President Obama hosts the leaders of Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Egypt this week in an attempt to find new momentum on the long-stalled Israeli–Palestinian peace process. Marwan Muasher explains that the best hope for the Middle East is a regional approach that secures peace between Israel and the entire Arab world. Carnegie experts preview expectations for the talks and discuss President Mubarak’s visit.
- More on the peace process:
- The Case for a Regional Approach
- A Two-State Solution Requires Palestinian Politics
- Are Palestinians Building a State?
After seven years, U.S. combat troops have left Iraq but the country remains far from stable. Marina Ottaway examines what the drawdown of U.S. forces will mean for the stability of the country, U.S. influence in the region, and whether Iraq is in a better position than it was prior to the 2003 invasion.
Major economies must help the United States absorb the burden of rebalancing global trade or risk a rise in American protectionism that could trigger a trade war, explains Michael Pettis.
While China’s current plans to build two reactors in Pakistan flout global rules on nuclear trade, Mark Hibbs suggests that the United States use the opportunity to engage in bilateral discussions with China on Beijing’s growing role in preventing nuclear proliferation.
- More on the China-Pakistan deal:
- Stop the Sino-Pak Nuclear Pact
- The China-Pakistan Nuclear “Deal”: Separating Fact From Fiction
- The Breach
- Pakistan Deal Signals China's Growing Nuclear Assertiveness
The U.S. Congress’ recent moves to cut off military aid to Lebanon could damage U.S. strategic interests by weakening the Lebanese government and military, empowering Hezbollah, and strengthening Syrian and Iranian influence in the country, warns Paul Salem.
- More on Lebanon:
- Relative Calm Before a Stormy Lebanese Fall
- Hezbollah in a Corner
- Lebanon's Multiple Crises Risk Escalation
In the third installment of his new series of Nuclear Energy Briefs, Mark Hibbs warns that exempting Argentina and Brazil on new enrichment and reprocessing guidelines in the 46-member Nuclear Suppliers Group undermines the separate but important goal of establishing the IAEA Additional Protocol as the global standard on nonproliferation verification.
Despite ongoing challenges for U.S. efforts to “reset” its relationship with Russia, James Collins and Matthew Rojansky outline the most important reasons why Washington can't afford not to work with Moscow.
Two years since fighting broke out between Georgia and Russia the situation in the separatist territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia remains deadlocked. Thomas de Waal writes that the current western policy of strong rhetorical support for the Georgian position substitutes easy words for hard work.
The poor response to the fires will further widen the chasm separating the nation's authorities from society, warns Lilia Shevtsova. The country's leadership can use the fires to increase domestic awareness about their new commitments to combating climate change while helping move international agreements forward, according to John Millhone.
The Obama administration's sustained diplomatic outreach to Asia has delivered a powerful message of re-engagement with the region. Douglas Paal explains that this effort is important because it helps counter China’s increasing influence in the region at a time of economic weakness for the United States while remaining engaged with Beijing.
While the disclosure of thousands of classified military documents reveals a darker picture of the war in Afghanistan, Gilles Dorronsoro explains that it’s not as important as many people believe. Still, the information shows that complex policies are not going to work because no one knows how to implement them on the ground.
A major appreciation of the renmimbi would disrupt the current regional shift in production occurring in China, which in the long run will reduce income disparities, promote consumption, and reduce global trade imbalances, explains Yukon Huang.
Although full democracy in the Arab world remains a distant goal, broader participation in the political process would have a marked effect on human development in the region. Paul Salem examines the steps that Arab states and the international community can take to improve governance and daily life in the region.
The United States and Europe, following the UN Security Council, have added additional sanctions on Iran. George Perkovich explains that sanctions alone are unlikely to persuade Iran to stop enriching uranium, but there is no good alternative. Pierre Goldschmidt writes that strong sanctions must be combined with efforts to persuade Iran that considerable international benefits would result from its cooperation with international requirements.
While the United States and China—the world’s two largest economies—are becoming increasingly interdependent, there is a growing risk of misunderstanding or even clashes. Taiya Smith suggests that the two powers need a dialogue to provide strategic vision to their relationship.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has created a new leadership initiative to develop a non-partisan solution financing a better transportation system in the United States. Former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley, former Pennsylvania Governor and Secretary for Homeland Security Tom Ridge, and former U.S. Comptroller General and now president of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation David Walker will lead an intensive analysis to find politically realistic measures to fix what is now a broken transportation system.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace announced the launch of the Euro–Atlantic Security Initiative (EASI), a two-year Commission to build the intellectual framework for an inclusive transatlantic security system for the 21st century. Co-chairs Sam Nunn in the United States, Igor Ivanov in Russia, and Wolfgang Ischinger in Belgium, discuss EASI's new role in addressing Euro-Atlantic security challenges.
