In December, Italy’s bilateral trade agreements with Russia drew media scrutiny. First, a Wikileaks cable release indicated anxiety on the part of various U.S. diplomats over Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s close friendship with Russia’s leaders, particularly Russian President Vladimir Putin. Then Italy’s largest energy company, Eni, renewed its extensive 2006 contract with Russia’s Gazprom, including plans to jointly build the South Stream pipeline across the Black Sea, as well as cooperation in drilling, transportation and personnel training. Critics in Italy and abroad believe the energy partnership between the two nations results as much from Berlusconi’s personal politics as from […]

Brazil’s recent achievements in developing a sound economy, harnessing natural resources, lifting tens of thousands out of poverty and even landing the 2016 Olympic games has many convinced that its emergence as a world power is inevitable. But ongoing internal challenges, especially poor educational performance, may delay its rise. Outgoing President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva’s obsession with immediate poverty alleviation and school attendance led him to overlook the underlying institutional and policy challenges facing Brazil’s education system. And though President Dilma Rousseff’s new administration has made strengthening that system a priority, it faces myriad bureaucratic, financial and policy obstacles […]

This is Part II in a four-part series. Part I examined the follow-up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol. Part II examines the REDD+ agreement. Part III will examine financial assistance. And Part IV will examine technology transfers and adaptation. CANCÚN, Mexico — Amid all the discussion of global warming and how the international community can deal with it, the term “REDD +” was a particular focus of attention at December’s Cancún conference on climate change. The initiative stands out as the newest, but perhaps the least-tested and least-understood method to reduce global carbon emissions and abate rising temperatures. If the […]

2010 began with disappointment over the Copenhagen climate change summit, only to end on a note of guarded optimism over the success — or lack of failure — in Cancun. Meanwhile, changing climate patterns have opened up new areas to mineral extraction, while exacerbating existing tensions over water. All of these developments take place against the backdrop of increasing global competition for mineral resources and rare earth elements. In this special report, World Politics Review considers climate change and resource competition through articles published in 2010. Below are links to each article in this special report, which subscribers can read […]

This is Part I in a four-part series. Part I examines the follow-up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol. Part II will examine the REDD+ agreement. Part III will examine financial assistance. And Part IV will examine technology transfers and adaptation. CANCÚN, Mexico — Observers and participants at December’s climate change summit in Cancún, Mexico, routinely identified a follow-up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol as one area where progress was essential. The odds of reaching one were not promising. With just one year left on the Kyoto treaty, and Japan firm in its stance that it will not permit an extension […]