Strategic Spotlight

MOST RECENT COMMENTARY

Michel Rocard

Little more than a decade into the twenty-first century, all major international negotiations and cooperative efforts thus far have ended in failure. The upcoming Rio+20 summit will end the same way If we do not give up the naive dream of consensus and allow the UN General Assembly to vote on environmental and economic measures.

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RECENT COMMENTARIES

FEATURED COMMENTARIES

Sarkozy at Dusk

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2012-02-21

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has had to confront exceptionally difficult circumstances, and his record since assuming office in 2007 is far from poor. But, barring a last-minute miracle, he will lose his re-election bid to the Socialist candidate, François Hollande.... read

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Reinventing the World Bank

Ana Palacio Series: The Turning Point

2012-02-21

Robert Zoellick’s announcement that he will not seek reelection as President of the World Bank has focused attention on whether the tradition of putting an American in charge will or should endure. But, legitimate as that question is, it is just a minor aspect of the debate that is needed about the World Bank’s role in the twenty-first century.... read

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Return to the Arc of Crisis

Jaswant Singh Series: The New Power Game

2012-02-21

Thirty-three years ago, then-US National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski spoke of “an arc of crisis” coursing through the Middle East and into Central Asia. Today, events from Syria to Pakistan suggest that Brzezinski’s arc is more salient than ever.... read

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Peace in Kashmir?

Shashi Tharoor Series: Awakening India

2012-02-20

A subtle shift may be occurring in one of the world's most intractable problems – the dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. After decades of conflict and thousands of lives lost, Pakistanis are questioning the benefits of continuing the fight.... read

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The Long March from Shanghai

Christopher R. Hill Series: America in a New World

2012-02-15

Forty years ago, US President Richard M. Nixon journeyed to China, and the "Shanghai Communiqué" launched what has become the world's most important and complex bilateral relationship. Today, however, China is increasingly consumed by mistrust of the US – evident in its veto in February of the UN Security Council's resolution on Syria.... read

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Turkey’s Test

Anne-Marie Slaughter Series: Discord and Diplomacy

2012-02-13

Turkey’s international star has risen steadily over the past few years, with its leaders lionized in the region and traveling the world as representatives of an increasingly influential power. But now, in Syria’s carnage, Turkey is facing a critical test of its regional and global aspirations.... read

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Opening Europe’s Mediterranean Window

Ana Palacio Series: The Turning Point

2012-02-10

One year after the fall of Hosni Mubarak, with popular upheaval continuing to roil the Arab world, it is increasingly clear that Europe can no longer sit still and do nothing. The ongoing protests have exposed an urgent need for renewed engagement with the region in general – and, in particular, with the southern and eastern Mediterranean countries.... read

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When Women Lead

Joseph S. Nye Series: Of Might and Right

2012-02-08

Would the world be more peaceful if women were in charge? It is an interesting question, but the key choices about war and peace in our future will depend not on gender, but on how leaders – men and women alike – combine hard- and soft-power skills to produce smart strategies.... read

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The Decline of the West Revisited

Shlomo Ben-Ami Series: War and Peace

2012-02-02

Since the publication in 1918 of Oswald Spengler’s The Decline of the West, prophecies about the inexorable doom of what he called the “Faustian Civilization” have been a recurrent topic for thinkers and public intellectuals. But the debate's recurrence is itself proof that Spengler was wrong.... read

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Should China be “Contained”?

Joseph S. Nye Series: Of Might and Right

2011-07-04

This month marks the 40th anniversary of Henry Kissinger’s secret trip to Beijing, thereby mending the 20-year breach in diplomatic relations between the US and China and enabling them to contain an expansionist Soviet Union. Could the same policy now be turned against a rising China?... read

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Netanyahu’s Border War

Shlomo Ben-Ami Series: War and Peace

2011-05-24

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu furiously rejects Barack Obama’s proposal to use the 1967 borders as the basis for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute – frontiers that he called “utterly indefensible.” But his position reflects not only poor statesmanship, but also his antiquated military philosophy.... read

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Reflections on the Revolution in Egypt

Richard N. Haass Series: The Statesmen's Debate

2011-02-13

Revolutions happen for a reason, and in Egypt, there are several reasons. Indeed, Egypt was ripe for dramatic change, which would have come at some point in the next few years, even absent the spark of Tunisia or the existence of social media.... read

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Hillary’s Kissinger Moment

Yuriko Koike Series: Asia Watch

2010-08-13

TOKYO – Hillary Clinton’s recent trip to Asia may one day be seen as the most significant visit to the region by a United States diplomat since Henry Kissinger’s secret mission to Beijing in July 1971. Kissinger’s mission triggered a diplomatic revolution. Renewal of US-Chinese relations shifted the global balance of power at the Cold War’s height, and prepared the way for China to open its economy – the decision that, more than any other, has defined today’s world. What Clinton did and said during her Asian tour will mark either the end of the era that Kissinger initiated four decades ago, or the start of a distinct new phase in that epoch.... read

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The Dear Leader Nuclear Weapons Company

Yuriko Koike Series: Asia Watch

2010-04-13

Neither the recently signed US-Russia treaty to reduce stockpiles of nuclear weapons, nor upcoming global nuclear arms talks, will have much impact on today’s most perilous threat: the nuclear honeymoon between an Iran determined to acquire nuclear weapons and a North Korea willing to sell Iran much of that capacity for hard currency.... read

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Europe’s Ukrainian Linchpin

Joschka Fischer Series: The Rebel Realist

2010-02-02

Frustrated by immobilism and corruption, Europe has turned away from Ukraine – a stance that could turn out to be a significant mistake. After all, Europe and Russia meet in Ukraine, and its fate will not only be a crucial factor in defining European security, but will also play a substantial role in future European-Russian relations.... read

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How to Undermine an Alliance

Yuriko Koike Series: Asia Watch

2010-01-13

2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Japan-United States Security Treaty. But, instead of celebrating an agreement that has helped stabilize East Asia for a half-century, the treaty is now at serious risk, as much from Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's indecision as from his government's deep strains of anti-Americanism.... read

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Learning from the Cold War

Richard N. Haass Series: The Statesmen's Debate

2009-11-18

The Cold War was won as a result of military "containment" of Soviet expansion, the Soviet bloc's own internal weaknesses, and efforts to provoke a crisis of confidence among communist leaders. The same combination of factors should be considered when confronting regimes like those in Iran and North Korea.... read

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Obama’s Hardest Choices Lie Ahead

Shlomo Ben-Ami Series: War and Peace

2009-04-28

It was only natural that Barack Obama, whose election was one of the most revolutionary events in American history, should fill his first 100 days in office with a breathtaking, all-embracing agenda. But, as far as his foreign policy is concerned, the real test of his strategy of dialogue and cooperation will come only when it fails, and tough choices will have to be made.... read

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The Bigger Issue in Sudan	Shlomo Ben-Ami
The most immediate consequence of the International Criminal Court's decision last month to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was the expulsion of most aid agencies from the country's Darfur region. But the more vital issue is to build international support for a strategy to implement fully the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement for Sudan.... read
The Revolution Reborn	Jorge G. Castañeda
In El Salvador, for the first time ever in Latin America, a former guerilla organization has achieved its aims through the ballot box. For the FMLN's leaders, unlike even Nicaragua's Sandinistas, remain largely allied with the region's "revolutionary" left, with no moderate faction to balance them.... read

Is America an Empire?

Joseph S. Nye Series: Of Might and Right

2004-01-26

Three decades ago, the radical left used the term "American empire" as an epithet. Now that same term has come out of the closet: analysts on both the left and right now use it to explain - if not guide - American foreign policy. ... read

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Mikhail Gorbachev and the End of the Cold War

Joseph S. Nye Series: Of Might and Right

2006-03-28

Earlier this month, Mikhail Gorbachev celebrated his 75th birthday with a concert and conference at his foundation in Moscow. Unfortunately, he is not popular with the Russian people, who blame him for the loss of Soviet power. But, as Gorbachev has replied to those who shout abuse at him, “Remember, I am the one who gave you the right to shout.”... read

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The Wrong Way to Think About Oil

Joseph S. Nye Series: Of Might and Right

2006-02-17

In his recent State of the Union address, President George W. Bush declared, “America is addicted to oil.” He announced a program of energy research that would reduce American oil imports from the Middle East by 75% over the next two decades. But even if his program succeeds, it will not do much to increase America’s energy security. The United States gets only a fifth of its oil from the Persian Gulf.... read

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Cold War Lessons for George W. Bush

Joseph S. Nye Series: Of Might and Right

2005-10-18

President Bush recently drew an analogy between the current struggle against violent jihadi terrorism and the Cold War. He is right in one respect: waves of terrorism tend to be generational. Unfortunately, like the Cold War, the current “war on terror” is likely to be a matter of decades, not years.... read

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Rethinking Sovereignty

Richard N. Haass Series: The Statesmen's Debate

2006-02-14

For 350 years, sovereignty – the notion that states are the central actors on the world stage and that governments are essentially free to do what they want within their own territory but not within the territory of other states – has provided the organizing principle of international relations. The time has come to rethink this notion.... read

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The Allure of Asia

Joseph S. Nye Series: Of Might and Right

2005-11-14

President Bush is in Asia to attend the Asian Pacific Economic Council in China, but he should pay attention to another Asian summit to which he was not invited. In December, Malaysia will host an East Asian meeting that deliberately excludes the United States. According to many close observers, America’s attractiveness is declining in the region where the allure, or “soft power,” of others has increased. ... read

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The Great Man Syndrome

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2006-01-25

In our globalized age, vast impersonal forces are supposed to determine events. Globalized markets, unfettered trade, militant Islam, China’s awakening: these are the things historians and strategists usually portray as the key forces shaping our destiny. But most people don’t see things this way.... read

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The End of the Russia-China Debate

Dominique Moisi Series: European Observer

2005-12-14

Ten years ago, comparing the reform processes in China and Russia was an intellectual fashion. Was it preferable to start with economics – try and get rich, quick, but don’t rock the boat politically – in the manner of the Chinese? Or was it better to start with politics – recover liberty and prosperity may follow – which seemed to be Russia’s path under Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin? ... read

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Living on a Volcano

Michel Rocard Series: The Statesmen's Debate

2005-11-15

As I write this, violent clashes with the police have been going on for nearly two weeks in the suburbs of Paris and other French cities, with cars being set on fire at a rate of nearly 1,000 per night. Why is this happening? How far can it go?... read

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The Emotional Clash of Civilizations	Dominique Moisi
Throughout the so-called “war on terror,” the notion of a “clash of civilization” between Islam and the West has usually been dismissed as politically incorrect and intellectually wrongheaded. Instead, the most common interpretation has been that the world has entered a new era characterized by conflict “within” a particular civilization, namely Islam, with fundamentalist Muslims as much at war against moderates as against the West. ... read
Is China Overtaking America?	Joseph S. Nye
Even if overall Chinese and US GDP reach parity in the 2020’s, as many predict, the two economies might be equal in size but not in composition. And China faces far greater obstacles to sustainable growth and global success than many estimates suggest.... read

FEATURED COMMENTARY

The Responsibility to Protect Comes of Age
Gareth Evans
Series: History in Motion

To be optimistic about almost anything in international affairs is to run the risk of being thought ignorant, naïve, or demented. But, on the issue of mass-atrocity crimes – situations in which the international community has long had good reason for shame – real optimism is now justified.

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