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At Arctic Meeting, European Union Left Out in the Cold
Arctic Council states are reluctant to grant the supranational body observer status.
The news from Kiruna, Sweden last week was certainly a game changer for the future of the Arctic region. As the chairmanship of the Arctic Council forum was passed to…
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France Seeks Tuareg Inclusion to Malian Government’s Chagrin
Mali’s central government would rather flush the separatists out before July’s election.
A standoff over how to restore government control in Mali's northeast has highlighted discord between the African country and its former colonizer. France, which intervened in Mali earlier this year to help suppress an Islamist insurgency there, seeks a…
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France’s Hollande Lambastes Austerity, Germans Shrug
The Germans recognize that the Frenchman’s denunciations are to shield himself from left wing criticism.
The German response to French president François Hollande's reinvigorated campaign against austerity in Europe has been underwhelming. Commentators in the only major eurozone economy that posted modest growth in the first three months of this year…
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Internal, External Security Challenges for Pakistan’s New Premier
Nawaz Sharif has said little about how he plans to deal with Islamist militancy in his country.
For the first time in its independent history, Pakistan witnessed a democratic transition of power last week. Despite Taliban bombings and scattered gun violence, millions turned out to vote in…
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Rafsanjani’s Candidacy Undermines Supreme Leader’s Election Plan
An election that was supposed to be full of Khamenei loyalists could turn into a horserace.
Before Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani registered as a contender for the Iranian presidency with only minutes to spare on Saturday, this year's election was likely to be a largely ceremonial…
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Argentina Might Lead Wave of Resource Nationalism
Other countries could be inspired by Argentina’s expropriation of an oil firm.
Despite the Arab spring, it was not a Middle Eastern country which grabbed biggest headlines for resource nationalism in 2012. It was Argentina, where populist President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner proposed a bill on April 16 to…
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Despite Interventions, Libyan, Malian Islamist Threat Rising
Governments in the Maghreb seem unable to contain the regionwide insurgency.
Despite Western military interventions in both African countries' civil wars, the Islamist threat in Libya and Mali is rising, Britain's The Guardian newspaper reported on Sunday. According to Afua Hirsch, the paper's West Africa correspondent, "The security problems in northern Mali,…
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Britain, France Challenge German Policy in Syria
Germany resists British and French demands to allow weapons supplies into Syria.
France and the United Kingdom pushed their NATO ally Germany on Tuesday to lift a European arms embargo on Syria where opposition forces…
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“N” for North: NATO Looks Toward a Cold Future
The Arctic represents the emergence of a new geopolitical arena for the alliance.
NATO may take a different form as "the Great Melt" heats up. After the expected pullout from Afghanistan in 2014, pressure will mount on the alliance to turn north. "The Arctic represents the emergence of a…