Briefing Archive

A decade ago, when Hurricane Mitch devastated Central America, the world reacted with immediate, nearly unlimited generosity. Two weeks after that disaster, the U.S. already had pledged $263 million. Soon thereafter, Sweden hosted an international pledging conference that produced pledges of $9 billion to rebuild smarter and better. By contrast, in barely three weeks beginning in mid-August, four hurricanes — Fay, Gustav, Hannah and Ike — lashed Haiti and the Caribbean, and the international response has been eerily muted. In Haiti, roads are still blocked, bridges are down, and the country’s agricultural heartland is flooded. More than 800 were killed, […]

On Oct. 16, 2002, President Bush signed the Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution into law. But six years later, neither the political left nor the political right has internalized the key lessons we should have learned from the run up to the Iraq War. Both Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain deserve credit: Obama for his skepticism and opposition to the war in 2002 and 2003, McCain for supporting the Surge which has helped make the decision to invade Iraq marginally less disastrous than it appeared in 2006. But the debate over those two questions this […]

The Arab Gulf States and the United States are adopting increasingly contradictory positions on Iran. Each side seems bent on undermining the other, potentially leading to precisely the outcome that each side is trying to prevent. Here’s how. There is a strong tendency in the Gulf Arab states to try to co-opt adversaries. The most famous example may be King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud’s propensity for marrying the daughters of rival tribes of the Arabian Peninsula in the early 20th century, but there are many others. The United Arab Emirates exists as a country in part because the richest emirate, […]

The uncertainty that characterizes the current global financial crisis extends beyond the markets, and its drama beyond the erratic moves of securities prices. When the dust settles after this economic storm, power relations will also have changed. One of the great unknowns — and one that will mark the character of the post-crisis era — is whether the new Russia will emerge from the crisis fortified or weakened. To hear Russia’s current prime minister and still-strongman, Vladimir Putin, tell it, this dire predicament is a well-deserved rebuke of American power. Speaking to Communist Party members of the Russian Parliament, a […]

In the midst of two wars and with an “era of persistent conflict” foreseen ahead, America and its military are confronting battlefield urgencies and operational complexities that challenge the very way in which we conceive of warfare. Whether on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, or on the waters off of Somalia, the reality of today’s conflicts have exposed gaps in our tactical thinking and operational approach to waging war. The responses have combined doctrinal evolutions and operational innovations, demonstrating once again the strategic asset represented by American ingenuity and creative thinking. But they have also generated a passionate and […]

The U.S.S. Kearsarge amphibious assault ship set sail from Norfolk, Va., in August, on a mission to provide free medical care to six Latin American countries. But five days into her four-month cruise, on Aug. 11, Kearsarge made an important detour, swinging within helicopter range of Miami to receive visitors. The roughly 20 people who clambered aboard from the hulking Marine Corps choppers represented a mix of U.S. military brass, civilian aid workers, local Miami elected officials and Spanish-language media. “Our multinational team is dedicated to recommit and fortify our relationships in South America,” Capt. Frank Ponds, ranking U.S. officer […]

The Russian government may not yet describe itself as a superpower, but its latest military exercise, “Stability 2008,” clearly aims to affirm Russia’s global military reach. The exercise’s hypothetical scenario posited a local conflict (e.g., over Georgia) that escalates into a world war, pitting Russia and its ally, Belarus, in a conflict with the West in which both sides employ land, air, maritime, and eventually nuclear forces. All three components of Russia’s strategic nuclear deterrent (bombers, submarines, and land forces) participated in the maneuvers, which were the largest conducted on Russian territory since the collapse of the Soviet Union in […]

LIMA, Peru — Earlier this month, lawmakers in the United States passed a bill that would renew trade preferences to four countries in South America. The Andean Trade Preferences Act was signed in 1991 and eliminated tariffs on a host of exports from Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru in an effort to bolster economic development in the region and offer alternatives to drug trafficking. The latest renewal was set to expire at the end of this year. U.S. President George W. Bush is expected to sign the bill, despite having requested last month that Bolivia’s beneficiary status be suspended, citing […]

CONFRONTING THE CRISIS — An EU financial doctrine and a new set of EU regulations for executive compensation in the banking and financial sector have emerged out of the financial chaos of the last week, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said in Washington on Friday. The new doctrine says EU governments will protect their financial institutions, safeguard the taxpayers’ interests, put in motion a reform of the financial sector, guarantee bank deposits, and take a short term stake in financial institutions to help their recovery. The European Union’s 27 member states will apply the financial doctrine according to their needs […]

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Three weeks after Zimbabwe’s historic powersharing agreement was signed in Harare on Sept. 15 by President Robert Mugabe and opposition leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, the country’s national unity government has yet to materialize. The three rivals have failed to resolve a standoff over key cabinet positions, with the opposition accusing the Zimbabwean leader of trying to make it a junior partner in the proposed unity government. According to the deal, brokered by former South African President Thabo Mbeki under the auspices of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Mugabe’s ZANU (PF) party is entitled […]

Last week, when the financial system threatened to unravel in the United States, European Union leaders called an emergency summit to devise a common approach to the crisis. In Washington, unseemly bickering between political parties had already defeated one attempt to pass a $700 billion rescue package. The American political and economic system looked seriously wounded. This might have marked the moment for a unified Europe, viewed by many as a counter-balance to the U.S., to act decisively and effectively in a time of peril. As it happened, however, the “fraternité” long dreamed of by some in the EU vaporized […]

Mexico’s drug violence reached a peak on Sept. 15, the eve of Independence Day, when a grenade attack on civilians bloodied a historic plaza in Morelia, capital of Michoacan state. But the very ferocity of the attack has managed to unite Mexican society against organized crime to an unprecedented degree. Coming on top of the roughly 3,800 murders attributed to drug violence just this year, the attack, which killed eight people and injured over 100, triggered a public outcry and a rare moment of national consensus. In its aftermath, even left-leaning opposition leader Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President Felipe Calderón’s […]

On Sept. 28, Belarus, a country branded by the U.S. government as “the last true dictatorship” in Europe, held elections for its 110-seat lower house of parliament. Despite some improvements, independent observers said the voting was neither free, nor fair. In an attempt to mend fences with the West, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had invited more than 900 international observers to monitor the voting, stressing his commitment to a democratic ballot. Seventy-six out of 276 registered candidates represented parties critical of the ruling regime, and a few opposition representatives were placed in precinct electoral committees — a clear departure from […]

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina’s four principle agricultural organizations declared a six day strike on Friday, Oct. 3. Facing the worst drought in a century and fearful of the potential for contagion from the American financial crisis, agricultural producers are demanding relief from the government, principally in the form of a reduction in export taxes. The longstanding dispute between the countryside and Buenos Aires has its roots in structural changes in the Argentinean export economy that have emerged over the past decade, with Argentinean farmers devoting increasing amounts of land to soy crops destined for the Chinese and European markets, […]

Despite several days of intense lobbying, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the senior American diplomat for Korean nuclear issues, has apparently been unable to persuade the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to continue its denuclearization process. Instead, events during the past two weeks suggest that Pyongyang is returning to its rogue ways, at least for the time being. Last week, the DPRK ordered the removal of international monitors and their surveillance equipment from its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon. This week, the North Korean government has begun taking nuclear equipment out of storage and returning it to the […]

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The arrest last week of Ohn Kyaing, a 69-year-old former journalist and member of the Burmese opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), suggests that recent hopes concerning the Burmese military regime’s willingness to cooperate with the international community were premature. Kyaing’s arrest comes little more than a week after the junta announced the release of 9,002 prisoners as a goodwill gesture, perhaps targeting world opinion in anticipation of nationwide elections in 2010. Seven prisoners of conscience were among those set free, including U Win Tin, the country’s longest serving political prisoner. Tin, who was a key […]

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE DRAWS SCRUTINY — The impending announcement of this year’s Nobel peace prize winner is drawing more speculation than usual from human rights advocates, the media and governments, as 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Most observers believe the nominating committee, which is scheduled to make its selection announcement Oct. 10, will pick an individual or group involved in human rights, with the winner most likely related to China. While speculation regarding a China-related winner has been growing for several years, many observers believe that concerns over how such a move would […]