I recently authored a post regarding the crisis in Kyrgyzstan, and it has come to my attention that the piece could be interpreted somewhat differently than I intended. A clarification is in order. What I was trying to suggest was that U.S. intervention would have been pretty much out of the question no matter who […]
With the beginning of the 2010 World Cup last Thursday in Johannesburg, a large amount of attention has been focused on the quadrennial tournament, which is being hosted on the African continent for the first time since the tournament’s founding in 1930. However, there have been some other stories relating to Africa and U.S. foreign […]
Things are very bad in Kyrgyzstan right now. The Central Asian republic recently underwent a dramatic political upheaval that resulted in the replacement of a sitting government for the second time in five years, and it is now experiencing violent ethnic riots targeting Kyrgyzstan’s Uzbek population. The riots have spiraled out of control to the […]
The recent Flotilla Affair has sparked a round of reflection regarding Turkey’s role in the Middle East and the wider Muslim world. The questions being raised suggest that the U.S.-Turkey relationship is in a state of transition as the logic that cemented the alliance during the Cold War gives way to a variety of changing […]
Multilateralism has been a key feature of Barack Obama’s foreign policy vision since he first entered the political arena. The recent National Security Strategy correctly characterizes NATO as “the pre-eminent security alliance in the world today”, and in order to maintain this designation, the Obama Administration states its intention to use NATO’s Strategic Concept Review […]
I’ve often wondered if the pace of modem life, the 24/7 new cycle, and the need for governments to respond in real-time to what is happening have had a negative impact on the conduct of diplomacy. Take, for example, the odd incident last week in which two American allies made great progress in a matter […]
_______________________________________________________________________________ Federal Times.com has a story this week about USAID’s moves to do more of their work in house instead of farming it out to contractors. The U.S. Agency for International Development plans to bring in-house more work related to program design and monitoring and evaluation, Administrator Rajiv Shah said May 5. Shah made the […]
Ben Wildavsky, Senior Fellow in Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation and a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution, recently published an interesting book – The Great Brain Race: How Global Universities are Reshaping the World. The book details just how globalization is making for better universities around the world and a competition among […]
Egypt is the land of pyramids and pharaohs, a magical and mystical place living in the minds of dreamers and tourists the world over. A constant stream of headlines fuels the mystique and allure of Egypt: MSNBC reports divers are exploring the sunken remains of Cleopatra’s palaces and USA Today reports on ancient mummies discovered […]
Last week I wrote broadly about the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico and how it has caused an ugly collision of private companies, politicians, regulators and lobbyists. One week later, as the oil gushes on, little has improved both in the water and in Washington. To date, over 6 million gallons of […]
This past weekend, President Obama delivered the commencement address to West Point’s graduating class of 2010. In it, he stressed to the cadets the importance of diplomatic engagement in addition to military might as part of U.S. national security, saying, “America’s armed forces are adapting to changing times, but your efforts have to be complemented. […]
Last Monday, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon named Costa Rica’s Christiana Figueres to be the organization’s top official on climate change. The appointment comes after the resignation of UN climate chief Yvo de Boer, last February, considered to be a severe blow to the UN and ongoing climate negotiations. Figueres will succeed Yvo de […]
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