The recent election of Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan surprised even the most cynical of political analysts tracking the politics of the Pakistan-Afghanistan region. Let us remember that during his last tenor as Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif tried to marginalized the… Read More ›
US and the West 
The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War (2013)
This transcript of an event at Carnegie is worth reading …. The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War (2013).
US catches Bubo in a drug-arms trap: relief for Guinea-Bissau?
The best news this week and after the horrible Boston bombings is that Bubo Na Tchuto, the former Chief of Army Staff of Guinea-Bissau and a king-pin in the organized crime organizations using Guinea-Bissau and other West African countries as… Read More ›
US Practiced Torture after 9/11: Non-Partisan Committee Report
Today the NY times published the link to the much-anticipated non-partisan review report on the conduct of US CIA and other secret service personnel and installations including Guantanamo, after 9/11. The nearly two years of interviews, research and on-site visits… Read More ›
Postmortem: President Obama’s Visit to Israel and US Middle East Strategy
We all remember Obama’s historic speech in Cairo at the beginning of his first term. That speech, perhaps unintentionally heralded the Arab Spring, and an US Administration which appeared largely unprepared for the resulting flow of upheavals in the Middle… Read More ›
Robotic Warfare and the Moral Use of Force: A “Terminator” Ultimatum?
Over the weekend, Bill Keller wrote an opinion piece in the NYT which laid out a somewhat alarming update on the next generation of drones – smart drones: robotic intelligent life that make decisions on when, who and how hard… Read More ›
Africa: New Challenges for US Foreign and Strategic Policy
The Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University has issued a very interesting perspective on future challenges for US foreign and strategic policy, challenging President Obama’s pivot to Asia and casting the spotlight on Africa. Report is attached in… Read More ›
US and China Energy Race: Implications for Oil Exporters and New Political Alliances
Foreign Policy’s analysis of the evolving energy status and needs of both China and the US is cogent and intelligent. Mills has presented a good understanding of the global energy market – buyers and sellers – and it is remarkable… Read More ›
Changing Legal Context of Torture: US Policies Raise Legal and Ethical Questions Concerning the Use of Torture to Gain Intelligence and Information
The most unlikely consequence of 9/11 has been the astounding change in the US policy on torture and the use of torture to gain access to information and intelligence. Not long ago, the US was the champion of human rights… Read More ›
BRICS, the United States and Africa: Taking on the World Bank
The attached article in the International Policy Digest has interesting information concerning the potential establishment of a BRICS bank (BRICS denotes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). The bank is estimated to have a potential to start with core… Read More ›
Obama’s Silent War: US Drone Strikes Cause Disproportionate Civilian Collateral Kills in Pakistan
A joint Stanford/NY University study on the human costs of President Obama’s drone wars in the fight to eliminate terrorism has found that only 2% of strikes resulted in the successful targeting of high-level terrorist targets but that a much… Read More ›
CIA operates drone base in Saudi Arabia
President Obama’s directive on the preferential use of technological warfare has been cast in the limelight this week by the leaking of his “kill list” – a list of American citizens that have been targeted for assassination by their own… Read More ›
China’s Renew Definition of “Core National Interests” Has Huge Implications for Island Disputes with Japan and in the South China Sea
The new Chinese leadership is loosing no time in redefining its understanding of “core national interests” and how these interests would be pursued through its global foreign and strategic policy. The situation was just clarified in Premier Xi’s first policy… Read More ›
West Africa’s Cross-Border Threats: Making sense of Mali’s Islamic Armed Groups
Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote D’Ivoire, Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau – West Africa has had a guaranteed spot on our international news screens for over two decades. At the heart of this resource-rich region is a legacy of colonisation that divided… Read More ›
The Geopolitical Reordering of Africa: US Covert Support to Al Qaeda in Northern Mali, France “Comes to the Rescue”
The Geopolitical Reordering of Africa: US Covert Support to Al Qaeda in Northern Mali, France “Comes to the Rescue”. This is really interesting for those interested in what is really going on in Mali.
Take II: Longer-term US AFRICOM support to Defense Reform and Training in Mali Points to Obvious Lessons for Security and Defense Reform
The UK has issued a statement today outlining its full support for the French-led military initiative in Mali aimed at supporting the civilian Bamako-based government and halting, if not eradicating, the spread of the Jihadist Ansar dine revolution in the… Read More ›
“Conflicted Power” charts President Obamas foreign policy choices and outcomes as shifting world alliances challenge US power globally
“Conflicted Power” charts President Obama’s foreign policy choices and outcomes as shifting world alliances challenge US power globally NEW YORK , Oct. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — With increasing focus on US foreign and strategic policy in the weeks leading up to a hotly… Read More ›
President Obama’s Vision of US as a “Pacific Nation” Hangs in the Balance on Outcome of US Elections Result
President Obama’s announcement that the US is a Pacific nation, after 200 years of acting like an Atlantic nation, signifies the most important shift in US foreign policy vision since the Marshall Plan and Eisenhower doctrine. Seen by China as… Read More ›
Obama’s Foreign and Strategic Policy
When Barak Hussain Obama came to power in 2008, he was elected on the hopes, struggles and aspirations of generations of Americans, that looked to him to introduce a more progressive US approach in foreign and strategic relations, and perhaps… Read More ›
US Foreign Policy Towards Europe: Coalition of the Like-Minded?
Since the WWII years, the US relationship with Europe has been premised on guaranteeing global peace and security, and ensuring that a global conflict such as a world war, never comes to pass again. A significant aspect of the relationship… Read More ›
