Latest Articles about Foreign Policy
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U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue: Not Exactly a “Dialogue”
More than 200 American officials converged on Beijing in late May for the second U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. After two days of intensive discussions with their Chinese counterparts, the American side boasted of many accomplishments. The State Department, working on the "strategic" track of... MORE
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China’s Growing Maritime HA/DR Capabilities
China launched what it claims is the first purpose-built hospital ship (Type 920) in the world in 2007, stirring a considerable amount of international speculation regarding the Chinese Navy's future roles and missions. The use of hospital ships in non-military operations by the U.S. Navy... MORE
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Premier Wen’s Four-nation Tour: A “Responsible Leadership Role”?
Premier Wen Jiabao’s just-completed weeklong tour to South Korea, Japan, Mongolia and Burma (Myanmar) provides a good opportunity for evaluating the extent to which China is playing a “responsible leadership role” in world affairs. In President Barack Obama’s National Security Strategy report released in late... MORE
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Russia Struggles to Settle Kyrgyz Unrest
As Russia hosted the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Eurasian Economic Commonwealth (EEC) meetings of heads of governments, the gathering appeared to be overshadowed by the continued instability in Kyrgyzstan. On May 21, Kyrgyzstan’s interim government did not attend the CIS and EEC... MORE
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Crisis Looms for Moscow’s Policies in the Northwest Caucasus
On June 6, the Caucasus Times reported a massive influx of Russian security forces into Kabardino-Balkaria. According to the website, an estimated 2,000 servicemen were deployed overnight in the republic, with the principal city of Kabardino-Balkaria, Nalchik, being patrolled by Russian military intelligence (Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye... MORE
More Disagreements Emerge Between Abkhaz and Russian Interests
On June 1, the head of Abkhazia’s state committee on tourism, Tengiz Lakerbaya, lashed out at Sochi Mayor, Anatoly Pakhomov, for publicly diminishing Abkhazia’ touristic value. The criticism followed comments made by Pakhomov on May 28, when he said that Abkhazia had once been popular... MORE
Medvedev’s Visit Shows Slackening of Russian-German Special Relationshp
In official reporting, there was nothing unusual about President, Dmitry Medvedev’s, working visit to Germany last weekend, except perhaps the rather short notice. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, greeted him in her official residence in Meseburg outside Berlin and politely expressed agreement on a wide range... MORE
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EU’s Special Representatives’ Posts Need Strengthening in Moldova and South Caucasus
Abolishing the EU’s Special Representative posts in Moldova and South Caucasus, as proposed, would look like de-prioritizing the solution of frozen conflicts, and the European neighborhood’s security (“The EU’s Declaration of Impotence,” RFE/RL, June 2).Since their inception in 2003 and 2005, respectively, these posts are... MORE
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Ashton’s Office Proposes Abolishing EU’s Special Representatives for Moldova and South Caucasus
The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, has proposed abolishing the posts of EU Special Representative for Moldova and for the South Caucasus region, the scenes of “frozen” conflicts in the EU’s neighborhood. Scrapping the two posts would reduce the... MORE
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Egypt and Gaza’s Islamic Jihad: A Steady Deterioration in Relations
Egypt's relations with the Palestinian factions have become remarkably cold recently, with Egyptian efforts to end the Palestinian divide hitting a dead end. Cairo no longer has direct contacts with Hamas and contacts with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement have retreated recently. According to several... MORE