Section: Foreign Policy (USA)
Getting a Handle on National Wealth
The single largest owner of wealth in nearly every country is not a private company; nor is it an individual like Bill Gates, Carlos Slim, or Warren Buffet. The largest owner of wealth is all of us collectively, otherwise known as “taxpayers.” And we all have our own personal wealth manager — whom we usually call “the government.” According to...
The State Department’s Weary Soldier in America’s Cyber War
A new age of cyberwarfare is dawning, and a little-known State Department official named Christopher Painter — a self-described computer geek who made his name prosecuting hackers — is racing to digital battlegrounds around the world to help stave off potential future threats. One of his stops was in South America, where he visited Argentina,...
Some Thoughts for America’s Next Top General
Joe, congratulations on your nomination to become the 19th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As you plow through the millions of emails, letters, and phone calls of support that are stacking up at the moment, I know you are already thinking about your agenda for the fall, assuming your confirmation goes well — which of course it will. The...
Situation Report: New Navy and Army bosses expected; Rubio looks overseas; China looks to Africa and a bunch more
By Paul McLeary with Ariel Robinson Big guns. We’re expecting a pretty big day at the Pentagon today, as Defense Secretary Ash Carter is expected to announce President Barack Obama’s nominees to be the next Chief of Staff of the Army and Chief of Naval Operations. Word is that Adm. John Richardson, head of the Navy’s nuclear...
With Ceasefire in Effect, Humanitarians Rush Aid to Yemen
After a particularly deadly day of fighting and airstrikes yesterday, a nominal ceasefire took effect in Yemen at 11 PM local time last night. Though clashes have been reported over the past several hours — including airstrikes against Houthi positions in Abyan and continued fighting between Houthis and local popular militias — the level of...
Taking the High Road in the Propaganda War
In March, as the eastern Ukrainian town of Debaltseve suffered heavy fighting despite a recent ceasefire agreement, journalist Nastya Stanko made a disturbing report: “People from Debaltseve told us that the army from NATO, the Polish army, and the U.S. army were all in Debaltseve,” wrote Stanko, a co-founder of independent Ukrainian broadcaster...
Could Potato Diplomacy Warm Ties Between Russia and the United States?
Secretary of State John Kerry met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Sochi Tuesday with tensions between Russia and the United States at their highest levels in decades because of Washington’s anger over Russia’s military intervention into Ukraine and Moscow’s anger at perceived Western...
Situation Report: Some Gulf allies roll into town; Iraq ground fire concerns; Special Ops to Japan; and more
By Paul McLeary with Ariel Robinson Adding it up. It’s now been just over nine months since a U.S.-led coalition began pounding the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq from the air. And in that time, the mission, which one Pentagon wag then dubbed “Operation: Dude, That’s My Humvee?” has hit 6,278 targets — including 288 U.S. Humvees the...
Turkey’s Reckless Gas Game
During a four-hour helicopter ride over the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara in early February, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz and Russia’s Gazprom boss, Alexey Miller, mapped out plans that could potentially rebuild the long-adversarial relationship between their two countries. The men scouted the likely path of “Turkish Stream,”...
Democracy Lab Weekly Brief, May 11, 2015
To keep up with Democracy Lab in real time, follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Javier Corrales spells out the true cause of Venezuela’s economic malaise — and it isn’t the oil. Wai Moe explains why Kokang rebels are making life hard for the Burmese military and what this means for the country’s relationship with China. Asma...
