Latest Articles about Foreign Policy
Ukraine Continues To Knock on the West’s Doors but Looks Back to Russia
Kyiv has suffered several setbacks in its Euro-Atlantic integration plans. The European Union came up with a collective plan for Ukraine and several other post-Soviet states that does not give Ukraine the prospect of EU membership. NATO refrained from offering a Membership Action Plan (MAP),... MORE
OSCE’s Year-End Conference Continues Pattern of Failure
The OSCE’s Finnish chairmanship fell between two stools at the organization’s year-end conference on December 4 and 5 in Helsinki. Despite Russia’s recent invasion of Georgia, a chairmanship overly eager to produce a final political declaration by consensus gave in to Russia on basic issues... MORE
Dostum Says He Is Not in Exile in Turkey and Remains a Potent Force in Afghanistan
A Turkish newspaper has reported that Rashid Dostum, the leader of ethnic Uzbeks in Afghanistan, was flown to Turkey as part of a special operation arranged by the Turkish government. The report maintained that Dostum might be sent into exile by the Afghan government as... MORE
The Russo-Chinese Energy Follies
Chinese and Russian officials habitually proclaim that their bilateral relations have never been better and thereby invoke a great congruence in their agenda for the international regime. Thus Viktor Kremenyuk, deputy director of the U.S. and Canada Institute in the Russian Academy of Sciences, writes... MORE
Gul Hosts Karzai and Zardari for a Trilateral Summit in Istanbul
Turkey is hosting another major international gathering, marking its growing profile in regional and international diplomacy. Turkish President Abdullah Gul has brought together Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in a trilateral meeting being held in Istanbul on December 5 (www.cnnturk.com,... MORE
NATO ANPs Instead of MAPs for Ukraine and Georgia
NATO has pushed aside the Membership Action Plans (MAPs) as mechanisms for Ukraine’s and Georgia’s eventual accession to the alliance. On December 3 in Brussels, the North Atlantic Council (NAC) meeting at the level of ministers of foreign affairs decided to develop Annual National Programs... MORE
OSCE Avoids the Hard Issues at Year-End Conference
In common with all OSCE chairmanships since 2003 (when Russian veto power mauled the organization irreparably during the Dutch chairmanship), Finland set itself a minimal task in 2008: to ensure institutional survival by deferring to Russia in Europe’s East and hosting a “successful” year-end conference,... MORE
The Meeting That Never Took Place
On December 1 a session of the Supreme Council of the Union State of Russia and Belarus was scheduled to take place in Moscow. According to propaganda from the two sides, it was to be a significant occasion that, in contrast to the recent past,... MORE
Russia’s Invasion of Georgia Overshadows OSCE’s Year-End Conference
Like many other organizations struggling for relevance or plain survival, the OSCE looks to summitry as a panacea. Unable to deal with Russia’s invasion of Georgia and other Kremlin challenges, the OSCE can instead call a summit for 2009 to accommodate the Kremlin. This might... MORE
Arms Shipment to the Kurds May Be a Sign of Conflict Between the KRG and Baghdad
The Washington Post has reported that three C-130 cargo planes delivered small arms and ammunition from Bulgaria to Iraq in September. Three U.S. military officials indicated that the weapons shipment procedure did not comply with Iraqi government regulations. Kurdish officials declined to answer questions about... MORE