Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a welcome ceremony in Ankara, Turkey, Dec. 1, 2014 (AP photo by Burhan Ozbilici).

Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Ankara last week for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The biggest news coming out of the visit was Putin’s announcement that he is scrapping the South Stream pipeline project that was to bring Russian gas to Southern Europe. Putin cited the European Union’s opposition to the project as the reason for the cancellation. The EU has raised concerns that the Russian state-owned energy firm Gazprom would own both the pipeline infrastructure and the gas being transported, which would violate the EU’s competition laws in the energy sector. South Stream, originally agreed upon […]

Residents chant slogans supporting the creation of Basra region, in front of the Basra provincial headquarters, Basra, Iraq, Sept. 27, 2014 (AP photo by Nabil al-Jurani).

The Iraqi government agreed Tuesday to a long-term oil wealth sharing deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). In an email interview, Kirk Sowell, a political risk analyst who is the publisher of the biweekly newsletter Inside Iraqi Politics, discussed regionalism in Iraq. WPR: What are the main non-Kurdish regional movements (i.e., potential autonomous regions) in Iraq, and what grievances are driving their regional aspirations? Kirk Sowell: There are three. The first, chronologically speaking, is what might be called the “southernist tendency,” which has existed in two variants. One focused on Basra province, and another on combining Basra with the […]

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden meet with members of the National Security Council in the Situation Room of the White House, Sept. 10, 2014 (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza).

Fifty years from now, when historians look back at 2014, they will likely be struck by how many seemingly contradictory trends co-exist in today’s world. The crisis in Ukraine suggests a fraying of the liberal international order and its consensus against territorial conquest, even as relatively robust international crisis-management mechanisms manage to deter or contain conflict elsewhere. A global rise of anti-pluralist populism has led to the resurgence of nationalism at the same time that national sovereignty is increasingly embedded in a globally integrated and largely supranational economic order. In Asia, historical grievances at times slow down but cannot derail […]

A Kurdish fighter walks through rubble in Kobani, Syria, Nov. 19, 2014 (AP photo by Jake Simkin).

U.S. President Barack Obama’s strategy to defeat the so-called Islamic State (IS) only deals with half of the problem. That militant organization grew powerful in part because the Iraqi government led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was more interested in entrenching Shiite control than in building a stable, inclusive political system. This alienated Sunni Arabs and allowed the Iraqi military to decay through sectarianism and corruption. But IS was also born out of armed resistance to the parasitic dictatorship of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. In a very real sense, it took not one but two repressive, inept governments […]

Namibians stand in line to cast their votes in the country’s presidential election, Rundu, Namibia, Nov. 28, 2014 (AP photo by Dirk Heinrich).

Namibia’s ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) party won last month’s presidential election with over 86 percent of the vote. In an email interview, Elke Zuern, professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College, discussed Namibia’s domestic politics. WPR: What explains the continued popularity of the ruling SWAPO Party of Namibia? Elke Zuern: SWAPO has dominated elections since independence. It first won two-thirds of the vote in the country’s second free elections in 1994, and has maintained this majority with the power to unilaterally change the constitution ever since. In its strongest showing yet, the governing party’s candidate, Hage Geingob, […]

Palestinians hang a national flag from the apartment of Abdel Rahman al-Shaludi in East Jerusalem. Israeli authorities demolished it after Shaludi’s deadly attack with his car on a Jerusalem train station last month, (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean).

The spikes in violence in Jerusalem last month, including the brutal killings in a synagogue after a series of stabbings and hit-and-run attacks on pedestrians, are extreme instances of ethnically based violence that has been mounting since last summer, when the flames of local unrest were fanned by the war in Gaza. But at stake are more than familiar grievances in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While access to the holy sites of the Temple Mount or Haram al-Sharif remains contentious, the violence in Jerusalem’s shared public spaces and on public transportation in particular reflect that this is not merely an issue […]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference in Jerusalem, Dec. 2, 2014 (AP photo by Gali Tibbon).

Whether Israeli voters like it or not, Israel is being thrown into a period of even more acrimonious political sparring now that the Knesset, its parliament, has called for new elections. The decision to dissolve the government, making it the second-shortest-lived in the country’s history, came from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu has been steadily moving in that direction, seeking a way to bolster his standing with the right by pretending his principal concern is with his coalition members to the left. Netanyahu has successfully shifted media attention to the friction he has experienced in recent days with his centrist […]

The Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa mosque compound, also known as the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City, Sept. 9, 2013 (AP photo by Sebastian Scheiner).

Last month, with tensions flaring in Jerusalem over access to the Temple Mount, or Haram al-Sharif, Jordan recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv—the first time it had done so since it signed a peace treaty with Israel 20 years ago. As part of that treaty, the Jordanian monarchy is the custodian of the holy site. The ambassador was withdrawn to protest what Jordan called Israeli “violations” there, including closing the sacred compound housing the al-Aqsa mosque for a day and raiding the mosque to quell protesters. Continuing violence in Jerusalem, from hit-and-run attacks to stabbings and the killing of four […]

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden smile during their statement to the media at the Presidential Administration Building in Kiev, Ukraine, Nov. 21, 2014 (AP photo by Efrem Lukatsky).

I have a modest proposal: I would like to see all U.S. government representatives cease and desist from any further use of the phrase, “all options are on the table.” Initially, these six words did serve a useful purpose: During a crisis situation, assuming an administration practiced strict message discipline without being beset by leaks and second-guessing by anonymous officials in the media, they introduced sufficient doubt among adversaries and challengers as to what the U.S. response might actually be—raising the possibility that the United States might choose to react more forcefully than anticipated. Over the past few years, however, […]

Xu Caihou, right, deputy chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission, and Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai attend the closing session of the National People’s Congress, Beijing, China, March 14, 2012 (AP photo by Vincent Thian).

The recent announcement that investigators seized a metric ton of cash, jewels, antiques and other luxury goods from the villa of retired Gen. Xu Caihou sheds new light on corruption within China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Xu, who had been a vice chairman of the Chinese Communist Party’s powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), was the second senior PLA commander to be charged with corruption in recent years. In 2012, Gen. Gu Junshan, a deputy commander of the PLA General Logistics Department, was detained after years of rumors that he had been involved in under-the-table deals involving PLA-controlled land. Several active […]

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, popularly known as “Jokowi,” attends a graduation ceremony of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme at the Anglo Chinese School (International) in Singapore, Nov. 21, 2014 (AP photo by Wong Maye-E).

Last month, Indonesia announced that it will create a coast guard in an effort to reduce smuggling and piracy. In an email interview, Brian Harding, director for East and Southeast Asia at the Center for American Progress, discussed Indonesia’s naval capabilities. WPR: What is the current state of Indonesia’s navy and maritime security forces, in terms of vessels and operational preparedness? Brian Harding: Indonesia has set its sights on becoming an effective “green-water navy,” meaning it can operate in its coastal waters, but it has a long way to go. It currently boasts a total naval strength of 213 ships, […]

France’s far right presidential candidate and National Front party president Marine Le Pen attends a political rally in Chateauroux, France, Feb. 26, 2012 (Sipa via AP Images).

Editor’s note: The following article is one of 30 that we’ve selected from our archives to celebrate World Politics Review’s 15th anniversary. You can find the full collection here. A quarter-century ago, a virtually unknown State Department official published an article in a neoconservative policy journal. The title of the piece as well as its author would go on to acquire global fame—or perhaps notoriety. Critics did not hesitate to dismiss Francis Fukuyama’s “The End of History?” Strobe Talbott, for instance, called it “the beginning of nonsense.” Yet the article, and the subsequent book that grew out of it, was often […]

The U.S. 6th Fleet command ship USS Mount Whitney participates in a passing exercise with vessels from the Georgian coast guard while transiting the Black Sea, Oct. 18, 2014 (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Mike Wright).

Russia’s actions in Ukraine have radically altered the European security equation, with the Black Sea region becoming an acutely contested zone between Russia and NATO. The juxtaposition of NATO members Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey as Black Sea littoral states alongside Russia and Ukraine creates an inherently explosive mix. Regional tensions are likely to increase before they dampen down. For example, the United States is establishing a missile defense base in Romania in 2015, while Russia is planning a major increase in the capacity of its Black Sea Fleet, Moscow’s main means of projecting maritime power into the Mediterranean. Yet while […]

Oman’s Sultan Qaboos at Bait al-Baraka in Muscat, Oman, May 21, 2013 (AP Photo/Jim Young, Pool).

Last month, Oman’s Sultan Qaboos addressed his nation via a video message from Germany, where he is allegedly receiving treatment for colon cancer. The 76-year-old monarch was going to miss Oman’s national day celebrations on Nov. 18, which is also his birthday, and he wanted to ease the uncertainty at home that has developed as a result of his five-month absence. Qaboos’ ailing health has, however, created a flurry of media coverage on the future of Oman and the leadership transition, while raising important questions about the risks it poses to Oman’s decades-old stability. The sultanate, a high-income and ethnically […]

Supporters of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan attend a rally in Abuja, Nigeria, Nov. 11, 2014 (AP photo).

Last Tuesday, Nigeria’s central bank devalued the country’s currency by 10 percent in an effort to shore up foreign reserves hard-hit by falling oil prices. The move comes months before a presidential election and highlights the country’s vulnerability to the price of oil, which makes up 70-80 percent of the Nigerian government’s revenue. With Brent crude hitting a four-year low of $77.83 per barrel in early November, Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, is feeling the pinch. Government coffers are emptying, and construction companies and other employers have begun to lay off workers. As oil prices could remain low for 2015, […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Raul Khadzhimba, leader of Georgia’s breakaway province of Abkhazia, at their meeting in Sochi, Russia, Nov. 24, 2014 (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Mikhail Metzel, Presidential Press Service).

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Raul Khadzhimba, president of the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia, signed a pact in Sochi establishing closer ties between Russia and Abkhazia. The agreement gives Russia more control over the region, which Moscow recognizes as an independent country, while extending to Abkhazians a streamlined path to Russian citizenship. It also pledges to modernize Abkhazia’s military in close cooperation with the existing Russian military presence there, and to integrate Abkhazia into the Eurasian Economic Union, Putin’s nascent alternative to the European Union. In combination with Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine earlier this year, […]

Pro-government supporters gather for a march in downtown Moscow to mark People’s Unity Day. The poster reads “the Crimea is ours,” Nov. 4, 2014 (AP photo by Ivan Sekretarev).

As the end of each year rolls around, foreign policy pundits inevitably churn out columns reviewing the past 12 months and guessing at what comes next. These pieces will make for consistently bleak reading this year. Viewed in geopolitical terms, 2014 has been egregiously nasty. It is now conventional wisdom that the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, coupled with China’s increasing assertiveness in the Pacific, signal the looming implosion of the American-led international order. Like most conventional wisdoms, this may prove to be incorrect. While many analysts will make pronouncements about the future of the world in 2015, […]

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