By Dira T. Fabrian
Article 35 of the ASEAN Charter, signed in 2008, states that “ASEAN shall promote its common ASEAN identity and a sense of belonging among its peoples in order to achieve its shared destiny, goals and values.” But what is a Southeast Asian identity, and how can it be promoted?
Read MoreBy Luis Ferreira Alvarez
Mercosur — a free trade and custom union formed in 1991 between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay (and later joined by Venezuela) — promotes the free movement of goods and people across the zone. Mercosur’s members have benefited from having integrated markets that expand their commerce. The South American bloc, like the European Union, can sign free trade agreements only as a bloc.
Read MoreBy Ariya Hagh and Peyman Majidzadeh
“Dear citizens! Attention please, attention please: Tehran is now free.” Such was the content of an anonymous message widely shared on the messaging app Telegram in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 elections in Iran.
Read MoreBy Michael Darden
On November 5, 2015, a tailing dam in the state of Minas Gerais (in the southeast of Brazil) ruptured. It released an estimated fifty million tons of iron ore waste into neighboring areas. It has quickly become the country’s worst environmental disaster. Seventeen people were killed and entire towns were submerged by the thick toxic sludge, which seeped into the Rio Doce river basin, traveled downstream, and has begun to spill into the Atlantic Ocean.
Read MoreBy Gita Murti
In the coming months, ASEAN watchers will witness whether the motto “One Vision, One Identity, One Community” will become a reality or remain a lofty aspiration.
Read MoreBy Sven-Eric Fikenscher
For the time being, JCPOA-related restrictions will keep Iran relatively far away from the nuclear weapons option, but Iran could undermine those restraints by cheating. U.S. policy vis-à-vis Iran should be informed by the likelihood that cheating takes place and should endeavor to decrease whatever incentive Iran might have to cheat.
Read MoreBy Faiqa Mahmood
Covert drone strikes in Pakistan target terrorists and militants belonging to al-Qaeda and its associated groups. Proponents of the current drone policy assert that the United States increasingly relies upon drones for one simple reason: they work. But do they?
Read MoreBy Luis Ferreira Alvarez
On April 21, 2015, an estimated half a million Brazilians took to the streets to call for President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment over the billions embezzled from Petrobras (Brazil’s semi-public energy company). Yet President Rousseff did not even have to leave office to lose her power. Four days earlier, Rousseff gave her vice president, Michel Temer, who is from a different political party, control over her political agenda with Congress, effectively leaving her a lame-duck president with four years remaining in her second term. To regain control, Rousseff will need to focus her efforts on two priorities: lifting a stagnant economy and mitigating the fallout from Petrobras’ massive corruption scandal.
Read MoreBy Stephanie L. Schmidt
Four years after independence, South Sudan is still struggling to establish a new political system. This article lays out a strategy for developing interventions to achieve substantive rule of law goals by analyzing the context, national capacities, and needs and desires of the population.
Read MoreUnderlying many of ASEAN’s initiatives is an emphasis on “ASEAN centrality”—the notion of ASEAN’s leading role in the regional architecture—a principle that has framed the way ASEAN has approached its external relations, in particular with the major powers, to ensure that its interests are protected and the regional stability preserved. Notwithstanding ASEAN’s best efforts, such an approach has not always resulted in success.
Read MoreBy Anders Fridén
Sweden should join NATO as soon as possible in order to provide a credible territorial defense, balance the security interests of Sweden and other regional actors, enhance the influence of the country within the European security context, and reap the benefits of coordinated defense and interoperability that participation in NATO would provide.
Read MoreBy Lauren Eades
Since December 2006 when then-president Felipe Calderón declared war on the cartels, over 100,000 Mexicans have been murdered, at least 30,000 have disappeared, and kidnappings have skyrocketed—with 132,000 kidnappings taking place in 2013 alone.
Read MoreBy Peter Oesterling
As anthropogenic climate change alters the world’s ecosystems, one effect has been glacial recession across the Andes, the Himalayas, the Alps, and the Rocky Mountains.
Read MoreBy Dr. Michael D. Gambone and John J. McGarry
Despite their well-documented and unsavory reputation, private military security companies (PMSCs) remain critical to U.S. foreign policy. Hard-won reform has emerged concurrently with greater U.S. dependence on private military security contractors.
Read MoreBy Aiden Warren and Alexander Dirksen
This article will argue that while the Obama administration promised considerable change in the areas of transparency, intelligence gathering, and national security, it has differed very little from the Bush administration.
Read MoreBy Joy Gordon
For many years, the Security Council of the United Nations was seen as paralyzed and ineffectual. But in the aftermath of the Cold War, the Council became much more active, and in some cases, was accused of overreaching. Some have argued that this puts the Council’s legitimacy into question. A series of recent European court rulings have provided support for this view, in that they find that some of the Security Council’s enforcement actions are inconsistent with international law.
Read MoreBy Pia Rebello Britto, PhD and Briance Mascarenhas, PhD
Globalization presents diverse potential opportunities for expansion and collaboration. There is a need for international transformative leaders who are well-grounded in their disciplines, who have a broader vision that transcends countries and cultures, and who have a desire and ability to bring about positive change.
Read MoreBy Kelly Hunte
Accounting systems must be developed in both donor and recipient countries which would accurately capture non-financial aid flows in order to analyze the true impact and ensure that the aid flows are effectively linked to the national priorities of the recipient country.
Read MoreBy Benjamin Locks
Since 2007, many Mexicans and international observers have blamed drug traffickers from Mexican cartels—and former President Felipe Calderón’s heavy-handed response—for the reign of violence that has left more than 60,000 people dead through 2012, according to Human Rights Watch.
Read MoreBy David Babayan
While the Southern Caucasus appears distant from China both politically and geographically, Beijing has had position there. If the current trend continues, China could become one of the most influential players in Caucasian geopolitics.
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