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Exceptional Meets Universal: Moscow and Washington at the United Nations
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Edward C. Luck,
The Century Foundation,
1/4/2010
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When times are good, the United Nations provides a global stage to showcase cooperative efforts between Moscow and Washington to advance common interests. When times are bad, difficult bilateral relations take on an
even more
malignant cast as they are projected on the UN’s global screen and as
each side
seeks to caricature the other and to curry favor from the 190 other member states. Today, as Moscow and Washington struggle to adjust to changing times and to transitions in global geopolitics not of their making and
not necessarily
in the narrow interests of either capital, it is the complexity of their relationship that stands out. After years of frustrated relations, 2009
emerged as one of change,
as the United States and the Russian Federation, each with new leadership and each in its own way, have sought to push the “restart button” on their bilateral relationship. As in earlier years of promise, the realization
of change
will no doubt come more gradually and grudgingly than the encouraging rhetoric. And as before, some of the more interesting developments will be played out at the United Nations and in other multilateral fora. These
days, for
two unavoidable and related reasons, the multilateral agenda has to be seen as unusually compelling, even to those cynics (or “realists”) in both
capitals
who have long regarded international law and institutions as little more
than
distractions from the core bilateral relationship. Download the PDF here.
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Challenges and Opportunities for Russia-U.S. Nuclear Arms Control
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Frank von Hippel ,
Anatoli Diakov,
The Century Foundation,
11/17/2009
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Containment of a costly and risky nuclear arms race was a central theme of the U.S.-Soviet relationship for a third of a century, and even two decades after the end of the cold war, the vast arsenals, weapons complexes, and military budgets spawned by the conflict linger. As weapons threats to security diversify, can a new U.S. administration find common ground with a post-Putin presidency in Russia to reduce or eliminate such dangers? Given Russian caution about U.N. sanctions, what initiatives can the two countries take to ensure firm responses to nuclear weapons proliferation among other states? Do the two countries have convergent, competing, or opposed interests in prospective nuclear technology transfers to non-NPT countries, such as India? Despite Moscow’s longtime formal commitment to nuclear disarmament, has the post-Soviet degradation of its conventional military capabilities intensified its attachment to nuclear arsenals, and in any event what ability do they have to press other nuclear-armed states into a global rollback or abolition schedule? How crucial to American security—and how destabilizing to international order--are such signature Bush-era initiatives as antimissile weapons and antisatellite military capabilities or other space weaponry, and to what degree can a new administration put them on the table for negotiation? Can conventional force pacts be resuscitated, and other arms abolition pacts, such as on biological weapons, be reliably monitored and enforced? Download the report (PDF).
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The Survival and The Success of Liberty: A Democracy Agenda for U.S. Foreign Policy
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Michael Hochman Fuchs,
Morton H. Halperin,
Century Foundation Press,
10/29/2009
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Over the course of the twentieth century, Americans came to see democracy not only as a priority at home, but increasingly as the cornerstone of peace and security abroad. In the last quarter of the century, Americans looked beyond cold war realpolitik to embrace the defense and promotion of rights and democracy as a vital mission of U.S. foreign policy. But the Bush administration’s crusade for democracy—linked as it was to unilateralism, invasion, alliance, expansion, and double standards—so tainted the notion of democracy promotion that much of the foreign policy establishment was soon exhorting President Obama to abandon it. Morton Halperin and Michael Fuchs argue, in this passionate and persuasive book, that to abandon the promotion of democracy now would be a great mistake.
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The Son Also Rises: Egypt's Looming Succession Struggle
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Michael Wahid Hanna,
World Policy Journal,
9/12/2009
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In July 2000, when Bashar al-Assad
succeeded his father, the long-time Syrian
strongman Hafez al-Assad, it marked a curious
development in the authoritarian Arab
order—a hereditary succession in an ostensibly
democratic republic. While the Arab
world had long been accustomed to such
transitions in monarchical settings, this father-
to-son transition prompted widespread
discussion in the region, particularly in
Egypt. As a visitor to Cairo later that summer,
I vividly recall the public and private
scoffing at the Syrian precedent. Today,
those raised eyebrows have taken on more
ominous overtones as Egyptians have increasingly
come to believe that the country
is headed
towards a dynastic hand-off of its
own. Download the PDF.
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What Ukrainian election?
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Jeffrey Laurenti,
The Century Foundation,
2/8/2010
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There has been a deafening silence about Ukraine's presidential election from the Beltway cheerleaders for NATO expansion, ever since the first round in January catapulted their long-time bête noire, Viktor Yanukovych, into first place with 35 percent of the vote in a field of eighteen candidates. Voters ignominiously ousted incumbent president Viktor Yushchenko, one-time hero of the 2004 "Orange Revolution" and Ukraine's most vociferous champion of NATO membership, giving him barely five percent of their votes. Continue Reading on the Taking Note Blog.
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An End to the De-Ba'athification Circus?
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Michael Wahid Hanna,
The Century Foundation,
2/3/2010
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Welcome news today out of Baghdad—Iraq’s Higher Judicial Council announced that the electoral disqualifications by the controversial Accountability and Justice Commission (AJC) had been overturned by an appellate panel. While details are sparse, it appears that this legal ruling did not reach evidentiary issues, but rather threw out the decisions based on the lack of due process afforded those caught up in the AJC’s decisions. The silver lining to this entire affair is that an Iraqi legal body appears to have stepped in to stem a political crisis and that its decision is being accorded respect by the contending actors within a highly contentious, chaotic and politicized environment.Continue Reading on the Taking Note blog.
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On Afghan Tribal Militias
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Michael Wahid Hanna,
The Century Foundation,
1/29/2010
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At the risk of engaging in a practice that I have come to abhor, I am going to draw a few parallels between Iraq and Afghanistan, knowing that the situations are not generally comparable. On the issue of tribal engagement, many knowledgeable regional experts have emphasized the fact that Afghan tribal structures have deteriorated in comparison with Iraq's tribal structures and that tribal authority is far from sacrosanct following decades of war. Continue Reading on the Taking Note Blog.
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The State of Play in Baghdad and Biden's Bad Idea
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Michael Wahid Hanna,
The Century Foundation,
1/25/2010
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Iraq has receded from our headlines and our thoughts, largely due to the vastly improved security situation and the lack of U.S. combat deaths. So when it does make the headlines and op-ed pages, it means that something bad has happened: spectacular, synchronized bombings of high-profile government targets and, most recently, the extended political struggles surrounding the upcoming national parliamentary elections. Continue Reading on the Taking Note Blog.
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A Defensive Egypt and US Foreign Policy
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Michael Wahid Hanna,
The Century Foundation,
1/15/2010
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I wanted to draw attention to yesterday’s article by Hamza Hendawi of the Associated Press discussing the recent political moves of Mohamed el-Barade’i, the Egyptian former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (with the added bonus that I am quoted in the piece). el-Barade’i has pointedly challenged the Mubarak regime and flirted with the notion of competing to be Egypt’s president. It is hard to imagine a scenario whereby el-Barade’i could become Egypt’s next president, but his provocative comments and his interest in fundamental reform of Egypt’s political superstructure are an important development − particularly in light of the reactions his recent comments have provoked. Continue Reading on the Taking Note Blog.
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Aid to Somalia: The Best and Only Option
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Natalie Parke,
Journal of International Peace Operations,
1/1/2010
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Read Publication.
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The Best and Worst of 2009: the World
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Jeffrey Laurenti,
The Century Foundation,
12/30/2009
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Another year, another set of hard choices: What developments of the past year hold the most promise of long-term positive impact, and which will be proved the biggest reverses? Continue Reading on the Taking Note Blog.
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Climate Auguries Turn Promising in Copenhagen
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Jeffrey Laurenti,
The Century Foundation,
12/8/2009
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The Romans would read the entrails of sacrificed animals for encouragement about the prospects for success of an intended initiative. Diplomats in our more rationalist age predict results based on delphic hints from government leaders and on subtle softenings of once adamantly held positions. The omens for the global climate conference that opened in Copenhagen Monday have suddenly turned auspicious. Continue Reading on the Taking Note Blog.
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Obama's Afghan Deadline Was Right
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Stephen Schlesinger,
The Century Foundation,
12/4/2009
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The most explosive controversy over President Obama's address at West Point is the deadline he has proposed for the beginning of withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan of July 2011—18 months from now. Most of the media commentary after the speech focused on this single point and most observers appear to assert that Obama's insistence on a deadline will help Al Qaeda and the Taliban who will, in their turn, wait until US forces depart and then step up their takeover efforts in the country. Continue Reading on the Taking Note Blog.
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Obama Races the Afghan Clock
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Jeffrey Laurenti,
The Century Foundation,
12/3/2009
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As intended, Barack Obama's ramping up of the American war effort in Afghanistan, and his promise of an early exit ramp to escape it, have confounded his political supporters and opponents at home and thrown Islamist extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan at least momentarily on the defensive. But the opening gambit of this "new" strategy requires intense follow-up on the political track, both inside Afghanistan and in the region, if it is to achieve durable results. Continue Reading on the Taking Note Blog.
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A Supreme Loss of Faith in Iran
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Geneive Abdo,
The Century Foundation,
12/1/2009
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With Mahmoud Ahmadinejad securely in power, Iranian reformists have clearly lost the battle for Iran's presidency. Yet they could yet win the larger battle against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who may well be the last all-powerful Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. A not-so-quiet debate is now brewing inside the seminaries of Qum, Iran's religious capital, over how to abolish the post, which has been controversial since its creation in 1979.Continue Reading on the Taking Note Blog.
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Iraq’s Parliamentary Crisis - An Unexpected Constitutional Exit?
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Michael Wahid Hanna,
The Century Foundation,
11/25/2009
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On November 8th, Iraqi legislators reached a compromise agreement over an elections law for the upcoming 2010 national parliamentary elections. The resolution to this bitter standoff −which centered on the disposition of Kirkuk in the electoral law and was part of a broader struggle to establish precedents over the city and other disputed territories−was hailed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as an "historic victory of the will of the people." When Iraq’s Sunni Vice President unexpectedly exercised his constitutional prerogative to veto this hard-fought parliamentary compromise, it appeared Iraq was headed for a more serious political and, potentially, constitutional crisis. Continue Reading on the Taking Note Blog.
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Seeking Light at the End of the Afghan Tunnel
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Jeffrey Laurenti,
The Century Foundation,
11/12/2009
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As they mark the anniversary of the armistice ending the war that was to end all wars, Britons this week are trying to make sense of the mounting casualties in the very current war in Afghanistan. The complaint by the grieving mother of a dead soldier that prime minister Gordon Brown's hand-written but misspelt letter of condolence insulted her has put a personal face on the ebbing British public support for soldiering on there. That erosion, in the largest foreign troop contributor there behind the United States, should be a caution for Barack Obama as he recalibrates America's own efforts in Afghanistan. Continue Reading on the Taking Note Blog.
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Iran’s Opposition Demands Obama Take a Stand
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Geneive Abdo,
The Century Foundation,
11/12/2009
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This week at insideIRAN.org: The debate over whether the United States has shown enough support for Iran’s opposition movement has intensified since protesters in Tehran last week shouted, “Obama, Obama! Either you’re with them, or with us.”Joining the opposition chorus is a growing line-up of parties worldwide, all calling on Obama to broaden his strategy from one narrowly focused on making an acceptable nuclear deal with Iran to one that also includes demands to allow the opposition to freely express itself: the government of France; members of the U.S. Congress; international human rights organizations; and much of the active Iranian diaspora. Continue Reading on the Taking Note Blog.
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Keynote Speech: Reflections on the Mainstream Media Performance
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Morton Abramowitz,
The Century Foundation,
11/6/2009
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I want to share some thoughts on the media’s coverage of the Afghan issue. By media I refer essentially to the Washington-centric mainstream press, the major newspapers with their commentators, a few weekly magazines, and the television networks, not the inhabitants of the internet, who do a significant amount of often useful analysis. I believe the media, in general, have done poorly in relentlessly examining what administrations have been doing on an issue critical to the nation.
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NATO Report Highlights Tensions of Afghan Mission
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Neil Bhatiya,
The Century Foundation,
11/4/2009
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It is not just Washington that is re-appraising policy in Afghanistan. A combination of an increasingly aggressive insurgency and a crisis of legitimacy in the Afghan government have raised new questions about the future of NATO’s mission and European participation in it. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was created to consolidate a post-Taliban regime in Kabul. Now, one need only look at the role of Germany, the third largest contributor of troops to ISAF, to see why some think the future of the commitment is in jeopardy. Continue Reading on the Taking Note Blog.
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Can the UN Save Afganistan?
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Stephen Schlesinger,
The Century Foundation,
11/2/2009
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One of the missing elements in the ongoing drama over Obama’s policy review in Afghanistan is the role of the United Nations. The UN, lest we forget, has played a central role in Afghanistan since September 11, 2001. After all, on September 12, 2001, the UN Security Council authorized American retaliation against the Al Qaeda and its Taliban hosts via a resolution that invoked the UN Charter’s “inherent right of individual or collective self-defense” and permitted “all necessary steps” to strike back at the “perpetrators, organizers and sponsors” of the murderous attacks against the US. Continue Reading on the Taking Note Blog.
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Terrorizing Aid to Somalia
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Natalie Parke,
Foreign Policy,
10/30/2009
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There is a new humanitarian crisis unfolding in Somalia, and the United States is partly to blame. Despite sending $2 million and 40 tons of arms and ammunition to the country's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) earlier this year, now, the United States is withholding humanitarian aid until relief agencies agree to comply with strict, game-stopping conditions.
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Soft Targets and Great Games in Afghanistan
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Jeffrey Laurenti,
The Century Foundation,
10/29/2009
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Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents have escalated their attacks on "soft" international targets with a pre-dawn attack October 28 that killed six United Nations staffers and three Afghans. Proclaimed by Taliban spokesmen as a blow against the country's presidential runoff election November 7, it followed lethal attacks on India's embassy that killed seventeen people three weeks earlier, and the surprise attack that killed six Italian peacekeepers and ten Afghan bystanders in September. Continue Reading on the Taking Note Blog.
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My Afghan Problem
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Stephen Schlesinger,
The Century Foundation,
10/15/2009
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Like many others, my doubts about the US mission in Afghanistan have grown substantially over the past several years. While I think America was justified in toppling the Taliban government in 2001 for harboring the Al Qaeda criminals who killed 3000 US citizens and foreigners through their suicidal airplane assaults on New York and Washington, at the same time today I am wondering whether the cause we are fighting for in Afghanistan now is the same that Washington embraced eight years ago—namely, to eliminate Al Qaeda. Continue Reading on the Taking Note Blog.
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Between Mubaraks and a Hard Place
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Michael Wahid Hanna,
The Century Foundation,
9/25/2009
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The Obama administration has sought to revitalize the U.S.-Egyptian relationship, which had drifted under the Bush administration. Despite its diminished status, Egypt has emerged as a key regional player as the United States attempts to revitalize the peace process and reorient its policies in the Arab world. This has come at a time when speculation over who will succeed Egypt’s longtime leader, 81-year old president Hosni Mubarak, has increased in the Egyptian, regional, and international media. Much of the focus has rightly been placed on the president’s influential son, Gamal Mubarak. Through a series of constitutional amendments, the regime has in effect constructed a legal framework that appears to predetermine the outcome of succession and all indications point toward a hereditary father-to-son passing of the torch. Continue Reading on the Taking Note Blog.
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| Terrorism and South Asian Security: A Discussion with Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs, India
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The Century Foundation
- 10/16/2009
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The international community is deeply engaged in a large-scale assistance mission in Afghanistan, as President Obama told the United Nations in September, “to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its extremist allies.” Blowback from Afghanistan’s conflicts is fueling increasing terrorist violence in Pakistan. And terrorism has leaped borders to strike in India. With all the region’s interrelated anxieties and hostilities, what are the stakes of the international community in South Asia’s security, and how can it best help in underpinning peace and security there?
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| Gaza: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
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The Century Foundation's Prospects for Peace Initiative
- 10/19/2009
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On October 19, The Century Foundation's Prospect for Peace Initiative held a discussion with John Ging, the Director of Operations in Gaza for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Ging was in charge of UNRWA's Gaza operations during the recent Israeli military operation Cast Lead. He continues to oversee humanitarian services in the territory.
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| Palestinian Politics and Obama’s Peace Plans
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The Century Foundation
- 10/30/2009
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The Century Foundation hosted a luncheon on Oct. 30 with Bassim Khoury, the Minister of National Economy of the Palestinian Authority until resigning this month to protest the deferral of Human Rights Council consideration of the U.N.’s Gaza war-crimes report. Khoury assessed the challenges facing the Palestinian political community, the difficulties posed by continuing Israeli presence in the occupied territories, and the Obama administration’s efforts to press forward on negotiations to final status.
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| 90 Years of Progress
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- 12/1/2009
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This year marked the ninetieth anniversary of the founding of The Century Foundation (which was known for most of its history as the Twentieth Century Fund). Our founder, Edward Filene, created this organization with the goal of supporting studies and analysis that could lead to constructive action on our nation’s public policy. That heritage has compelled us to educate, provoke, and develop better answers when evidence and reason show that public debates are badly off track. Over the past nine decades, we have called attention to facts and analyses to correct widespread misconceptions and provide policymakers with new ideas for addressing the challenges facing the nation.
We have created this video to provide a glimpse into our story and how it is intertwined with America’s story for much of the twentieth century and beyond.
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| Pivoting Toward Final Status Negotiations: A Discussion with Israeli MK Ophir Pines-Paz
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The Century Foundation
- 10/2/2009
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On Oct. 2, The Century Foundation hosted a discussion with Ophir Pines-Paz where he took stock of the current state of, and future prospects for, American-mediated negotiating efforts in the Middle East. Ophir Pines-Paz has led the opposition within Labor to participation in Netanyahu’s governing coalition, and was also the only person in the coalition government of Ehud Olmert in 2006 who resigned rather than sit in a government expanded to include Lieberman’s far-rightist Yisrael Beteinu party. He has perhaps become the center-left’s most politically popular and attractive next-generation leader.
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| New Challenges to Democracy in the Developing World
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The Century Foundation and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
- 9/25/2009
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The tidal flow toward democracy, which had seemed to be reaching all corners of the globe, has recently appeared to ebb in many parts of the world. Even as major states and the United Nations itself have committed significant resources to democracy support, the momentum for democratization has faltered in the face of economic crisis and resistance from threatened power centers. This is especially true among the ranks of developing countries, where new and restored democracies have often proved fragile and vulnerable.
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| Hart, Matlock Hail London Nuclear Arms Commitment In Release Of The Century Foundation Russia Policy Report
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4/1/2009
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April 1, 2009, New York, N.Y. — “Today’s meeting in London between Presidents Obama and Medvedev marks an urgently needed change of course in U.S.-Russian relations,” said Gary Hart, former U.S. Senator (D-CO), and Jack F. Matlock, Jr., President Reagan’s last ambassador to the Soviet Union. They issued the statement as they released the policy recommendations of The Century Foundation Working Group on U.S. Policy toward Russia, which they co-chair. Download the release.
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| Century Foundation Senior Fellow Jeff Laurenti Says Nobel Prize Award to Obama “Bookends” 2002 Carter Award, Marking U.S. Policy Reversals
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10/9/2009
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The Century Foundation’s Jeffrey Laurenti, senior fellow in international affairs, drew a link between today’s award of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama and the Nobel committee’s granting it to former president Jimmy Carter in 2002.
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| Century Foundation Releases New Report on Russia-U.S. Nuclear Arms Control
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12/2/2009
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Download the Press Release.
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| Century Foundation Fellow Geneive Abdo Testifies Before Committee On Foreign Affairs
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2/2/2010
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As the February 11 demonstrations in Iran approach, Century Foundation Fellow Geneive Abdo will testify before the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia on the topic of America’s role vis-à-vis the Iranian Political Reform Movement. According to Abdo, “The Obama Administration should call attention to the regime's human rights violations, as it is likely the security forces will use all their might to crush the demonstrations on this day. By drawing attention to the degree of violence by the regime, the Obama administration could highlight the fact that Iran's leaders are running an un-Islamic state.” Continue reading the media advisory.
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| Century Foundation Author Offers Insight Into U.S.-Russian Nuclear Arms Control
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2/3/2010
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Earlier this week, U.S. and Russian arms-control negotiators
came to an "agreement in principle" on the first nuclear-arms-reduction treaty in nearly two decades.
The deal would bring down deployed nuclear warheads and sharply limit the number of missiles and
bombers that can deliver them. Download the Press Release.
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| The Century Foundation Can Provide Expert Analysis of Expected Indictment of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir By the International Criminal Court
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3/3/2009
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March 3, 2009 —The imminently expected indictment of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir by
the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur may well roil Sudan’s politics and
divide the U.N. Security Council, but it also should accelerate a reassessment by the Obama
administration of the Bush administration’s hostile attitude toward the court, say the authors of a
new policy report issued by The Century Foundation. Download Press Release.
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| Foreign Policy Expert Urges Obama Administration to Keep the Goal of Democracy Promotion in the Middle East but Change Approach
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2/20/2009
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Download the Press Release (PDF).
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| > All International Affairs Press Releases | |
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| Visit The Century Foundation's Group Blog Taking Note—providing news, statistics, and analysis on a range of issues |
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Taking Note
