As the popular uprising against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak continues and the pro-western government of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is replaced by a government supported by Hezbollah, the United States is losing key allies in the region.
Since the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council are nuclear weapon states, they struggle in their attempts to convince other nations, like Iran and North Korea, not to develop a nuclear weapon program.
While China's trade imbalance and currency valuation are in a process of gradual rebalancing, the central question now facing China's economy is how to begin producing higher technology exports.
Given upcoming leadership transitions and elections in both China and the United States, the increasing U.S. attention to the Asia-Pacific region, and China’s growing global presence, Hu Jintao's upcoming trip to Washington has particular significance for U.S.-China relations.
The status of North Korea has a strong affect on bilateral relations between the United States and China.
State-level visits between China and the United States are very important, given that relations between China nd the United States are probably going to be among the most critical bilateral relationships for the next fifteen years.
The new conviction of Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky is a potent demonstration of the regime’s lack of commitment to the modernization of the Russian political and judicial system.
Having cleared the Senate, New START is now proceeding towards implementation, but the method for verifying the dismantlement of warheads remains a key challenge that must be resolved in a future agreement.
The upcoming White House review of President Obama’s war strategy in Afghanstan is expected to cite progress in the fight against the Taliban, but also to highlight key remaining challenges to U.S. efforts in the country.
The huge breach in U.S. security and the gap between what government officials say in public and their actual decisions in private should be at the center of the discussion about Wikileaks, not Julian Assange.