Regions
Africa
Snapshot,
February 7, 2012
Somalia's government has recently made gains against the militant group al Shabaab. But those will prove fleeting if it does not find a way to address the organization's grievances and bring moderates into the fold.
Snapshot,
February 2, 2012
By some measures, the ad-hoc alliance among Ethiopia, Kenya, and the African Union has come close to defeating the terrorist group al Shabaab. But a military victory could scatter the group's most radical leaders across the Horn of Africa.
Snapshot,
February 1, 2012
In an attempt to one-up Khartoum, the newly independent South Sudan has twisted its oil spigot closed. But a shuttered oil sector is just the beginning of Omar al-Bashir's problems: Juba sees him as weak, a new alliance of fighters in the east is plotting to overthrow him, and Sudan's economy is in tatters.
Americas
Snapshot,
January 26, 2012
This year, there will finally be a real contest for power in Caracas. With opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez having just announced that he is ending his presidential campaign and throwing his support to Henrique Capriles Radonski -- the charismatic governor whom many expect to be Chávez's main competition -- the opposition is gradually consolidating power and becoming a more serious challenge to the regime.
Snapshot,
January 23, 2012
The president knows that a foreign policy crisis -- especially one his critics have forewarned -- could derail his reelection campaign at any time. So, during the State of the Union address, he will try to give himself some political cover on a few issues in particular: Iran, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
Snapshot,
January 4, 2012
Defense budget cuts won't make the United States less secure. The problem is simpler: the Pentagon does not have a resource problem, it has an administrative problem.
Asia
Snapshot,
February 2, 2012
If confirmed, Mehsud's death could cause the Pakistani Taliban to break apart. Several actors, including the Pakistani government, the Afghan Taliban, and al Qaeda, appear ready to step in and mediate between factions. In every scenario, fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan would become more difficult.
Snapshot,
January 27, 2012
The dispute between Kabul and Washington over who should control the Bagram detention facility underscores the many difficulties the Obama administration will face as it prepares to pull U.S. troops out of the country.
Snapshot,
January 22, 2012
The ruling Pakistan People's Party's days in office are numbered. But it will not likely fall to a coup, given the stalemate between the military, the judiciary, and the civilians. Instead, the most likely outcome is that the government will call early general elections, which will bring a new batch of civilians to the fore.
Europe
Snapshot,
January 12, 2012
The problem isn't weak EU economic policy, it is that no country has reason to live up to its obligations or to force its partners to do the same. What Europe really needs is a sovereign credit club; at the cost of accepting certain performance standards, countries would join to get access to low-cost capital.
Intelligent observers of Europe in the 1930s thought its future belonged to communism or fascism and would have ridiculed the notion that decades later the entire continent would be democratic. New books by Jan-Werner Müller and Eric Hobsbawm illuminate the changing fortunes of the continent’s great ideologies.
Essay,
Jan/Feb
2012
The collapse of the euro is no accident; the seeds of the crisis were planted before the monetary union even began, argues a former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. It never made sense to yoke so many different economies and cultures together—yet they now find themselves trapped in a union that leaves no means of escape.
Middle East
Snapshot,
February 5, 2012
Russia vetoed a resolution at the UN Security Council to end the violence in Syria because it feels burned by last year's international intervention in Libya, and it harbors suspicions about the motives of the United States.
Comment,
February 2, 2012
NATO’s operation in Libya has rightly been praised for saving lives and ending a tyrannical regime, write the U.S. permanent representative to NATO and its supreme allied commander for Europe. But to replicate the success, member states must reinforce their political cohesion and improve the burden sharing that made the mission work.
Snapshot,
January 31, 2012
Iraq is not suffering sectarian strife as much as what could be called intra-sectarian conflict, in which rivals from both the country’s Shiite- and Sunni-dominated parties reposition themselves amid the political fray.
Russia & FSU
Snapshot,
February 5, 2012
Russia vetoed a resolution at the UN Security Council to end the violence in Syria because it feels burned by last year's international intervention in Libya, and it harbors suspicions about the motives of the United States.
Snapshot,
December 9, 2011
In the wake of Sunday's contested parliamentary elections, the Russian security services have made obvious and clumsy efforts to shut down independent news sources. But controlling information online will prove impossible, and continued attempts to do so will only backfire.
Snapshot,
December 8, 2011
With its entrenched advantages, the Kremlin's United Russia party should be safe for now -- but if Vladimir Putin doesn't acknowledge the widespread dissatisfaction with his rule, he may soon find that force is the only way to preserve his regime.
Global Commons
Essay,
Nov/Dec
2010
A major strategic challenge for the United States in the coming decades will be integrating emerging powers into international institutions. To hold the postwar order together, the United States will have to become a more consistent exemplar of multilateral cooperation.
Snapshot,
October 4, 2010
A new U.S. emphasis on African maritime development -- dedicated not only to rooting out piracy but also renovating ports and investing in job creation -- could improve African security and economic growth.
Snapshot,
September 28, 2010
In a bid to end its dependence on foreign intellectual property and become a global power in science and technology, China is attempting to foster indigenous innovation. Are the U.S. government and business community right to be worried about threats to free trade and intellectual property rights?
