Archive for October, 2009

(PDF) – A partire dal 2000 la Russia è tornata progressivamente a imporsi come attore di prima grandezza della scena politica internazionale. Un ritorno dovuto in parte alla guida efficace di Vladimir Putin, ma soprattutto a una sostenuta crescita economica basata sugli alti prezzi dei prodotti energetici, dei quali la Russia è tra i maggiori… »

When it comes to Africa’s natural resources, the ‘prospects for change depend squarely on African governments, on foreign companies and their home-country governments, and on the pressures that can be mobilised by national and international civil society’. With Africa predicted to ‘suffer consequences out of all proportion to its contribution to global warming, which is… »

(PDF) – Americans widely view the right to a minimum standard of living as a human right—and say they are willing to pay more for ethically produced goods in order to promote such rights. For the first time, there are data to demonstrate the connection between what Americans think about human rights, and how
they are… »

Cartographie — Asie – août… »

The coalition talks between Germany’s Christian Democrats and Liberal Democrats have been concluded. FDP leader Guido Westerwelle is designed to become Germany’s foreign minister. IP asked Westerwelle for his response to the most pressing issues of German foreign policy, from the European Union and transatlantic relations to Iran and the Afghanistan… »

There are three basins in the Middle East: the Nile basin, the Jordan River basin and the Euphrates-Tigris basin. The Euphrates and Tigris both originate in eastern Turkey. The Euphrates flows to Syria and later to Iraq, but Iraq does not contribute to Euphrates. The Tigris follows a short route of about 40 km along… »

Iran and Venezuela are beyond the courting phase. We know they are creating a cozy financial, political, and military partnership, and that both countries have strong ties to Hezbollah and Hamas. Now is the time for policies and actions in order to ensure that the partnership produces no poisonous fruit – by Robert… »

This paper presents the separate analyses of both Georgian and Abkhaz civil society experts on the need for security guarantees, the reasons why the sides have been unable to agree on them as well as barriers and opportunities for future… »

When China announced that its economy grew 8.9% in the third quarter, you’d expect China-boosters to pour into the streets, acclaiming the nation as the world’s new engine of economic growth. But instead of praise, experts are casting a skeptical eye on the Middle Kingdom’s economic… »

India is ready to revive talks with Pakistan on easing tension in disputed Kashmir, though progress depends on Pakistan’s willingness to shut down groups that have attacked India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh… »

American military officers are expressing concern over the spreading use of makeshift bombs beyond the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan to other countries in the region, as well as in East Asia and South… »

New war crimes ambassador Stephen Rapp exemplifies Obama’s deeper engagement on international law. His résumé includes prosecution of those who promoted genocide in… »

An island in the Indian Ocean, vital to the U.S. military, disappears as the sea level rises. Rivers critical to India and Pakistan shrink, increasing military tensions in South Asia. Drought, famine and disease forces population shifts and political turmoil in the Middle East. U.S. defense and intelligence agencies, viewing these and other potential impacts… »

In the past 16 months, some 750,000 residents have fled their homes on the southern Philippine island following an upsurge in fighting between government forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), who have been fighting for an independent Islamic state since 1978. And while most have returned, more than 250,000 remain in evacuation shelters… »

Under the leadership of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Turkey’s foreign policy is becoming more Islamist. Can the country’s history of cooperation with the West… »

The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) estimates of proved reserves of natural gas and crude oil as of the end of 2008 tell very different stories about apparent changes in the availability of these two energy resources in the United States. Proved reserves of natural gas rose enough not only to replace production, but also to… »

Nigeria’s space agency is no joke. It has launched satellites and aims to put Africans into… »

Since the 1950s the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has been the mainstream voice of the Jewish-American community and its efforts to strengthen support for Israel in Washington. Along comes J Street, a young upstart founded last year, in part as an answer to AIPAC – perceived by many progressive American Jews to have a… »

As the White House prepares for President Obama’s inaugural visit to China in November, it’s faced with two possible approaches in planning for what the trip can… »

The UK’s chief drugs adviser has been sacked by Home Secretary Alan Johnson after criticising government… »

What the United States could learn from the military and foreign policy of the Byzantine… »

President Hugo Chávez’s popularity has fallen as frustrated Venezuelans protest over a lack of water and… »

Past efforts to uproot the militant group have failed. Obama must try a different tack and focus on Israel and… »

There has been some talk among academic circles about the coming ascendancy of a new power in the Asia-Pacific, which has been aptly branded KIA… »

Guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia — the nation’s largest rebel group, known as the FARC — are told that by turning themselves in, their sins will be forgiven and they can start anew. The campaign is one of the pillars of a broader U.S.-backed military… »

Israel has never recovered from Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination. Sadly, the firebrand rhetoric that led to his death is still… »

U.S. President Barack Obama is so beloved in Europe that he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize (which he later won) just 12 days after taking office. Yet, this perception belies the reality that Obama has done much less for Europe than his… »

SUNDAY’S coordinated suicide bombings in Baghdad, which killed more than 150 people, were a brutal reminder of how far Iraq still has to go in terms of security. While things are far better than a few years ago, one huge task remains: getting the public to trust the Iraqi security… »

The internet regulator has approved plans to allow non-Latin-script web addresses, in a move that is set to transform the online… »

David Miliband is to visit Russia next week. This will be the first bilateral visit by a British foreign secretary since UK-Russian relations went through a deep low with the Alexander Litvinenko murder and the attacks on the British… »

African Union Peace and Security Council summit has endorsed AU Panel on Darfur recommendations on expansion and strengthening of the system of special Courts to deal with crimes committed in the conflict in… »

North Korea’s communications ministry was behind a series of cyber attacks against South Korean and U.S. websites in July, the South’s spy chief was quoted on Friday as saying. Dozens of major U.S. and South Korean government and business sites were slowed or disabled with traffic generated by malicious software planted on personal computers unknown… »

There have been renewed debates over the pros and cons of forming an East Asia community ever since the Hatoyama Cabinet advocated its promotion. Such debates have triggered the argument in the United States (and among some Japanese journalists) that East Asia community building runs counter to U.S…. »

If Israel were to launch a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, Tehran’s two terrorist allies on our borders—Hezbollah and Hamas—would almost certainly renew attacks against the Israeli home front. And Tel Aviv would be hit by Iranian long-range missiles. On the other hand, if Israel refrains from attacking Iran and international efforts to stop… »

Opium is the one booming sector of the Afghan economy: Poppy fields in the south and west of the country produce the raw material for an estimated 90 percent of the world’s heroin. Money from the opium trade supports the resurgent Taliban, which is fighting to expel U.S. and NATO forces. Therefore, a blow against… »

Haitian lawmakers ousted the prime minister Friday in a power struggle that threatens to undermine a campaign to attract foreign investment to the impoverished country. Michele Pierre-Louis was removed when 18 of 29 senators voted for censure and dissolved the… »

The North Korean leader may be using look-alikes to hide his poor health. One analyst says that when President Clinton visited in August, he met with an actor, not Kim… »

The EU has agreed a conditional deal on how to help other nations fight global warming, ahead of a key climate summit, but set no figure on what it would… »

Scientists in Europe and the US have agreed to join forces to beef up research into nuclear forensics. The move will see closer cooperation on technologies used to monitor nuclear weapons in a bid to cut nuclear… »

Fertility is falling and families are shrinking in places— such as Brazil, Indonesia, and even parts of India—that people think of as teeming with children. The fertility rate of half the world is now 2.1 or less—the magic number that is consistent with a stable population and is usually called “the replacement rate of fertility”…. »

Iran told the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Thursday that it would not accept a plan its negotiators agreed to last week to send its stockpile of uranium out of the country, according to diplomats in Europe and American officials briefed on Iran’s… »

Ukraine is again having difficulty paying for Russian natural gas supplies and the EU is not going to lend Kiev money to solve the problems, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin… »

The revelation by the New York Times on Wednesday that Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, has long been on the payroll of CIA, is only the tip of a much bigger iceberg of heavy dependence by US and NATO counter-insurgency forces on Afghan warlords for… »

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton came face-to-face Friday with simmering Pakistani anger over U.S. aerial drone attacks in their country and drew back slightly from her blunt remarks suggesting Pakistani officials know where terrorists are… »

Colombia and the United States signed a pact on Friday increasing U.S. access to military bases in the South American country, deepening its standing as Washington’s main ally in the… »

Earlier this month Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly asked Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to keep his country in charge of the United Nations force in Lebanon rather than handing control to Spain as planned, causing chagrin in… »

Interior Ministry officers tested out their newest techniques for dispersing rallies Thursday, in exercises that news agencies said were focused on dealing with angry… »

Le traité de Lisbonne, qui doit permettre à l’Europe de mieux fonctionner et de faire davantage entendre sa voix dans le monde, entrera “sans doute” en vigueur avant la fin de l’année, a déclaré, vendredi 30 octobre, le président français Nicolas… »

As the legal and moral implications of the UN Goldstone report on Israel’s military assault on Gaza continue to mount, Gazans are taking matters into their own hands and preparing civil… »

The report issued by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense last week said the number of China’s missiles targeted at the island. now amount to 1,500. This is up from an estimated 800 a year or two ago. In terms of short-range missiles, there are 1,300 aimed at the island that lies just 160 kilometers (100… »