Bearing a name which could easily be confused by unsuspecting readers with the world-renowned Council on Foreign Relations based in New York and Washington, the ECFR has been issuing some attention grabbing studies on foreign policy challenges facing the Old Continent. In this essay we examine one of its latest opuses…
Continue reading “The European Council on Foreign Relations: a Think Tank Like No Other”
In the midst of the brouhaha over the arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, which provided a platform for Russian push-back over America’s democracy agenda, and following closely upon the release of U.S. diplomatic cables revealing NATO’s recent approval of an operational plan to repel a Russian invasion of the Baltics, which contradicts the official identification of Russia as a friendly power posing no threat to the Alliance, Vladimir Putin has chosen to drop the mask and call openly for Russian accession to NATO. Read on….
Continue reading “More on Russia in NATO: Mr Putin Tips His Hand?”
In her programmatic statement of July 2009 about the future conduct of U.S. foreign policy, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton explained why the Obama administration favored transparent, public diplomacy. In the person of Julian Assange and Wikileaks, civil society has taken her at her word and bitten back. Read on…
Continue reading “More Wikileaks: Public versus secret diplomacy in the 21st century”
The Russians in power and out acknowledge their many problems and will solve them at their own pace and with their own resources. For an argument against outside meddling, read what follows…
Should WikiLeaks founder Assange be nominated for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize? The essay below opens the debate. Read on
Continue reading “A Nomination for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize: WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange”
The remarks of Merkel, Sarkozy and Medvedev and their body language at the October 19th closing ceremony of the first trilateral summit in five years give us an unequivocal indication of their mutual relations. Kremlinologists can surely find here the answer to their number one question: will Dmitry Medvedev continue in office after 2012.
Continue reading “Medvedev at Deauville: An Eyewitness Account”
In his latest book drawing upon his experiences as key adviser to President Ronald Reagan on U.S. policy to the USSR then as ambassador to Moscow in the period of Perestroika, 1987-1991, Jack Matlock nurtures the false hope that educating the public about the real reasons of the collapse of the Soviet empire in Eastern Europe and the disintegration of the USSR itself will help bring American foreign policy back to pragmatism and moderation.
Continue reading “Jack F. Matlock, Jr. Superpower Illusions. An expanded analysis”
Boston University Professor of History and International Relations Andrew Bacevich’s latest book about re-setting the course of U.S. foreign policy is a beacon of light to those who have eyes to see and an open mind to reason. To find out why, read on…
Continue reading “Andrew Bacevich, Washington Rules. An appreciation”
Princeton University Professor G. John Ikenberry is not a household name and his books on the theory of International Relations are written for scholars, not the general public. Yet he is arguably one of the most important and, possibly influential, thinkers of the post-Cold War period
In this essay I argue that we are entering the fin de jeu phase of the Belgian state’s agony. To see why the impending divorce of the Flemish and Walloon communities may be violent and highly damaging to the European experiment, read on… Mis au jour le 27 juillet 2010.
Continue reading “Summer Musings: The Violent End of the Kingdom of Belgium”
Gilbert Doctorow 