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1621. The United States, Russia, and Europe: Trilateral Security Dialogue in the Absence of Strategic Partnership

Author:
Isabelle Francois
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
The past twenty years have been marked by a series of setbacks and disappointments in the US-European-Russian dialogue, despite regular attempts to develop a strategic partnership. In this cyclical relationship, 2012 was a low point in Western relations with Russia, from the calculated absence of President Vladimir Putin at the NATO summit in Chicago to the Russian ban on American adoptions of Russian orphans, and the US reaction to the Sergei Magnitsky case. The year 2013 could have been the beginning of an upswing in the trilateral dialogue. In April, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met on the margins of the G8 foreign ministers' gathering in London. At the same time, US National Security Advisor Tom Donilon called on Putin in Moscow, where he hand-delivered a letter from President Barack Obama detailing potential areas of cooperation. A series of meetings between Russian and American officials throughout the summer saw a new diplomatic push to reframe the US–Russia relationship in the run-up to the Group of Eight meeting in June and the G20 meeting in September 2013. However, the Edward Snowden affair and Obama's subsequent decision to cancel the planned September meeting with Putin in light of insufficient progress on bilateral issues point to a pause in the relationship.
Topic:
International Relations and Economics
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, America, and Europe

1622. Mexico Rising: Comprehensive Energy Reform at Last?

Author:
David J. Goldwyn
Publication Date:
12-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Mexico's Congress passed its final hurdle to reform the Constitution and allow for private investment in the energy industry on December 12, 2013. This significant achievement heralds the most comprehensive energy reform in the last seventy-five years of the country's history.
Topic:
Economics, Energy Policy, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Oil
Political Geography:
United States, Latin America, and Mexico

1623. Redefining Leadership in the Global Nuclear Energy Market

Author:
Andrew Paterson and Walter Howes
Publication Date:
12-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Global energy demand will increase substantially in the coming decades under pressure from global trends, including an increasing population that will reach 9 billion by 2040, and, for the first time in history, will be overwhelmingly urban. Meeting basic global energy needs will require the use of all available sources of energy while addressing and minimizing environmental and climate impacts. Nuclear energy is an established part of the world's electricity mix, and provides large-scale, reliable, base-load electricity demand. As such, it seems to be well matched to fit into an increasingly urban world that aims to mediate environmental challenges.
Topic:
Economics, Energy Policy, Environment, International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
United States and Asia

1624. NATO and Japan as Multifaceted Partners

Author:
Michito Tsuruoka
Publication Date:
04-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
Japan and NATO are now partners on the international security scene, but they used to live in different worlds with little interaction between the two. The Cold War, as seen from Washington and Moscow, was undoubtedly a global conflict. Yet, in many respects, it was still regional in nature: United States allies in Europe and Asia faced different sets of threats and challenges which, more often than not, evolved separately. It is, therefore, hardly surprising that relations between Japan and NATO did not develop during the Cold War, though both were US allies, sharing fundamental values and facing the Soviet Union as a common threat. Indeed, during the Cold War period NATO as an alliance had no substantial relationships with non-members, nor did it see the need for partnerships. This was largely because there was no reason for it to seek external help in achieving its core mission of defending the Allies.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, NATO, International Cooperation, and International Security
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, Europe, Washington, Asia, and Moscow

1625. Americanization of the BIT Universe: The Influence of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation (FCN) Treaties on Modern Investment Treaty Law

Author:
Wolfgang Alschner
Publication Date:
12-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
Friendship, Commerce and Navigation (FCN) treaties are more than a historical precursor to international investment agreements (IIA) and continue to influence and inspire modern investment treaty design. Until the 1960s, FCN treaties were the American conceptual alternative to the European BIT Model. FCN treaties were comprehensive and complex agreements covering trade, intellectual property, and even human rights in addition to investment disciplines. BITs, in contrast, were short, simple, and focused on investment protection only. Furthermore, while FCN treaties were designed to govern symmetrical investment relations between like-minded developed countries, BITs targeted an asymmetrical relationship between developed capital exporting States and developing capital importers. Even after the U.S. shifted from FCN to BITs in the early 1980s, FCN treaties continued to impact investment policy-making. First, key FCN features such as pre-establishment commitments, non-conforming measures, and investor rights survived the U.S. policy-shift and have since found their way into IIAs around the world. Second, as a conceptual alternative to simple and specialized European BITs, FCN treaties have inspired a new generation of IIAs that are complex and comprehensive in nature, containing a fine-tuned mix of rights and obligations, and treating investment alongside other policy concerns. Third, the spread of FCN-inspired treaties coincides with the demise of European-style BITs. As policy-makers turn to the United States instead of Europe for investment policy innovation, we observe an Americanization of the IIA universe.
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

1626. Guantanamo: A Comprehensive Exit Strategy

Publication Date:
07-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Human Rights First
Abstract:
As the United States prepares to end major combat operations in Afghanistan—the war that gave rise to the detention facilities at Guantanamo in the first place—it is imperative that the president and Congress work together to close Guantanamo and bring an end to what has become a symbol for an America that flouts the rule of law. As the president put it in this year's State of the Union speech: “with the Afghan war ending, this needs to be the year Congress lifts the remaining restrictions on detainee transfers and we close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, because we counter terrorism not just through intelligence and military action but by remaining true to our constitutional ideals and setting an example for the rest of the world.”
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, and America

1627. How to Turn Around Egypt's Disastrous Post-Mubarak Transition

Publication Date:
12-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Human Rights First
Abstract:
Egypt's political crisis has become a constant source of low-level disquiet for U.S. policy makers in a region of proliferating crises. In normal circumstances, the collapse of a mostly reliable strategic partner in one of the region's most populous and influential countries would be a first priority concern for U.S. policy makers, but concern over Egypt in U.S. policy circles has been, strangely, mostly muted. It seems when Egypt is mentioned at all, it is usually said to be in the midst of a transition to democracy, which may be bumpy or troubled, but is generally heading in the right direction, towards an inclusive democratic future, that Washington claims to favor.
Political Geography:
United States, Washington, and Egypt

1628. Afghan Narcotrafficking: A Joint Threat Assessment

Author:
Jacqueline McLaren Miller
Publication Date:
11-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
More than a decade after the United States and allied troops began military operations in Afghanistan, the country remains a major conflict zone. Afghanistan's continuing instability constitutes the largest security issue in the region. The country's role as the center of global opiate production contributes heavily to this instability. The grave social, economic, political, and security implications of the trafficking of the Afghan opiates extend beyond the regions of South, Southwest, and Central Asia. The opium economy in Afghanistan has become deeply entrenched and shows no signs of declining. Inside Afghanistan, narcotrafficking contributes to insecurity and feeds corruption, warlords, and insurgents. All this vastly complicates the prospects of the Afghan central government consolidating its power and effectively governing. Compounding these issues is the scheduled withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan in 2014 and the ongoing drawdown of U.S. troops.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, War on Drugs, Counterinsurgency, and Narcotics Trafficking
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, and Central Asia

1629. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and Its Relevance for the Global Security

Author:
Daša Adašková and Tomáš Ludík
Publication Date:
06-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Obrana a strategie (Defence & Strategy)
Institution:
University of Defence
Abstract:
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is one of important international nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament measures. One of its pillars is the verification mechanism that has been built as an international system of nuclear testing detection to enable the control of observance of the obligations anchored in the CTBT. Despite the great relevance to the global non-proliferation and disarmament efforts, the CTBT is still not in force. The main aim of the article is to summarize the importance of the CTBT and its entry into force not only from the international relations perspective but also from the perspective of the technical implementation of the monitoring system.
Topic:
Security, NATO, International Law, United Nations, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, China, Iran, Middle East, India, Asia, France, and Arabia

1630. Diversion of Weapons within Peace Operations: Understanding the Phenomenon

Author:
Eric G. Berman and Mihaela Racovita
Publication Date:
08-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
Driven by the new security challenges of the post-Cold War period, peacekeeping has increased in tempo, scope and complexity. Missions have taken on broader mandates, with greater responsibilities, such as the protection of civilians, disarmament, demobilisation, and the reintegration of former combatants, and security sector reform. In this context, peacekeeping operations must overcome political, financial and operational challenges before they are even deployed. Once on the ground, peacekeepers become increasingly the targets of violence and crime. A former U.S. Senior Adviser on Darfur commented in October 2013: "It's kind of open season on UNAMID." This situation is not limited to Darfur. Rather, 'protecting the protectors' and their assets across missions and contexts has turned into a challenge in its own right.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Cold War, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
United States