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29 Feb 2012 10:32

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World: U.S. scores diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea

  • the deal The U.S. got North Korea to agree to curb its nuclear testing and enrichment processes and allow outside investigators to monitor its main reactor, which is a fairly major breakthrough for the countries.
  • the perk In exchange, North Korea will get 240,000 metric tons of food aid. While the U.S. has long considered offering aid for purely humanitarian reasons, North Korea insisted that it be tied to this deal. source
  • » Significant, if “limited”: This result came after a set of talks last week that initially did not seem to go well, but later proved be palatable for the North Koreans. The two countries previously were close to some sort of deal before Kim Jong-il’s death, but the latest development seems to have gone over. “The United States still has profound concerns regarding North Korean behavior across a wide range of areas,” said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, “but today’s announcement reflects important, if limited, progress in addressing some of these.”
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Nov 2011 10:31

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World: Britain to Iranian diplomats: GTFO out of our country, jerks

  • The Iranian Chargé in London is being informed now that we require the immediate closure of the Iranian Embassy in London and that all Iranian diplomatic staff must leave the United Kingdom within the next 48 hours. If any country makes it impossible for us to operate on their soil they cannot expect to have a functioning Embassy here.
  • British Foreign Secretary William Hague • Warning Iran to close its embassy, in a ratcheting-up of tensions between the two countries a day after activists raided the British Embassy in Tehran, upset over new sanctions against Iran. Hague was careful to emphasize diplomatic ties still exist between the two countries: “This does not amount to the severing of diplomatic relations in their entirety,” he said. “It is action that reduces our relations with Iran to the lowest level consistent with the maintenance of diplomatic relations.” In other words, they may get a phone call, but don’t expect it to be friendly. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Sep 2011 10:33

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World: Turkey: We’re severing all ties with Israel, the “spoiled boy” of the Middle East

  • We are completely suspending all of these, trade relations, military relations, related with the defense industry. All of these are completely suspended and other measures will follow this process.
  • Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan • Explaining why his country would be placing additional sanctions on Israel, which he compared to a “spoiled boy.” The two countries were once close allies, but one flotilla raid later, and all that’s out the window. It’s a pretty dramatic change if you ask us. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jun 2011 17:37

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World: Robert Gates: Hamid Karzai will leave power in 2014

  • The long Karzai goodbye: Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that despite previous suggestions he might try to change the Afghan constitution to let him serve a third term, Hamid Karzai is now telling people privately he’ll leave power in 2014. What the nature of America’s presence in Afghanistan would be without Karzai is hard to say; whatever comes of the fight against the Taliban, the government he’s been running is thoroughly corrupt, if much less brutal than the alternative. Neither has his alliance with the U.S. seemed in good faith at times — remember when he threatened to join the Taliban, or admitted his administration was taking literal bags full of cash from Iran? Here’s hoping a different leader can stem the tide of corruption. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Jun 2011 21:49

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U.S., World: The U.S. faces terrorism, diplomacy threats amid Yemen instability

  • We would be shortsighted to think this doesn’t pose short-term national security concerns. The likelihood is that [al-Qaeda operatives] will be raising their heads.
  • Frank J. Cilluffo, the head of, George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute • Describing the danger that the Saleh’s transition away from Yemeni leadership means for the War on Terror. A key terror cell — al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — could cause serious issues by taking advantage of the instability in the region, while Yemeni opposition leaders deny the group’s existence at all. (Which is troubling because two separate attacks have been tied to the group since late 2009 — including the underwear bomber.) Another way this could force the U.S. into a precarious position: Saleh was an ally of the U.S., and an unstable transition could force diplomats to scramble to make up for a transition that doesn’t favor Americans. A complicated issue all around — and one with difficult answers. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 May 2011 20:17

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World: Middle East tepid about Obama’s Arab Spring speech

  • Obama really had an opportunity to reshape and reframe the debate and … he gave it away. This speech was an opportunity to say to Arabs, ‘We as Americans made mistakes, we did not support democratic aspirations as much as we should have, but we’re going to do better.’ Obama didn’t say that.
  • Brookings Doha Center Director of Research Shadi Hamid • Approaching Obama’s Middle East speech today from an outside-looking-in angle. The problem he and others in the Middle East see? It didn’t offer a clear strong apology for American screw-ups nor a good reason for the cynical to give up their cynicism. Obama’s 2009 speech on the Middle East received a much different response, but many in the region feel that the president broke promises and acted too slow on the Arab Spring protests. We understand where they’re coming from, and agree … but unfortunately, the push Obama made for an Israel/Palestine split based upon the 1967 lines is as bold as the president will probably get, considering how divisive the issue remains among Americans. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 May 2011 21:58

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U.S.: Obama’s focus tomorrow: The quickly-changing Middle East

  • Obama’s giving a big speech tomorrow. With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heading to town to discuss the long-gestating peace deal with Palestine, Obama will give a speech from the State Department intended for both the American public and the Middle East. There’s speculation that he may push for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s resignation … or more surprisingly, endorse pushing back Israel’s borders to pre-1967 levels as a starting point in negotiations between Israel and Palestine. What’s he gonna say? One thing that’s pretty clear at this point is that Egypt’s getting some aid money — roughly $2 billion, to be exact — possibly as an anchor to encourage support of Israel. All in all, fun day ahead. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

10 May 2011 17:46

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U.S.: Mr. Diplomat: Senator John Kerry heads to Pakistan

  • Tense times call for Kerry: The Massachusetts Senator, also head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will be traveling to Pakistan this week, likely to try to smooth things over after what’s been a very rocky stretch for American/Pakistani relations. Kerry has long been a supporter of the aid the U.S. has been providing Pakistan — as we mentioned yesterday, it totals $18 billion over the last nine years — so one might expect a pacifying tact on this visit. Also, in your alternate political history update, we could be halfway through President Kerry’s second term right now.  source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Feb 2011 20:57

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World: Mubarak’s speech: Why the United States needs to look inward

  • “I can not and will not accept to be dictated orders from outside, no matter what the source is.” What makes a leader, in the face of international, media and local scrutiny, choose not to listen to repeated calls to resign? Who essentially shames his allies? A man whose statements are so transparent that not even his own people believe them? And why is it that the world allowed him to gain so much authority that he can’t easily be toppled from his position? There are a lot of questions tonight, and we’ve been parsing through them all afternoon. The fact that Mubarak was effectively supported by the United States makes the question marks much more pointed. As Americans, we need to learn how to encourage democracy at all costs, and focus less on what we gain – leverage in Israel, influence in a region, whatever. We can’t support another military state created by the United States. It’s ended in tears multiple times, and every time, Americans lose out monetarily, civilians lose their rights, and our world becomes a little more unstable. No more. This has to stop. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Jan 2011 11:44

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World: Two presidencies, two tactics: How Obama, Bush handled Egypt

  • 2005 In the wake of protester arrests, and emphasizing free elections, Condoleeza Rice angered Egyptian leaders with this statement: “For 60 years, my country, the United States, pursued stability at the expense of democracy in this region here in the Middle East, and we achieved neither.”
  • 2009 Obama made his own speech in Cairo, emphasizing “the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed” and “confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice” while noting “there is no straight line to realize that promise.”  Mubarak’s folks were thrilled. source
  • » Ultimately, though: While these American statements resonated with the leadership, they didn’t really resonate with the people of the country, who are working from their own muse. And based on the current deck of cards, the U.S. may have trouble holding any influence at all due to their history with Egypt: “It’s not clear to me that the protesters will take seriously expressions of solidarity from a country that’s been backing autocratic regimes,” said the International Crisis Group’s Robert Malley, who suggests that American leaders will back themselves into a corner if they say anything, whether supportive of Mubarak or the protesters.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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