Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Given the reset in U.S.–Russian relations, the time is ripe for the United States, Europe, and Russia to devise a security architecture for a new century, one capable of maintaining peace and stability on the European continent throughout the years to come.
Western policy makers are scrambling to respond decisively to Yemen’s instability after the failed Christmas Day attack. But there are limits to how much foreign intervention can accomplish—Yemen’s political system needs to become less centralized and more inclusive.
The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood has begun to scale back its political engagement, and instead will focus on a traditional religious, educational, and social agenda. The consequence will be an even greater lack of political competition.
The Obama administration’s silence on Egypt’s political crackdown only emboldens the regime and erodes U.S. credibility in the region.
Thomas de Waal, a leading expert on the Caucasus, and Matthew Rojansky, an expert on U.S. and Russian national security and nuclear weapons policies, have joined the Carnegie Endowment’s Russia and Eurasia Program.
The London-based Centre for European Reform released a brief by Franklin Miller, George Robertson, and Kori Schake criticizing the new German government for proposing the withdrawal of all U.S. nuclear weapons from Germany. The authors’ international standing makes their essay worthy of debate.
The Carnegie Middle East Center, based in Beirut, was ranked "first among the 273 think tanks in the Middle East and North Africa" for 2009 in a study of the world's 6,305 think tanks. Established only three years ago, the Center was also named among "the best five new think tanks in the world."
David Burwell, an expert on U.S. energy security, transportation, and climate policy, has joined the Carnegie Endowment as director of its Energy and Climate Program.
Mark Hibbs, one of the world’s most acclaimed investigative reporters on nuclear energy and proliferation, will join the Carnegie Endowment. For over two decades Hibbs has covered proliferation networks, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and nuclear trade for leading publications, including Nucleonics Week and Nuclear Fuel.
To overcome its current challenges, Moscow must begin thinking strategically. Policy makers need to open space for public debate and engage in substantive discussions on critical global issues, and Western governments and institutions need to open the door to independent Russian voices.
The global financial crisis disproportionately burdens migrants, but policy makers are still under pressure to enact new immigration restrictions. In the wake of the crisis, governments must resist these political pressures and instead recognize that migrants make a large economic contribution to both host and home countries.
The Carnegie Endowment 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.
Despite an increase in trade, foreign investment, and productivity since NAFTA took effect in 1994, Mexico has been disappointed by slow economic growth and weak job creation. Mexico’s experience with NAFTA underscores the need to reform trade agreements between the United States and developing countries.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)—an Algerian jihadi group that pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden in 2006—garnered worldwide media exposure after simultaneous attacks in December 2007 on the UN building and the Constitutional Court in Algiers. AQIM, however, has not been able to sustain this level of violence and failed to transform itself into a North Africa-wide organization.
In the wake of the global economic downturn, Americans are spending less and saving more, a trend that threatens dangerous economic repercussions around the world. Without greater global investment or a rise in Chinese domestic consumption, the increasing U.S. savings rate will cause U.S. GDP to contract or Chinese GDP growth to drop sharply, creating aftershocks in dozens of major economies.
To continue to lead the Middle East and enhance regional security, Egypt should work to strengthen the nonproliferation regime. The 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference is Egypt’s next best chance to advance its disarmament goals.
To have a chance at impacting political reform in the Middle East, the Obama administration should open a dialogue with governments in the region, modeled on the Helsinki process that was used to improve relations with the Soviet bloc.
The Obama administration should announce its support for a permanent seat for India on the UN Security Council during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the White House. It would produce no immediate results, but the bold declaration would signal New Delhi’s growing importance to Washington, and the recognition of the changing global center of gravity.
As the debate on future U.S. strategy continues, the war in Afghanistan is spreading to the North, the balance of power has shifted in the Taliban’s favor, and the Afghan government continues to lose legitimacy. In order to correct a failing strategy, the United States and its allies need to protect cities and reallocate more resources to the North.
With growing fears about Iran and North Korea’s nuclear programs, conventional wisdom holds that the nonproliferation regime is on the verge of collapse. The upcoming 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference is an opportunity to strengthen the regime, but it is in danger of being overloaded by expectations.