EU and Cuba since negotiations started up again in April 2014. The EU has tried several times in the past to negotiate a cooperation agreement with Cuba, first in 1995 and again in 2000, but talks have always failed. On the Cuban side, one of the biggest factors preventing […]

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev meets with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Hanoi, Vietnam, April 7, 2015 (photo from the website of the government of the Russian Federation).

Like the United States, Russia has been pursuing its own more limited version of a Pacific pivot. Most often President Vladimir Putin has led this campaign, with frequent visits to the region, but Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev took charge of the effort last week with a pair of two-day visits to Thailand and Vietnam. In its approach to Asia, Russia has strived to strengthen relations with China while also pursuing other partnerships to maximize Moscow’s bargaining leverage and hedge against problems in any one relationship. Russia has long-standing ties with India and has sought to improve relations with Japan, although […]

Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders of other countries line up for a photo at a ceremony to mark the decision to set up the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Beijing, China, Oct. 24, 2014 (Pool photo by Kyodo News via AP Images).

The golden age of American economic primacy has ended. Two years ago, China surpassed the United States as the world’s top trading nation, and late last year it also surpassed the U.S. to become the world’s largest economy in purchasing-power terms. China is an economic titan, but until recently, its impressive rise had not been accompanied by a vision to reshape the global economic order. However, this is beginning to change. Rather than accepting the status quo as given, Beijing is slowly working to revise foundational elements of the U.S.-led economic order. First, it has called into question the desirability […]

U.S. President Barack Obama and Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller during their bilateral meeting at the Jamaica House, April 9, 2015, Kingston, Jamaica (AP photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais).

U.S. President Barack Obama’s announcement of $20 million in financing for private investment in Caribbean clean energy projects at a meeting yesterday with the region’s leaders in Kingston, Jamaica, comes at a good time: After a lost decade, during which easy access to cheap Venezuelan oil undermined incentives to seek alternative sources, the Caribbean now faces long-deferred decisions on how it sources and uses energy. The slump in global oil prices has hit Venezuela’s economy hard, threatening its Petrocaribe trade program, established by the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 2005 to sell subsidized oil and diesel to the group’s […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras attend a signing ceremony in the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, April 8, 2015 (AP photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko).

This week, the United States found itself in a brief and unusual diplomatic spat with its normally quiet NATO ally, the Czech Republic. The U.S. ambassador in Prague, Andrew Schapiro, criticized Czech President Milos Zeman for saying he would attend the May 9 Victory Day parade in Moscow, which commemorates the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany. The mainly ceremonial president’s announcement infuriated not only the U.S., but many Czechs, including Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, since it came despite the European Union’s ongoing sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis. Today, Zeman changed course, announcing that he would not be […]

Cameroon President Paul Biya, left, talks with Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba at an EU Africa summit at the EU Council building in Brussels, April 3, 2014 (AP photo by Geert Vanden Wijngaert).

Gabon hardly ever makes headlines outside of the French-language press, so it’s little surprise that the storm brewing over this small, oil-rich country on the west coast of Central Africa for the past few months has received little attention. Yet all indicators point to political turbulence ahead in the run-up to Gabon’s next presidential election, which is scheduled for mid-2016, given a series of protests and strikes, including a teachers’ union strike that has paralyzed Gabon’s education system since February. The growing social unrest has affected Gabon’s economy, with its health, petroleum and telecommunications sectors all feeling the impact; in […]

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indonesian President Joko Widodo review a guard of honor prior to their meeting at Abe’s official residence in Tokyo, March 23, 2015 (AP photo by Koji Sasahara).

Last month, Japan and Indonesia signed a defense pact that covers capacity building, peacekeeping and equipment development. In an email interview, Zachary Abuza, principal of Southeast Asia Analytics, discussed Japan-Indonesia relations. WPR: What is the nature of the Japan-Indonesia bilateral relationship, and what is the extent of political, economic and defense ties? Zachary Abuza: Indonesia and Japan have close economic ties, with bilateral trade now amounting to over $50 billion a year. Japan is a major investor in Indonesia’s manufacturing sector, and it is the single largest provider of development assistance—more than $40 billion since 1960. Indonesia is also seeking […]

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at Howard University in Washington, Tuesday, April 7, 2015 (AP photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais).

Several events in the past month have raised the question of whether the United States has entered the first stages of its decline in the global arena. Of them, the framework agreement reached between the P5+1 powers—the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Russia and China—and Iran in Switzerland last week has received the most scrutiny. The U.S. entered diplomatic efforts with the stated goal of seeing Iran’s capabilities to enrich uranium completely dismantled—but ended up accepting Iran’s right to preserve, albeit under rigid supervision, a good deal of its nuclear infrastructure. While the Iran talks have dominated the headlines, there have […]

Russian air force helicopters fly over Red Square during a Victory Day parade, which commemorates the 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany, Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2014 (AP photo by Denis Tyrin).

Russia’s military has experienced a remarkable recovery during the past decade. This is most evident in the success of Russia’s swift occupation of Crimea last year and ongoing support for separatist forces in eastern Ukraine. Equally impressive, if less visible, is the rebound of the country’s military-industrial complex, referred to by the Russian initials VPK, which suffered heavily from the break-up of the Soviet Union’s integrated defense industries and the Russian government’s budgetary difficulties during the 1990s. In its worst years, under former President Boris Yeltsin, the VPK was unable to manufacture more than a few weapons systems each year. […]

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang shake hands ahead of their meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, Dec. 15, 2014 (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexander Astafyev, Government Press Service).

Beginning in January and accelerating in the last week of March, senior State Department officials have been making high-profile speeches on U.S. interests and policies regarding Central Asia. The policy rollout culminated on March 31, when Deputy Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken delivered a speech at the Brookings Institution on Washington’s long-term vision for Central Asia. Combined, the speeches offer insight into Washington’s approach to the resource-rich and highly contested region. As some observers have pointed out, one novel element of that approach is an explicit U.S. attempt to praise China’s growing presence in Central Asia, while condemning that […]

A newspaper distributor counts copies to give to eager sellers the morning after the presidential election, Kano, Nigeria, April 1, 2015 (AP photo by Ben Curtis).

After a six-week election delay in February, Nigerians went to the polls last weekend. To the surprise of many, they voted out an incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan, who faced growing criticism for failing to address corruption, poverty and the threat of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram. Jonathan was defeated by 72-year-old Muhammadu Buhari, a retired general who led a successful military coup in 1983 and, more recently, was runner-up in the previous three presidential elections. Buhari’s decisive victory, which relied on substantial support from northern and southwestern Nigeria, was the first electoral defeat of an incumbent president in Nigerian […]

Uzbek President Islam Karimov greets people during the festivities marking the Navruz holiday, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, March 21, 2015 (AP photo).

On Monday, in a result that surprised no one, Uzbek President Islam Karimov won re-election to another five-year term with over 90 percent of the vote. Karimov, who became president of Uzbekistan in 1990, a year before the republic’s independence from the Soviet Union, is widely regarded as one of the most authoritarian post-Soviet leaders. But while his overwhelming victory was never in doubt, the 77-year-old president’s regime may be less stable than it appears. Political intrigue in Tashkent and a shifting geopolitical landscape in Central Asia hint at the uncertainty that might follow Karimov’s rule. The most populous of […]

A man holds a framed image of the late President Hugo Chavez during a pro-government rally ahead of the two-year anniversary of his death, Caracas, Venezuela, Feb. 28, 2015 (AP photo by Fernando Llano).

Two years after the death of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela finds itself mired in crisis. A drop in energy prices has devastated an already weak economy, while a crackdown on civil society has stifled the political opposition. This report draws on articles covering Venezuela from the outset of President Nicolas Maduro’s tenure. Subscribers can download a PDF copy using the download button in the toolbar above (you must be logged in to see the button). Non-subscribers can purchase a PDF copy for $5.99. Chavez’s Legacy In Post-Chavez Venezuela, a Dystopian Drama UnfoldsBy Frida GhitisNov. 21, 2013 Strategic Posture Review: VenezuelaBy David […]

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif speaks during a press conference in Lausanne, Switzerland, April 2, 2015, (AP photo by Brendan Smialowski).

As The Associated Press reports, “After marathon negotiations, the United States, Iran and five other world powers announced a deal Thursday outlining limits on Iran’s nuclear program so it cannot lead to atomic weapons, directing negotiators toward a comprehensive agreement within three months.” A fact sheet distributed by the U.S. State Department provides the key parameters of the framework nuclear deal, with surprisingly specific terms. Iran has agreed to reduce its number of installed centrifuges by approximately two-thirds and not to enrich uranium over 3.67 percent for at least 15 years—a level suitable as fuel for nuclear power plants, but […]

Dar es Salaam Port, Tanzania, Sept. 12, 2014 (World Bank photo by Rob Beechy).

In late February, the United States signed a trade deal with the East African Community (EAC), the bloc of five countries around Africa’s Great Lakes. In an email interview, Nora Carina Dihel, a senior trade economist at the World Bank, discussed U.S. trade with the EAC and the rest of Africa. WPR: What is covered by the recent U.S. trade deal with the EAC, and what impact is it likely to have on the economies of the EAC? Nora Carina Dihel: The new cooperation agreement signed by trade ministers from the five EAC countries—Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda—and the […]

Showing 18 - 32 of 32First 1 2