international relations

Interdependence is not a slogan but an increasingly insistent reality

by News Sources 01.20.2012

Zbigniew Brzezinski writes: If we wish to reflect on the common challenge inherent in the ongoing transformation of global politics, we would be wise to start by recognizing what I believe to be the three fundamental facts of the present era. First, global peace is threatened not by utopian fanaticism, as was the case during [...]

Read the full article →

Careful what you wish for: an unstable world as U.S. declines

by News Sources 12.27.2011

Tony Karon writes: Alarmed by the unchecked global dominance of Washington in the late 1990s, France’s then-foreign minister Hubert Vedrine described the US as a “hyperpower” whose influence needed to be checked for the greater good. This would be achieved, he suggested, by the construction of a “multipolar” world order, in which US influence would [...]

Read the full article →

The decline of American client states

by News Sources 09.27.2011

Max Fisher writes: America’s love affair with client states began not long after it and the Soviet Union — another master in the art of client-building — pressured the UK and France to leave Egypt, which they had invaded in 1956 to reclaim control of the Suez canal. European colonialism, the U.S. and USSR argued [...]

Read the full article →

Shaping a new world order

by News Sources 08.17.2011

Andrew Bacevich writes: Chief among the problems facing the United States today is this: too many obligations piled high without the wherewithal to meet them. Among those obligations are the varied and sundry commitments implied by the phrase “American global leadership.” If ever there were an opportune moment for reassessing the assumptions embedded in that [...]

Read the full article →

Anarchism without anarchism: searching for progressive politics

by News Sources 11.28.2010

Richard Falk, professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University and now 80, demonstrates it’s never too late in life to start a blog. In his latest post, he says “I wanted to introduce a perspective about progressive politics, and citizen engagement, at a time of fallen hopes.” Recent explorations of the anarchist heritage are [...]

Read the full article →

Hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue

by Paul Woodward 03.05.2010

Must-read commentary from Pankaj Mishra: There were chuckles and sniggers in Qatar last month when Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, warned that a military dictatorship was imminent in Iran. Threatening America’s most intransigent adversary, Clinton seems to have been oblivious to her audience: educated Arabs in the Middle East where America’s military presence [...]

Read the full article →

Reconsidering America’s place in the world

by Paul Woodward 02.02.2010

In Nader Mousavizadeh‘s interesting analysis on America’s failure to deal effectively with so-called “rogue states”, he begins by pointing out that the world that created such states is gone: Obama came into office thinking that a more responsive diplomacy could rally global support for the old Western agenda, but that’s not enough. What’s needed, more [...]

Read the full article →

NEWS & ANALYSIS: Iran’s permanent security headache and frail economy

by Paul Woodward 02.04.2008

Iran tries to make up lost ground By Kaveh L Afrasiabi, Asia Times, February 5, 2008 The conventional wisdom, particularly in the United States, is that Iran has gained from the US’s invasion of Iran’s neighbors since the events of September 11, 2001. Yet, a careful reading of the changing security calculus caused by the [...]

Read the full article →

NEWS, CAMPAIGN 08 & OPINION: The bankruptcy of American military power

by Paul Woodward 02.03.2008

Pentagon seeks record level in 2009 budget By Thom Shanker, New York Times, February 3, 2008 As Congress and the public focus on more than $600 billion already approved in supplemental budgets to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and for counterterrorism operations, the Bush administration has with little notice reached a landmark [...]

Read the full article →

INTERVIEW: Graham Fuller

by Paul Woodward 02.02.2008

Foreign Policy interview Graham Fuller January, 2008 Mr. Fuller, I agree with your statement that “[s]truggles over power, territory, and trade existed long before Islam arrived.” They also existed long before the arrival of the world’s most powerful country. So my question is, What would a world without America look like? Great question, worthy of [...]

Read the full article →

EDITORIAL: Neoconservatism 2.0

by Paul Woodward 01.27.2008

Neoconservatism 2.0 By Paul Woodward, War in Context, January 28, 2008 “We cannot survive in a world in which we are confronted with people who do not share our values, who unfortunately are in the majority in terms of numbers, and who are extremely hungry to see success. So, if we want to survive, we [...]

Read the full article →

OPINION: Challenging a unipolar world

by Paul Woodward 01.22.2008

Challenging a unipolar world By Conn Hallinan, FPIP, January 21, 2008 One of the more interesting phenomena to emerge from the U.S. debacle in Iraq is the demise of the unipolar world that rose from the ashes of the Cold War. A short decade ago the United States was the most powerful political, economic, and [...]

Read the full article →

NEWS: France’s expanding nuclear trade

by Paul Woodward 01.16.2008

France signs up to £2 billion deal to build nuclear plants in the Gulf By Sonia Verma, The Times, January 16, 2008 France has agreed a £2 billion deal to build nuclear power stations in the Gulf and in return has secured a military base there. The French base in Abu Dhabi would accommodate up [...]

Read the full article →

OPINION: Welcome to the post-American world

by Paul Woodward 12.13.2007

The fearful superpower By Fareed Zacharia, Newsweek, December 12, 2007 For the past few years, America has been alienated from the world. We have all read the yearly polls with the same damning numbers. But on one issue, the United States and the world agree: majorities everywhere expect things to improve markedly after George W. [...]

Read the full article →

NEWS & ANALYSIS: The Persian process

by Paul Woodward 12.12.2007

The myth of a bargain with Iran By Gideon Rachman, Financial Times, December 10, 2007 Unless Iran does something really stupid, Mr Bush will not be able to bomb. Much tougher sanctions are also out. So that leaves talking. That could be a very good thing. For years, those who have opposed the drive to [...]

Read the full article →

NEWS & OPINION: How to engage Iran; Iraq seeks Gulf security pact including Iran

by Paul Woodward 12.11.2007

How to defuse Iran By Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett, New York Times, December 11, 2007 Iran has tried tactical cooperation with the United States several times over the past two decades — including helping to secure the release of hostages from Lebanon in the late 1980s and sending shipments of arms to Bosnian [...]

Read the full article →

NEWS, ANALYSIS & OPINION: Engaging Iran

by Paul Woodward 12.09.2007

Make Iran an offer it might refuse By Fareed Zacharia, Newsweek, December 17, 2007 The National Intelligence Estimate on Iran has upended the Bush administration’s policy toward that country. This could be a good thing, if it leads to some creative rethinking. Over the past two years the administration has made several intelligent moves in [...]

Read the full article →

ANALYSIS: Foreign policy shift

by Paul Woodward 12.09.2007

Bush engages foreign foes as policy shift accelerates By Jay Solomon, Wall Street Journal, December 7, 2007 The White House said that President Bush sent a letter directly to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il seeking cooperation in implementing a pact to dismantle its nuclear arms in exchange for full normalized relations. The move is [...]

Read the full article →

ANALYSIS & OPINION: A new approach to Iran

by Paul Woodward 12.07.2007

Why containing Iran won’t work: Washington’s flawed new Middle East strategy By Vali Nasr and Ray Takeyh, Foreign Affairs, January/February, 2008 The Middle East is a region continuously divided against itself. In the 1960s, radical Arab regimes contested the legitimacy and power of traditional monarchical states. In the 1970s, Islamic fundamentalists rejected the prevailing secular [...]

Read the full article →

EDITORIAL: When reason prevails

by Paul Woodward 12.05.2007

When reason prevails By Paul Woodward, War in Context, December 5, 2007 To some political observers there is something vaguely disappointing about witnessing events shaped by reason. Reasonable behavior is somewhat predictable and lacks the zest and drama of the unexpected. In as much as news-watching is driven by the stimulating effect of the shock [...]

Read the full article →

NEWS: Iran, Russia and Venezuela feel benefits of rising oil price

by Paul Woodward 11.10.2007

Oil price rise causes global shift in wealth By Steven Mufson, Washington Post, November 10, 2007 High oil prices are fueling one of the biggest transfers of wealth in history. Oil consumers are paying $4 billion to $5 billion more for crude oil every day than they did just five years ago, pumping more than [...]

Read the full article →

EDITORIAL: Nuclear risks and nuclear realities

by Paul Woodward 11.09.2007

Nuclear risks and nuclear realities By Paul Woodward, War in Context, November 8, 2007 General Musharraf today tossed a bone to his lapdogs in Washington — a promise of elections — and the White House wagged its tail and quickly applauded what it sees as “a good thing” — even while Pakistan’s dictator continued to [...]

Read the full article →

NEWS, OPINION & EDITOR’S COMMENT: An American awakening?

by Paul Woodward 11.07.2007

Picking up after failed war on terror By Andrew J. Bacevich, Los Angeles Times, November 6, 2007 Given that Bush’s version of global war has proved such a costly flop, what ought to replace it? Answering that question requires a new set of principles to guide U.S. policy. Here are five: * Rather than squandering [...]

Read the full article →

ANALYSIS: Russia did not lose the Cold War

by Paul Woodward 10.31.2007

Losing Russia By Dimitri Simes, Foreign Affairs, October 29, 2007 Faced with threats from al Qaeda and Iran and increasing instability in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States does not need new enemies. Yet its relationship with Russia is worsening by the day. The rhetoric on both sides is heating up, security agreements are in [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries