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Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2010 – UNESCAP

Even at the height of this crisis, Asia and the Pacific displayed a new-found resilience. Its developing economies achieved an annual growth rate of 4.0%, making it the fastest-growing region in the world, thanks to growth in China and India at 8.7% and 7.2%, respectively. However, the rest of Asia-Pacific’s developing economies contracted in 2009… »

Mexico-U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress – CRS

(PDF) – In recent years, U.S.-Mexican relations have grown stronger as the two countries have worked together to combat drug trafficking and secure their shared border. The 111th Congress has maintained an active interest in Mexico with counternarcotics, border, and trade issues dominating the agenda. To date, Congress has appropriated some $1.3 billion in assistance… »

Mekong Tipping Point: Hydropower Dams, Human Security and Regional Stability – Stimson Center

The October 1991 Paris Peace Accords on Cambodia closed the book on four decades of bitter conflict in the Mekong region of Southeast Asia. The Accords created new opportunities for broad-based economic and social development based on reconstruction, renewal and regional economic development in the 795,000 square kilometer Mekong River Basin, sometimes called the… »

The PLA at Home and Abroad: Assessing the Operational Capabilities of China’s Military – SSI

The chapters presented in this volume have demonstrated first, Chinese and PLA leaders have a strong sense of mission and concern for China’s security and well-being. Second, the PLA is committed to the transformation in military affairs with Chinese characteristics. Third, the PLA is eager to learn from the U.S. military to expand and improve… »

International Statistics on Crime and Justice – HEUNI/UNODC

HEUNI Report series contains a number of studies, seminar reports, and other material on developments in crime and criminal justice in Europe and North… »

Caucasian Review of International Affairs (CRIA) VOL. 4 (2) – SPRING 2010

in this issue:
Russian Energy Politics and the EU: How to Change the Paradigm

*Authoritarianism and Foreign Policy: The Twin Pillars of Resurgent Russia

*The Georgia Crisis: A New Cold War on the Horizon?

*Enforceability of a Common Energy Supply Security Policy in the EU: Intergovernmentalist Assesement

*“Assembling” a Civic Nation in Kazakhstan: The Nation-Building Role of… »

L’Italia e gli Stati fragili in Africa: prospettive e linee d’azione – ISPI

(PDF) – La fragilità dello stato in Africa è sempre più ragione di preoccupazione e inquietudine
nell’ambito della politica internazionale: i fenomeni di instabilità locale, regionale e globale possono infatti prendere l’avvio da situazioni di fragilità, assumendo proporzioni incontrollabili anche al di là del singolo caso. Alcuni organismi internazionali hanno sviluppato una classificazione che permette
di verificare… »

Asia’s Response to Climate Change and Natural Disasters – CSIS

This new report examines the politics of climate change in Asia, the region’s response to natural disasters, and the implications for the future geometry of Asia’s institutions and U.S. policy in the region. The assessment looks broadly at two areas of nontraditional security cooperation in Asia: (1) climate change, including the domestic political factors in… »

Between Faith and Reason: UK Policy Towards the US and the EU – Chatham House

The UK’s relations with the US and the EU are often viewed as alternative paths to international influence, but Britain should adopt a reasoned, balanced approach to its foreign policy, moving beyond the established primacy of the ’special relationship’ to make the most of opportunities in Europe as well. Britain should rethink its traditional faith… »

US to send National Guard to Mexican border in August – Bbc

US National Guard troops will begin deploying along the US-Mexico border from 1 August, officials say. The 1,200 troops, ordered to the border by President Barack Obama, form part of efforts to tackle illegal immigration and drug-trafficking. They will be in the four border states, with Arizona getting the largest… »

Inside China’s gated communities for the poor – The Globe and Mail

Gated villages in China have for years been symbols of affluence; places where the rich can live in villa-style homes, surrounded by private schools and swimming pools, with fences to keep out those who don’t belong. Now China is gating off low-income villages, where migrant labourers from the countryside (the people who built those expansive… »

International Migration Outlook 2010 – OECD

Multilingual summaries:
International migration has fallen during the economic crisis, but as the recovery moves into gear migrants will once again be needed to fill labour and skill shortages, according to a new OECD report. The OECD’s International Migration Outlook 2010 says that the inflow of immigrants to OECD countries fell by about 6% in 2008… »

Is Haiti Ready for Hurricane Season? – TIME

Meteorologists predict this year’s hurricane season to be an active one. The Haitian government has yet to come up with a unified contingency plan for the hurricane season. Some good news is at hand, however. A few precautionary preparations are well under way. There are plans in place for the distribution of food and other… »

One-third of Yemenis going hungry – IRIN

Water scarcity, rapid population growth and internal conflicts are some of the main factors causing an “alarming state of food insecurity” at national and local levels, a new report has warned. Rural areas are particularly affected with five times as many food-insecure people as in urban areas, it said. “If no action is taken, food… »

Aiming for New Vigour: The UK in the Global Economy – Chatham House

The UK’s role in the world is inextricably linked to its economic strength and prosperity. Maintaining a vibrant economy and financial stability is vital to enable the UK to benefit from global growth and pursue its ambitions at home and abroad. Britain’s international influence, in turn, complements and supports its comparative advantages in global services… »

Congo army clashes with Ugandan rebels, 40,000 flee – Reuters

Democratic Republic of Congo troops are fighting Ugandan rebels in oil-rich eastern Congo in clashes that have killed two dozen combatants and forced thousands of civilians to flee, military and humanitarian sources said. These are the first clashes in years between Congo’s FARDC army and the Allied Democratic Forces-National Army for the Liberation of Uganda… »

The Political Economy of Piracy in the South China Sea – Naval War College Review

(PDF) – This article attempts to analyze piracy through the perspective of political economy, with an emphasis on state and market stakeholders and on the economic, technological, and institutional factors affecting ocean governance of piracy. The major area of concern here is the South China Sea, where approximately half of the world’s reported incidents of… »

Improving Security Policy in Colombia – ICG

President Álvaro Uribe’s eight-year military campaign against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has taken a heavy toll on Colombia’s largest insurgent organisation. The government is now working to consolidate security gains by expanding state presence in several of the formerly most conflict-ridden regions. This strategy faces numerous challenges, not least because FARC’s command… »

Arid Australia Sips Seawater, but at a Cost – the New York Times

In one of the country’s biggest infrastructure projects in its history, Australia’s five largest cities are spending $13.2 billion on desalination plants capable of sucking millions of gallons of seawater from the surrounding oceans every day, removing the salt and yielding potable water. In two years, when the last plant is scheduled to be up… »

Long stalemate after Maoist victory disrupts life in Nepal – Washington Post

A 2006 peace agreement and a surprising Maoist victory in 2008 elections earned the rebels’ political party a central role in governing the country. But the Maoists and the Nepalese military and political establishment have been unable to agree on a deal to allow the Maoists to govern. The resulting deadlock has disrupted life in… »

China to move tens of thousands for huge water scheme – Reuters

China will move 345,000 people, mostly poor villagers, within about two years to make way for a vast scheme to draw on rivers in the south to supply the increasingly dry north, an official newspaper said. The forced resettlement for the South-to-North Water Transfer Project will be the biggest China has undertaken since building the… »

Prisoners of the Caucasus – Foreign Affairs

The Russian government seems to have few creative ideas about how to deal with the turmoil in the region, which has become the epicenter of routine political violence in the country. It has tried to will the conflict into a sort of resolution, with little result. In April 2009, the Kremlin announced the end of… »

The Failed States Index 2010 – Fp/Found for Peace

This year’s index draws on 90,000 publicly available sources to analyze 177 countries and rate them on 12 metrics of state decay — from refugee flows to economic implosion, human rights violations to security threats. Taken together, a country’s performance on this battery of indicators tells us how stable — or unstable — it is…. »

Britain’s Foreign Policy in a Networked World – The Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Foreign Secretary, William Hague, gave the following speech outlining the Government’s vision for UK foreign policy on 1 July… »

The Geopolitics of the iPhone – Fp

Five ways Apple’s new gadget and its cousins are transforming global politics – by Brian… »

Public Sees a Future Full of Promise and Peril – Pew Research Center

Life in 2050: Amazing Science, Familiar Threats. Large majorities of Americans expect that computers will be able to carry on conversations (81% say this definitely or probably will happen) and that there will be a cure for cancer (71%). About two-thirds (66%) say that artificial arms and legs will outperform real limbs while 53% envision… »

India’s Border Management: Select Documents – IDSA

India shares its borders with all its South Asian neighbours as well with China. Since the borders is man-made and do not follow any natural barrier, they traverse diverse socio-cultural milieus and cut across ethnic, social and economic communities. These characteristics of the borders pose various challenges towards their proper management. Similarly, the vast Indian… »

‘The Sun in the Sky: the relationship between Pakistan’s ISI and Afghan insurgents’ – LSE

(PDF) – Many accounts of the Afghan conflict misapprehend the nature of the relationship between
Pakistan’s security services and the insurgency. The relationship, in fact, goes far beyond contact and coexistence, with some assistance provided by elements within, or linked to, Pakistan’s Intelligence service (ISI) or military. Although the Taliban has a strong endogenous impetus, according… »

The silent expulsion – Haaretz

Citizens of Israel can leave the country for any length of time, and their citizenship and all their rights are theirs in perpetuity. But when it comes to Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, Israel applies draconian regulations whose covert intent is to bring about the expulsion of as many Palestinians as possible from their home… »

Israel Defense Minister, Criticizes Jerusalem Plan To Demolish Palestine Homes – Huffington Post

Israel’s defense minister on Tuesday criticized the approval by a Jerusalem planning body for a plan to raze 22 Palestinian homes in the disputed eastern part of the city to make room for an Israeli tourist center, saying it lacked “common sense” and “a sense of timing.” Ehud Barak is in the United States for… »

The Globalization of Crime: A Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment – UNODC

A report released today by UNODC shows how organized crime has globalized and turned into one of the world’s foremost economic and armed powers. The Report looks at major trafficking flows of drugs (cocaine and heroin), firearms, counterfeit products, stolen natural resources and people (for sex and forced labour), as well as smuggled migrants…. »

Obama More Popular Abroad Than At Home – Pew Research Center

As the global economy begins to rebound from the great recession, people around the world remain deeply concerned with the way things are going in their countries. Less than a third of the publics in most nations say they are satisfied with national conditions, as overwhelming numbers say their economies are in bad shape. And… »

Iran Tests Iraqi Resolve at the Border – the New York Times

Iraqi Kurds are at the center of questions about whether Iraq is willing or able to defend its borders with Iran — which has repeatedly breached the frontier in recent months. The attacks on Ali Rash and at least a dozen other Kurdish villages have continued for more than a month and have included a… »

Seeking Power: Europe’s Extreme Right – ISN

For the past 30 years, the rise of the extreme right has alarmed citizens and many political parties in Europe, who worry about what it means and may be unsure of how to deal with the extreme right in their own strategies. But how has the European extreme right progressed since the 1980s, and is… »

Illegal immigration to EU drops – Bbc

The number of migrants caught entering the EU illegally has dropped sharply, a change attributed to the economic crisis and stricter border controls. Some 106,200 illegal immigrants were intercepted on EU borders in 2009, 33% down from the previous year, the EU border agency Frontex… »

U.S. Policy Toward the Korean Peninsula – CFR

The challenge posed by North Korea’s nuclear development effort has global, regional, and bilateral dimensions. An internationally coordinated response must take all facets of the challenge into account. This Task Force report identifies three essential elements: first, denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and an approach that attempts to resolve rather than simply manage the issue;… »

Kyrgyz Provisional Government Must Intensify Stabilisation Efforts – ICG

The situation in southern Kyrgyzstan remains unpredictable and volatile. The Provisional Government’s handling of the situation has been less than assured, and it has itself admitted that its security forces lost control, and in some cases disobeyed orders. Crisis Group urges the government to focus its full attention on security concerns and achieving a long-term… »

Our Common Strategic Interests Africa’s Role in the Post-G8 World – Chatham House

African countries are playing a more strategic role in international affairs. Global players that understand this and develop greater diplomatic and trade relations with African states will be greatly advantaged. For many countries, particularly those that have framed their relations with
Africa largely in humanitarian terms, this will require an uncomfortable shift in public and policy… »

Le Canada, pays nordique, pays arctique – Diploweb

La question de l’évolution de l’Arctique et de ses conséquences est très complexe. De plus, les informations étant limitées et discontinues (et les analyses scientifiques non exhaustives), la base de connaissance est encore très réduite. Il est clair que les régions polaires, individuellement et de concert, jouent un rôle planétaire beaucoup plus large que ce… »

Think Tanks and Public Policies in Latin America – Fundación Siena/CIPPEC

(PDF) – It is not true that democracy and technocracy are necessarily opposite principles. An
active and growing civic participation is not incompatible with the incorporation of expert knowledge
in public policies. Actually, it is not difficult to grasp that democracy fragility grows when
elected Governments fail to solve, efficiently and effectively, the complex problems of economic
and social… »

Vers un nouveau régime politique en Afrique subsaharienne – IFRI

En français et English.
L’Afrique subsaharienne est revenue sur les espoirs de démocratisation qu’avait suscités la fin de la guerre froide et des régimes de parti unique. L’heure est à la désillusion. Même les pôles de stabilité qu’étaient le Sénégal (depuis l’indépendance en 1960) et l’Afrique du Sud (depuis 1994) sont aujourd’hui menacés d’une dérive autoritaire…. »

African Economic Outlook 2010

The annual African Economic Outlook (AEO) is published jointly by the African Development Bank, the OECD Development Centre and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. he 2010 Outlook covers 50 African countries, up from 47 last year. The AEO presents a promising outlook for the continent with average growth rebounding to 4.5 per cent… »

China-Russia Relations – Comparative Connections

(PDF) – For most of the first quarter, “uneventful” was the best description for bilateral relations between Russia and China. This is especially true when contrasted with the high-profile events in 2009 when bilateral trade declined 31 percent from $56.8 billion to $38.8 billion, Russia sank a Chinese cargo ship in February, the energy “deal… »

Afghanistan: A View from Moscow – CEIP

(PDF) – Russia remains cautious about becoming too involved in the conflict, but Moscow fears the prospect of instability in Central Asia and drug trafficking from Afghanistan. Russia wants to prevent an outright Taliban victory fearing that if the Taliban regain control they could export radicalism and support rebel activity in Russia’s near abroad. Stem… »

Climate change and infectious diseases in Europe – EASAC

(PDF) – Climate exerts both direct and indirect effects onthe appearance and spread of human and animalinfectious diseases. The impact of climate changeon the transmission and geographical distribution ofvector-borne diseases, including zoonoses (infectionstransmissible between vertebrate animals andhumans), has been associated with changes in thereplication rate and dissemination of pathogen,vector and animal host populations, which aresensitive… »

Global peace Index 2010

The Global Peace Index is a project of the Institute for Economics and Peace. It is the first time that an Index has been created that ranks the nations of the world by their peacefulness and identifies some of the drivers of peace. The Institute for Economics and Peace, in conjunction with the Economist Intelligence… »

How North Korea Policy Spread Misery – the New York Times

North Koreans are used to struggle and heartbreak. But the Nov. 30 currency devaluation, apparently an attempt to prop up a foundering state-run economy, was for some the worst disaster since a famine that killed hundreds of thousands in the mid-1990s. Interviews in the past month with eight North Koreans who recently left their country… »

European Neighbourhood Policy – European Commission

The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) was developed in 2004, with the objective of avoiding the emergence of new dividing lines between the enlarged EU and our neighbours and instead strengthening the prosperity, stability and security of all. This ENP framework is proposed to the 16 of EU’s closest neighbours – Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt,… »

Minimizing Threat Convergence Risks in East Africa and the Horn of Africa – 1540 HUB

(PDF) – This report examines the potential for security challenges in East Africa and the Horn of
Africa to enable illicit trafficking in, or the possible use of, nuclear or radiological materials. These challenges include porous borders, weak governance, failed or fragile states, and the activities of extremist and/or criminal groups. The geographic focus of this… »

Third OIC Observatory Report on Islamophobia

(PDF) – The third Annual Report covers the period from May 2009 to April 2010. It was a most turbulent period during which steady rise of Islamophobia, threatening global as well as regional peace and security, continued to be a source of concern particularly in the Western Europe and North America. Fundamental rights of Muslims… »