International Insight

MOST RECENT COMMENTARY

Afghanistan is Lost without Better Governance

Jamie F. Metzl

The US and its Afghan and NATO allies have demonstrated unmistakable progress in Afghanistan this year. But no matter what other progress is made, America and its allies cannot succeed in Afghanistan unless the Afghan government succeeds – and that government is moving in the wrong direction.

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RECENT COMMENTARIES

FEATURED COMMENTARIES

How to Save the Euro

Daniel Gros Series: European Economies

2010-03-12

The euro zone was created on two assumptions: member countries would adhere to strict deficit and debt limits, and those who violated the limits would not be bailed out. Now that the Greek crisis has proved both assumptions invalid, the only hope for imposing market discipline throughout the euro zone is the creation of a European Monetary Fund.... read

Comments: 0 Recommended: 1 Read: 986

Re-Repairing Bosnia

Morton Abramowitz and James Hooper Series: Europe at Home and Abroad

2010-03-11

The Dayton Accords of 1995 ended Serb-instigated ethnic cleansing and established peace in Bosnia, but failed to create a functional Bosnian central government with the capacity to undertake the reforms needed to meet the terms of accession to the EU. Unless the EU acts quickly to fix what Dayton left broken, it could find itself bordering a failed state with a Muslim plurality.... read

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Catalyzing Consumption and Balancing Growth

Anoop Singh Series: The Asian Century

2010-03-09

China has weathered the Great Recession well. But the world now waits to see if China can sustain last year’s impressive domestic demand, and if the government can put household consumption front and center in the country's growth model.... read

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Brazil, Iran, and the Road to the Security Council

Clovis Rossi Series: Latin America

2010-03-04

The attempt by Brazil’s government to participate in the international negotiations over Iran's nuclear program should be viewed in light of the country's overriding ambition to gain permanent membership of the UN Security Council. That goal explains Brazilian officials' recent shift from insisting on dialogue with Iran to mild criticism of its regime.... read

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The Summit of Europe’s Ineffectiveness

Daniel Korski Series: Europe at Home and Abroad

2010-03-04

The Pakistan-EU summit will take place on April 10, a follow up to the first meeting last autumn, but you would be hard-pressed to know anything about the event, since nobody is taking ownership of it. The reason is simple: the EU has nothing new to say or offer.... read

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Turning the Corner in Eastern Europe

Thomas Mirow Series: European Economies

2010-03-01

Many countries in Central and Eastern Europe were hit hard by the global financial crisis, owing to a massive build-up of debt - much of it in foreign currencies - during the boom years that preceded it. Sustainable recovery will require the development of strong local capital markets, as well as stronger institutional and regulatory frameworks – and not just at the national level.... read

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Can Asians Resolve Global Problems?

Simon Chesterman and Kishore Mahbubani Series: The Asian Century

2010-03-01

In the past, Asians put a premium on protecting their sovereignty and were wary of any multilateral approaches that could dilute it. Now, in response to global challenges – for example, pandemics, financial crises, and climate change – the vast majority of Asian countries understand that collective action does not erode but instead protects sovereignty. ... read

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The Other, Brighter Africa

Mo Ibrahim Series: Into Africa

2010-02-26

The usual image of Africa as a continent mired in conflict and squalor is unfair and misleading – like claiming that all Europeans are guilty of “ethnic cleansing” because of what happened in the former Yugoslavia. Yes, African has some failed states, but most of its 53 countries are mostly peaceful, agreeable places.... read

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Going “Soft” on Iran

Fiorello Provera Series: Europe at Home and Abroad

2010-02-24

2010 will be a crucial and uncertain year for the Islamic Republic of Iran – and for its relations with the EU. Europe must demonstrate the importance of its soft power, which frightens the Islamic Republic more than the threat of military force by keeping the media spotlight on the regime’s human rights record and emphasizing its growing isolation.... read

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The Rising Sons of North Africa

Wolfram Lacher Series: Into Africa

2009-12-24

Across north Africa - in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia - preparations for dynastic successions appear to be underway. But none of these countries rulers, or their heirs apparent, will admit it, fearing public opposition and, more apparently, resistance from rivals who have much to lose.... read

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The Case for a Global Financial-Transaction Tax

Peer Steinbrück Series: European Economies

2009-09-21

Despite all economic pain caused by their recklessness, financial-market participants gained significant benefits from government bailouts. It is time for them to pay their fair share of the costs, and the most just and efficient way to ensure this is for the G-20 to implement a global financial-transaction tax.... read

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The Healing of Taiwan

Sin-ming Shaw Series: The Asian Century

2009-09-14

A Taiwanese court recently sentenced Chen Shui-bien, Taiwan’s president from 2000 until 2008, to life imprisonment for corruption. But Chen's legacy may prove difficult to reverse, as it extended beyond criminality to ethnic divisiveness and neglect of economic development.... read

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A New Sino-American Relationship?

Orville Schell Series: China Stands Up

2009-08-21

The Strategic and Economic Dialogue between the US and China has now ended with the establishment of a felicitous new atmosphere between the two countries. But, while the most logical and potentially fruitful area of collaboration is climate change, huge obstacles to progress remain.... read

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Keeping Africa's Turnaround on Track

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Series: Into Africa

2009-07-04

MONROVIA – For more than a decade, much of Africa has been moving forward. Economic growth is rising, poverty is falling and democratic governance is spreading. But the global financial crisis threatens to undo this progress by reducing investment, exports and aid just as they should be expanding to build on these successes. ... read

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Sacred Promises

Desmond Tutu Series: Into Africa

2009-07-04

It is an act of grace and great leadership when we keep our promises to the poor, which is why those G-8 countries that are leading the charge for the poorest, especially in Africa, deserve much credit. But we must also be prepared to censure countries like Italy and France for not meeting the pledges they made at the G-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, four years ago. ... read

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Cyprus’s Last Best Chance

Desmond Tutu, Jimmy Carter and Lakhdar Brahimi Series: Europe at Home and Abroad

2009-05-04

It is tempting to see the results of the recent parliamentary elections in northern Cyprus as a blow for the peace process. But Cyprus can still seize their best – and quite possibly their last – chance in 30 years to achieve a federal settlement.... read

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Beggar-Thy-Neighbor Exchange Rates?

Charles Wyplosz Series: European Economies

2009-04-09

The Swiss National Bank's recent announcement that it was intervening on the foreign-exchange market with the aim of reversing the appreciation of the franc has been met not by protest at the prospect of competitive depreciations, but by silence. Does this indicate that all other central banks entertain the possibility of using that option?... read

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The Mugabe of Latin America

Carlos F. Chamorro Series: Latin America

2009-02-10

Daniel Ortega unintentionally inaugurated an era of electoral democracy in Nicaragua when he lost power in 1990. Now, two years into his presidential term, Ortega's Sandinistas stand accused of rigging the country' local elections in order to ensure the adoption of a constitutional amendment that will allow him to run again.... read

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A Year of Anniversaries and Uncertainties	Wenran Jiang
For China, last year began with devastating snowstorms, followed by riots in Tibet, embarrassing protests against the Olympic torch relay, and, before the Games themselves, a devastating earthquake. If all that could occur in a year marked by the "lucky" number eight, 2009, littered with a host of extremely sensitive anniversaries, could prove even more dramatic and unpredictable.... read
A Czech Moment	Karel Schwarzenberg
As the Czech Republic takes over the EU presidency, no one in Europe should fear that it has some nostalgic or idiosyncratic agenda that it wants to impose on the Union. On the contrary, events have imposed an agenda on Europe that we cannot escape and for which solidarity – true union – will be needed.... read

The Man Who Made Malaysia

Wang Gungwu Series: The Asian Century

2003-09-29

Once again, Malaysia's Mahathir Muhammed acerbic tongue has incited controversy. But his long rule in his country -- which ends November 1 -- amounts to much more than intemperate remarks, as Wang Gungwu, one of Southeast Asia's leading strategic analysts, suggests.... read

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The Power of Cuba's Powerless

Lydia Chavez Series: Latin America

2003-09-24

A little more than a year ago, poet and journalist Raúl Rivero Castañeda wrote that he refused to let America's embargo against Cuba define the international debate over the fate of the island's 11 million people. "In this country, the real blockade, the one that affects the daily life of the people is the internal governing system," he declared. Since then, Rivero has endured his own private blockade. ... read

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Should Africa Follow the EU Model?

Sanou Mbaye Series: Into Africa

2003-09-17

The African Union, which replaced the Organization for African Unity (OAU) in 2002, is trying to reproduce the European Union's institutions and ways of acting. But copying the EU blueprint means that nothing has been learned from the past and that nothing is being done to avoid the pitfalls Europe has endured. ... read

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China's Reforms Stall Again

Orville Schell Series: China Stands Up

2003-09-11

As the 82nd anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party approached last July, the Party's new General Secretary, Hu Jintao, seemed on the verge of announcing a whole new range of reforms. In a ceremony celebrating the promulgation of the current 1982 constitution, Hu reportedly expressed interest in strengthening constitutional protections against official intrusions in people's lives and in promoting extensive legal reform. Indeed, he was even rumored to be considering more inner-Party democratization, greater press freedom, strengthening non-Communist political parties, and permitting exiled dissidents to return home. ... read

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Russia’s Population Implosion

Sergei Kapitsa Series: A Window on Russia

2005-06-29

Years ago, Alexander Solzhenitsyn coined the phrase “preservation of the people,” by which he meant Russia’s cultural survival. Today, it applies to Russia in a far more literal way.... read

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The Trouble with Japanese Nationalism

Francis Fukuyama Series: The Asian Century

2007-03-23

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's brand of "new nationalism" is angering much of Asia and sowing doubts in the US. According to Francis Fukuyama, until Japan comes to terms with its responsibility for the Pacific War, revising the post-1945 constitution to allow Japanese re-armament – a key US goal – would be dangerously destabilizing.... read

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Will China’s Capitalist Revolution Turn Democratic

Minxin Pei Series: China Stands Up

2006-06-15

Communist China has experienced a monumental capitalist revolution in the last two decades, with an economy that is now six times bigger than it was 20 years ago. A minor player in the global economy in the 1980’s, China today is the world’s third largest trading power. But if these stunning economic statistics make you think that so much capitalist development must also have brought more democracy to China, think again.... read

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Stalin Lives

Roy Medvedev Series: A Window on Russia

2005-03-29

The legacy of dead dictators from vanquished totalitarian regimes should no longer be ambivalent. Only Germany’s lunatic fringe dares to commemorate Hitler. Not even the pathetic remnant of the Khmer Rouge celebrates Pol Pot’s memory. Yet, as Russia approaches the 60th anniversary of its victory over Nazi Germany, marking Stalin’s role in that victory is proving to be damnably awkward.... read

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Sink or Swim in the Philippines

H. Harry L. Roque Series: The Asian Century

2008-07-10

The tragedy of the sinking of the Princess of the Stars ferry in the Philippines is proof that the country is prone not only to natural calamities, but to manmade ones as well. The refusal of Philippine courts to award sufficiently high damages to victims and their families has made loss of life affordable to those who intend to violate their contractual obligations.... read

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Mao, the False God	Sin-ming Shaw
Should Chairman Mao’s huge portrait still hang above the front gate of Tiananmen Square? Should China’s ruling party still call itself Communist? ... read
The Rise of Chinese “Sea Power”	Hideaki Kaneda
In an age of missiles and terrorist threats, many people think that “sea power” is a word and concept from the past. Not in China. Indeed, China is increasingly emphasizing its naval and maritime interests: economic development, territorial management, energy and food security as well as trade. A navy sufficient to promote such activities is being rapidly developed and purchased from abroad (mostly from Russia, the EU when possible).... read

FEATURED COMMENTARY

China’s Cyber-Warriors
Brahma Chellaney
Series: China Stands Up

China deploys tens of thousands of “cyber police” to block Web sites, patrol cyber-cafes, monitor the use of cellular telephones, and track down Internet activists. But China's real threat to cyberspace comes comes from the way in which it uses its know-how to engage in cyber intrusion across international frontiers.

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