Archive for February 5th, 2010

(PDF) – Roma deve trovare e consolidare nicchie di presenza e forme di penetrazione che le consentano un margine operativo per le priorità e le opzioni strategiche che ha delineato: erigere una barriera contro l’immi-grazione irregolare, arginare il dilagare del terrorismo attraverso il Mediterraneo, garantirsi adeguati spazi di investimenti economici e di ritorni energetici. Obiettivi… »

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is losing altitude, according to the Haaretz-Dialog poll published here. The results show that, for the first time in a year, a majority of the public is dissatisfied with his performance and questions his suitability as prime… »

(PDF) – A large proportion of Africans are dependent on natural resources and the environment to subsist. The natural environment is the foundation of livelihoods based on subsistence and commercial farming, animal husbandry, trade and mining. These activities are inextricably linked to the availability of natural resources and the sustainable management of those resources. Factors… »

Two signed Chinese language articles in the current issue of ‘Qiu Shi’, the theoretical organ of the Chinese Communist Party, are noteworthy for their definite tendency to play down the impact on Sino-US relations coming from the latest bilateral frictions centering round three issues – trade dispute, US arms sales to Taiwan and the upcoming… »

Does the conflict between Georgia and Russia in August 2008 really stands for a turning-point as often argued, and if so what has changed and with what consequences? In order to pass judgment on such questions and to arrest some of the more profound dynamics of the discourse waged, an interpretative frame is developed and… »

Three US special forces soldiers were killed in northwest Pakistan this week, confirming that the US military is more deeply engaged on the ground in Pakistan than previously acknowledged by the White House and… »

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal will visit Russia next week for talks on ending a Palestinian split and bringing about a resumption of peace talks with Israel, the Russian government… »

Infighting in one of Darfur’s rebel groups has driven at least 10,000 people from their homes in the restive Jabel Marra area, deepening the humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s west, officials… »

China will impose anti-dumping duties of up to 105.4 per cent on imports of poultry products from the US, opening a new rift between the two countries at the end of a week in which frictions between the US and China have escalated… »

There is no surer measure of Egypt’s transforming identity over the last half century than its treatment of its Coptic Christian minority, which comprises about 10 percent of the country’s 80 million citizens. As Egypt becomes less Arab and more Islamic, removing itself ever farther from former president Gamal Abdel Nasser’s brand of left-leaning secular… »

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said he would “act prudently” to let the constitutional court evaluate a proposed referendum on a third term after local media said a judge recommended that his colleagues block the… »

Kazakhstan’s government is mulling a plan that would enable China to lease a large swath of Kazakhstani land for agricultural use. The proposed deal is stirring passionate opposition in the Central Asian state, with critics expressing concern about the country’s… »

The economic downturn in Russia seems to have transmuted into growing political discontent within the populace and the governing structures. With no visible improvement, the continued state propaganda mantras about Putin’s anti-crisis measures saving Russia are counter-productive. The Russian public is becoming noticeably restless and tensions are growing within the ruling… »

Romania’s top defense body approved an American proposal to base missile interceptors there, the country’s president said Thursday. The president, Traian Basescu, said in a statement that Romania, a former Warsaw Pact member and now part of NATO, was prepared to negotiate with the United States to accept ground-based interceptors as part of an antiballistic… »

It is the worst-kept secret in Afghanistan: The “major offensive” set to begin within days, if not hours, will be for Marjah, a district just 15 miles from Helmand’s provincial capital, Lashkar Gah. But Marjah may prove to be the decisive battleground of the war. Over the past two years, it has turned into Helmand’s… »

The National Security Agency is widely understood to have the government’s biggest and smartest collection of geeks — the guys that are more skilled at network warfare than just about anyone on the planet. So, in a sense, it’s only natural that Google would turn to the NSA after the company was hit by an… »

India has proposed foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan, signalling the resumption of a dialogue that stalled after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. This is being seen as UPA II’s most important foreign policy… »

Taiwan’s military will buy up to 20 helicopters from a German manufacturer, it was confirmed today, days after Beijing lashed out at a multibillion-dollar US arms deal with the island. China has yet to respond to news of the agreement, thought to be the first European sale to Taiwan’s armed forces since the early… »

The two candidates battling to become the next president of Ukraine are to hold their final rallies in Kiev ahead of Sunday’s run-off election. Most analysts believe the result of Sunday’s election will be close – though some think Mr Yanukovych will… »

China’s crackdown on suspected separatists in the western region of Xinjiang will continue in order to maintain social stability following last year’s deadly ethnic riots, a top regional official… »

(PDF) – Northern Ireland power-sharing… »

Pretty much everyone agrees that China is the only nation with any chance of challenging American military superiority in the foreseeable future. So it’s awfully strange that the Department of Defense’s new Quadrennial Defense Review has little to say about the country. Explicit discussion is mostly limited to a single paragraph atop page… »

For a while, it looked like the start of a great reconciliation. Armenia and Turkey have lived beneath the vast shadow of the mass murder of Armenians in eastern Turkey during World War I, and to this day they maintain no diplomatic ties. But in October, the Armenian and Turkish foreign ministers met in Switzerland… »

This country on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula needs urgent international support, because a failed state on the border of Saudi Arabia – the world’s largest oil producer – would have enormous consequences for the global economy and the war on terrorism. In seeking to contain the security threat, Washington must not repeat… »

(PDF) – An alternative approach to space security holds that the uniquely hostile and fragile nature of outer space makes cooperation not only possible, but mandatory. This view rests on the assumptions that attempts to dominate space will backfire, and that a war in space between major
powers cannot be won and must not be fought…. »

Last year, plans for the Nabucco pipeline – almost a decade in the making – appeared finally to make some headway. In March, the EU earmarked €200 million for preparatory work. The European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development promised to help with financing the €10 billion cost. In July, the… »

(PDF) – The size and rate of growth of China’s economy, of its energy demand, of its energy imports and of its atmospheric emissions of various types make this country an essential major partner in any regional or global discussions relating to the production and consumption of energy. Yet such is the size, diversity, complexity… »

World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) is a joint product of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the five United Nations regional commissions. It provides an overview of recent global economic performance and short-term prospects for the world economy and of some key global economic… »