It was recently reported that Somali pirates have been holding the crew of the North Korean cargo ship Chilsanbong Cheonnyeonho since it was captured last March. Ten months on, the ship remains detained, with hefty ransom demands likely still outstanding. With no records for the vessel found at maritime insurance tracker Seasearcher, the possibility that its crew may now be facing abandonment is becoming ever more likely. However, given South Korea’s dramatic rescue of one of its own vessels captured by pirates in January, the case of the Chilsanbong now offers the Koreas an opportunity for military cooperation at a […]

On Feb. 2, a car exploded 12 miles outside Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, killing three suspected terrorists and wounding several soldiers. Mauritanian security forces identified the terrorists’ intended target as the French embassy in Nouakchott, a claim repeated by a man arrested in the operation. However, in the aftermath of the attack, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) released a statement, claiming the real target had been the president of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz. A few days later, AQIM released another statement to a state news agency threatening additional attempts on the president’s life. The […]

What kind of country do Egyptians want to build? That is one of the most important questions arising from the country’s recent revolution, one with enormous geopolitical consequences and whose answer remains clouded in speculation, mystery and contradiction. Egyptians toppled their government in part because it cared little about their views and priorities. Until now, the public had negligible influence in the country’s policymaking process. That has changed suddenly and dramatically. Without a history of open political discourse and competitive elections, however, it is unclear what path Egyptians will choose in the coming months when, presumably, democracy will turn public […]

Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series examining Ecuador under President Rafael Correa. Part I examined Correa’s domestic policy. Part II examines his foreign policy. Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa’s radical “Citizen’s Revolution” has surprisingly translated into a foreign policy marked by pragmatism. Some of his moves — such as embracing China, Russia and Iran — have raised eyebrows, while others, such as the forced restructuring of Ecuador’s foreign debt, have prompted some foreign investors to question the wisdom of making long-term investments in the country. But his administration has also restored full diplomatic and commercial ties with […]

Naval power is characterized by fungibility and flexibility. Because of the relatively open nature of the seas, ships and fleets can be transferred between ports and crisis zones in order to conduct operations or exert influence. Indeed, one of the key appeals of naval power is the ability of warships to respond to crises in a variety of locations without requiring a longstanding political and infrastructural commitment. However, of all the major naval powers, Russia remains most tightly constrained by its unfortunate maritime geography. Russian warships based in the Arctic, Baltic, Black Sea and Pacific cannot easily support one another. […]

Brazil has profited handsomely over the past decade from its economic relationship with China. Exports to the People’s Republic have shot up nearly 20-fold since 2000, and last year alone, Brazil enjoyed a bilateral trade surplus of $5.2 billion, largely thanks to China’s seemingly insatiable appetite for iron ore and soybeans. In 2009, China supplanted the United States to become Brazil’s biggest trade partner, an arrangement that allowed Brazil to skirt the global recession by insulating it from the precipitous drop in exports that most other Latin American countries suffered. The relationship is not likely to change in the near […]

Twitter as Tactical and Strategic Lens

In an effort to dial in a bit on the ways in which Twitter and social media in general have altered the tactical and strategic terrain of popular uprisings, I’ll toss out a few ideas that have been taking shape over the course of the past few weeks. Last time I visited this subject, I was skeptical about how determinant an impact social media might have on political revolutions. Clearly, the events in Egypt give reason for a skeptic to reconsider. The speed with which an ostensibly leaderless uprising managed to achieve its topline goal reveals something. The question remains, […]

Global Insider: Saudi Arabia’s Nuclear Energy Plans

Saudi Arabia is in the process of developing its domestic nuclear energy capacity, and recently concluded nuclear cooperation agreements with Japan. In an e-mail interview, Giacomo Luciani, Princeton global scholar and scientific director of the international energy program at the Paris School of International Affairs, discussed Saudi Arabia’s nuclear energy policy. WPR: What is the history of Saudi Arabia’s nuclear energy plans? Giacomo Luciani: The history of Saudi Arabia’s nuclear energy plans is actually very recent. Interest in adding a nuclear component to the total power-generation fleet emerged in the country only in 2007. Previously, Saudi authorities had taken the […]

A new report released on Feb. 11 by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the dangers of alcoholism and its impact on overall health highlights the urgency of Russia’s alcoholism crisis, itself just one part of the country’s broader demographic challenges. Official WHO (.pdf) and Russian statistics paint a horrifying picture on this subject for Russia’s population of 140 million: – Russians 16 and older drink the equivalent of roughly four gallons of pure alcohol per capita each year, almost twice the amount of their American counterparts.– Russia currently has 2 million alcoholics. – The number of Russian children aged […]

Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series examining Ecuador under President Rafael Correa. Part I examines Correa’s domestic policy. Part II, appearing tomorrow, will examine his foreign policy. Four years have passed since Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa joined his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chávez, in Latin America’s revolutionary fold. Correa came to office promising to usher in a new era in Ecuador and put an end to the “dark night of neoliberalism.” Now, despite some notable successes, there are increasing doubts about the Correa administration’s stability and longevity as well as about the legacy it will leave behind. […]

Chinatowns’ Avant-Garde in Northern Iraq

About 500 Chinese people are said to live in Sulaimaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan’s second city. Many work in the new Kawa Mall where Chinese flags, lucky cats and paper lanterns present an incongruous scene on the Kurdish landscape. Such immigration and foreign investment is becoming more prominent in the semi-autonomous area run by the Kurdistan Regional Government.

WPR on France 24: The Fall of Egypt’s Mubarak

I had the pleasure of taking part Friday in France 24’s panel discussion program, the World This Week, where the subject was, as you can probably guess, the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The other guests were Vivienne Walt of Time, Matthew Saltmarsh of the IHT and Anne-Elisabeth Moutet of the Sunday Telegraph. Richard Perle, assistant defense secretary under President Ronald Reagan and adviser to the Pentagon under President George W. Bush, also joined us briefly by telephone. Part one can be found here. Part two can be found here.

There’s a lot of trepidation mixed in with the joy of seeing one of the Arab world’s great dictators finally step down. With Americans being so down on themselves these days, many see more to fear than to celebrate. But on the whole, there’s no good reason for the pessimism on display, which is based on a lot of specious assumptions that need to be discarded. Here’s my Top 10 list. 1) Mubarak’s quick-exit scenario means this is Iran, 1979. Nonsense, with the key reasons being the deft play by the Egyptian military and its deep and long relationship with […]

A deadly clash between Thai and Cambodian troops along the border near the Preah Vihear temple has renewed long-running tension between the two Southeast Asian neighbors. The fresh conflict poses a serious threat to bilateral relations and could be exploited, especially in Thailand, in domestic leadership struggles. The dispute has also revealed the limitations of important organizations like the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The recent confrontation claimed the lives of three Thai and five Cambodian soldiers, and according to local NGOs forced more than 25,000 people to flee their homes amid fears of further violence. Unconfirmed reports […]

The Case for Smart Assistance to the Middle East

The transformation currently unfolding in the Middle East could be as monumental as the changes in Europe that followed World War II and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. In both of those instances, the goals of the United States and its allies were transparent and consequential: to solidify Western power and establish a world order based on democracy and market economics. This successful model should be pursued once more by providing smart, dual-benefit assistance to all Middle Eastern nations seeking to build free and democratic societies. In the coming months, numerous governments in the Middle East will likely need […]

Global Insider: Ahmadinejad vs. Iran’s Parliament

The Iranian parliament recently dismissed the country’s transportation minister, Hamid Benhabani, an ally of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In an e-mail interview, Jamsheed Choksy, professor of Iranian, Central Eurasian and international studies at Indiana University, discussed the relationship between Iran’s president and parliament. WPR: How would you characterize Ahmadinejad’s relationship with the Iranian parliament over the course of his presidency? Jamsheed Choksy: Relations between the executive, legislative, judicial and theocratic branches of the Islamic Republic’s government have always been tense, as each bloc attempts to expropriate more authority. Ahmadinejad’s presidency has been no different. In his first term, from 2005-2009, he […]

Events in Egypt have taken center stage in global news coverage, displacing developments in Afghanistan in what amounts to a mixed blessing for the Obama administration. For while critics have taken the White House to task for its approach on Egypt, particularly over its mixed messages and lack of a unified response, they have paid less attention to the recent string of Taliban bombings in Kandahar — and the potential implications for the administration’s war strategy. The attacks killed the province’s deputy governor, Abdul Latif Ashna, and targeted the home of Kandahar’s police chief, Khan Mohammad Mujahid, who was not […]

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