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Foreign Relations
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DIPLOMACY
FOREIGN POLICY
THE EUROPEAN UNION, LISBON AND THE OFFICE HUNT.
Brookings Institution. Federiga Bindi. October 12, 2009.
Full Text [HTML format, various paging]
The Lisbon Treaty finally secured Irish ratification on October 2, but the fight is not over, several steps remain. First, the treaty is not yet fully ratified and several machinations remain. Second, even beyond the struggle for ratification, the details of implementation will determine what the treaty really means for the future of Europe. The report explains why Lisbon matters, then discuss the challenges the European Union is facing, and sketches out how that bargaining process is likely to go.
[Note: contains copyrighted material.]
GERMANY’S BORING ELECTION MASKS TROUBLES AHEAD.
YaleGlobal. Bruce Stokes. October 12, 2009.
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Chancellor Angela Merkel’s win in the recent German election could bring trouble for Berlin’s allies both in Europe and abroad. Though the elections were some of the dullest in history, according to commentator Bruce Stokes, the make-up of the new government, Christian Democrat and Free Democrat, is likely to lead to divisions with international allies over jumpstarting the economy and resolving Afghanistan and Iran issues. Germany is unlikely to stray from its export-led economy despite the international imbalances it causes.
[Note: contains copyrighted material.]
THE ROAD AHEAD FOR U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS.
Council on Foreign Relation, October 2, 2009.
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In this interview, John W. Limbert, Distinguished Professor of International Affairs, U.S. Naval Academy, points to a possible thawing in relations.
AFGHANISTAN: POST-TALIBAN GOVERNANCE, SECURITY, AND U.S. POLICY [RL30588].
Kenneth Katzman, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. October 6, 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 84 pages]
Update on U.S. Afghanistan policy.
IRAN: U.S. CONCERNS AND POLICY RESPONSES [RL32048].
Kenneth Katzman, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. October 5, 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 62 pages]
Update on U.S. Iran policy.
FOREIGN AID
INTELLIGENCE
THE U.S. INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY AND FOREIGN POLICY: GETTING ANALYSIS RIGHT.
Kenneth G. Lieberthal, Director, John L. Thornton China Center, Brookings Institution, September 2009
Executive Summary [HTML format]
“The Intelligence Community (IC) of the United States has been undergoing major reforms since 2005 when President George W. Bush signed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act. Under the new Director of National Intelligence, the shortcomings in intelligence analysis that came to light in the wake of the 9/11 and Iraq WMD intelligence failures are being addressed through revamped analytic standards, increased resources for the IC, and numerous organizational and procedural changes.”
INTERGOVERNMENTAL COOPERATION
UNITED NATIONS
AA09326
Crossette, Barbara US-UN TIES STILL STRAINED (The Nation, October 2, 2009)
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The Obama administration’s efforts to mend ties with the United Nations suffered with the UN’s firing of Peter Galbraith, the American diplomat appointed deputy special UN envoy to Afghanistan in March. The UN said he was fired “in the best interests” of the Afghan mission, but Galbraith had been berating Afghan and UN officials over what he saw as an inadequate response to the messy and fraud-plagued August 20 elections. He told BBC his being sacked “sends a terrible signal when the UN removes an official because he was concerned about fraud in an UN-sponsored and funded election.”
U.S.-AFRICA RELATIONS