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392. AsiaSource Interview with Under Secretary Nicholas Burns
- Author:
- Nermeen Shaikh
- Publication Date:
- 11-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Asia Society
- Abstract:
- Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns is the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the Department of State's third ranking official. Prior to his current assignment, Ambassador Burns was the United States Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. As Ambassador to NATO, he headed the combined State-Defense Department U.S. Mission to NATO at a time when the Alliance committed to new missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war against terrorism, and accepted seven new members.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Asia
393. The New Energy Security: 2005 Global Oil and Gas Forum
- Author:
- John A. Riggs
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Energy security means different things to different countries. Importing countries primarily focus on supply. Since the oil price shocks of the 1970s, the focus of energy security has been on achieving adequate supplies at reasonable prices, without incurring serious disruptions. Recent high prices have intensified this concern and renewed interest in policies to bring prices down.
- Topic:
- Security, Energy Policy, and Oil
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, Europe, Middle East, India, Asia, and Saudi Arabia
394. Gaza Plunges Deeper into Misery
- Author:
- Anthony Newkirk
- Publication Date:
- 11-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- This month, the Shurat HaDin Law Center is taking foreign tourists on an eight-day "exploration of Israel's struggle for survival and security" that includes briefings by intelligence officers and demonstrations by masked commandoes, as well as visits to military trials of Hamas members. Make no mistake, the region certainly is witnessing a struggle for survival and security that involves tremendous human suffering. However, this struggle is not exactly as the Shurat HaDin Law Center would like to imagine it because the primary victims are the inhabitants of the Occupied Territories, people for whom bare survival is now more important than security--to say nothing of statehood. The long ordeal of Gaza under Israeli occupation--which is still continuing, even though Israeli troops and settlers officially "withdrew" a year ago--exemplifies the Palestinian struggle for survival and security. Ever since the establishment of a Hamas-led government last spring, the United States and the European Union have been waging economic warfare against the Palestinian Authority. As Israel's summer "incursion" in the Palestinian Authority has plunged Gaza's population deeper into misery, the European Union now states that it will not restore aid until the Palestinian Authority "commits" to peaceful relations with Israel, renounces violence, and respects all agreements made between the PLO and Israel. On September 20, Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy Elliott Abrams said that U.S. direct aid will not resume until Hamas fulfills similar conditions as specified in the Palestinian anti-terrorism Act of 2006, the legal mainstay of the U.S. blockade. However, the record shows that Western powers are notorious for changing their definitions of specific peace terms, which always makes weak adversaries like the Palestinians appear to be intractable. A week before the beginning of Operation Summer Rains on June 28, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated that from January to mid-June Israeli forces fired 8,380 artillery shells into the tiny Gaza Strip and armed Palestinian factions fired 896 home-made Qassam rockets into Israel.
- Topic:
- Security, Ethnic Conflict, and War
- Political Geography:
- Middle East
395. Continuity and change in Italy's foreign policy under the Prodi government. The cases of Iraq and Afghanistan
- Author:
- J.C. Mahncke
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- “I see that under the Prodi government Italy already now has and even more in future will be able to have a big role in Europe, and that as a result of this role will be able to take on an important function in relation to the United States and the Arab world […] I believe that in the course of one month Italy has succeeded to launch a strategic rearrangement of its foreign policy.”1 These are the words of Massimo D'Alema, Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs since May 2006. Indeed, the measures taken by the new Italian government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi indicate, if not a completely new orientation, a revised concept behind Italian foreign policy in contrast to that of his predecessor Silvio Berlusconi. Most striking is the withdrawal of Italian troops from Iraq, to be completed by autumn of this year. But Prodi wants to maintain Italian involvement in Afghanistan, and the government seems eager to uphold the traditionally good relations with the United States, despite the withdrawal from Iraq. While Prodi and D'Alema are in favour of a more important role of Italy in Europe and of the European Union in the world, close ties are to be kept with the United States. According to D'Alema: “The foreign policy of the government intends to favour the growth of an autonomous European actor but tied to the United States by solid and mature understanding within the alliance.”
- Topic:
- International Relations and Security
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Middle East, Asia, and Italy
396. Fifteen Proposal for Italy's European Policy
- Author:
- T. Padoa-Schioppa and E. Greco
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- Despite the important achievements of the past years (the Euro, enlargement, the drafting of the Constitutional Treaty, interventions in the Balkans and the growing diplomatic role in the Middle East), Europe is at a standstill and experiencing scepticism which, combined with prolonged economic stagnation, could deteriorate into a serious crisis. In this difficult situation, Italy could suffer particularly negative consequences. At the same time, however, it could - as in the past - play a prominent role in providing the Union with new dynamism.
- Topic:
- Security and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Middle East
397. Le Maghreb stratégique
- Author:
- Fouad Ammor, Mohamed Ould Haless, Ferdaous Ben Sassi, Mehid Taje, and Laurence Ammour
- Publication Date:
- 04-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- La première partie de nos travaux consacrés au Maghreb Stratégique, pour lesquels nous avions donné la parole en juin 2005 à deux Algériens, un Tunisien et un Français, avait mis en éviden ce les trois points suivants: la valeur stratégique du Maghreb n'est pas la somme de chacun des pays qui le composent, chaque Etat ayant ses prop res atouts, ses intérêts et ses contraintes; la sécurité de l'ensem ble maghrébin reste tributaire de transformations internes politiques, économ iques et sociales tout autant nécessaires que difficiles à mettre en œuv re; les cadres de coopération régionale et internationale tardent à tro uver une forme efficace.
- Topic:
- Security and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Arabia
398. Integrative Processes in the South Caucasus and their Security Implications
- Author:
- Leila Alieva
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- The issue of threats and risks, and policy responses to them, acquired a profound importance after 2001. The post-Soviet developments in the South Caucasus is an interesting case study, reflecting problems and contradictions in the relations between the West and the East, developed democracies and states in transition, Christians and Muslims. It also contributes to the current debates about: asymmetric threats and ways of addressing them, relations between democracy and security, which effect integration processes may have had on the security challenges of the century.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, and Democratization
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Soviet Union
399. The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
- Author:
- John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
- Abstract:
- U.S. foreign policy shapes events in every corner of the globe. Nowhere is this truer than in the Middle East, a region of recurring instability and enormous strategic importance. Most recently, the Bush Administration's attempt to transform the region in t o a community of democracies has helped produce a resilient ins urgency in Iraq, a sharp rise in world oil prices, and terrorist bombings in Madrid, London, and Amman. With so much at stake for so many, all countries need to understand the forces that drive U.S. Middle East Policy.
- Topic:
- Security and Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- Middle East
400. Myths of the Current War
- Author:
- Frederick W. Kagan
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- The debate about American policy and strategy in Iraq has veered off course. A number of myths have crept into the discussion over the past two years that distort understanding and confuse discussion. It is possible and appropriate to question the wisdom of any particular strategy proposed for Iraq, including the Bush administration's strategy, and there is reason to be both concerned and encouraged by recent events there. But constructive dialogue about how to choose the best way forward is hampered by the distortions caused by certain myths. Until these myths recede from discussions about Iraq strategy, progress in those discussions is extremely unlikely.
- Topic:
- Security and War
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, America, and Middle East