Global Archive

It’s with great pleasure that we welcome Nikolas Gvosdev to WPR as a regular weekly columnist. As the former editor of the National Interest and a frequent commentator in both the print and broadcast media, Gvosdev is a well-known and well-respected foreign policy voice. We believe his approach to geopolitics, combining sharp-eyed realism with insightful and thought-provoking lines of examination, is a great fit for WPR. Beginning next week, his column will appear every Friday. We’d also like to take this opportunity to provide a brief overview of some of the changes we’ve made recently here at WPR. As you’ve […]

There’s no longer any question that Europe is feeling a growing sense of frustration with the Obama administration. But for the most part, thecritiques to date have been more on the level of personal rapport andform (how the missile defense decision was announced, for instance)rather than substance. Now, Olivier Debouzy, who Jean-Dominique Merchetdescribes as a “discreet but recognized specialist on strategicmatters,” offers both a structural and policy critique from a European perspective that’s worth noting. Debouzy begins by arguing that President Barack Obama’s foreign policyis incoherent, something he explains by both the absence in theadministration of a strategist on the […]

– Among the agreements signed during Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Malaysia was an MoU on banking regulation. This seems to be an increasing priority for Chinese regional policy. – Count World Bank President Robert Zoeller as the latest believer in the Yuan as an alternative reserve currency. – If China is looking to raise its profile in the Gulf, Qatar makes for a logical partner. – It looks like Japan and the U.S. have agreed to downgrade the Futenma base dispute, in advance of President Barack Obama’s imminent arrival in Tokyo. – China agrees to sell $1.4 billion […]

– Chinese President Hu Jintao kicked off a state visit to Malaysia, pledging to deepen strategic cooperation between the two countries. Hu is the first Chinese head of state to visit the country in 15 years. – China’s Health Ministry will step up regulation and licensing of medical practitioners, after a high-profile case of medical malpractice involving unlicensed medical students. – As part of its independent “space program,” Iran has announced plans to launch a second research satellite in 2011. – Macau, the Las Vegas of Asia, is running out of potable water. The city has 10 days of drinking […]

– Thought Chechnya was “pacified”? Think again. Violence has spiked since Russia officially ended its 10-year counterterror mission there in April. (The implications for Iraq seem ominous.) – It’s been a violent week for Chechnya’s North Caucasus neighbors, too, with attacks reported in Ingushetia, Dagestan and North Ossetia. – Japan continues its checkbook diplomacy, pledging $5.55 billion to the Mekong states: Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and, yes, Burma. Among the reasons for the aid given by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama are China’s growing influence and America’s greater interest in the region. Interesting . . . Chinese influence, American interest. […]

– South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak rules out a North-South summit without an end to the DPRK nuclear program. – The EU and India set ambitious goals for bilateral trade, but a long-negotiated free trade deal is still being held up by disagreements over EU demands on regulatory standards (a major component of EU soft power). At the same summit, the two sides signed a civil nuclear agreement on fusion research. – Another Indian free trade agreement, this one with South Korea, is set to take effect now that South Korea’s parliament just ratified the deal. Trade between the two […]

In the runup to the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Le Figaro has a slideshow on the walls that have yet to come down. One thing I’ve always found fascinating about humankind is that our ingenuity for building walls is matched only by our ingenuity for finding ways to bypass them. Whether it’s around, over, under or through, we manage to get to the other side. Good thing, too.

Editor’s note: As noted below, this will be the final “Under the Influence” column at World Politics Review. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank Andrew Bast for his contributions to WPR over the past 10 months. It’s been a pleasure working with him, and we wish him the best of success in all his endeavors. As this will be the final “Under the Influence” column here at World Politics Review, it seems only fitting to tackle what Charles Krauthammer, the iconic commentator, recently had to say about the question this column has been exploring for the last 10 […]

Aid workers are facing increasing dangers worldwide, but are continuingwith their work. Some aid groups are reluctantly looking to militarysupport as a last resort when trying to deliver aid to some of theworld’s most dire cases. Rachel Smalley reports for VOA News.

Ten years ago last month, the U.S. Senate failed to approve the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. A decade later, the dangers posed by the potential spread of nuclear weapons and materials to additional states and terrorists have increased dramatically. Stopping proliferation will require a global effort — and an early, essential step in that effort must be U.S. ratification of the test ban. The test ban is clearly consistent with U.S. security interests. Because the United States does not conduct nuclear tests and has no plans or the need to do so, the United States should take advantage of the […]

Much ink has been spilt over the question of whether or not globalization leads to the “death” of the nation-state, or at least its eclipse by a rising tide of super-empowered non-state actors — especially multinational corporations. On this score, history has been fairly clear: States that score high on globalization connectivity typically feature governments with extensive regulatory reach and strong enforcement capacity — not exactly the demise of the public sector. And yet, it’s also true that globalization’s increasingly dense weave of networks poses significant challenges to government oversight. I can think of no credible expert who argues that […]