Tag Archives: Foreign Affairs

Preview: Foreign Policy Magazine – Fall 2023

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Foreign Policy Magazine – Fall 2023: The new issue features The G-7 Becomes a Power Player – Russia’s war and China’s rise are turning a talking shop into a fledgling alliance of democracies; Vivek Ramaswamy’s Foreign Policies Raise Eyebrows in Washington – The GOP’s rising star offers up a grab bag of ideas cribbed from Eminem to Richard Nixon and more…

The G-7 Becomes a Power Player

Foreign Policy – the Global Magazine of News and Ideas

Russia’s war and China’s rise are turning a talking shop into a fledgling alliance of democracies.

By G. John Ikenberry, a professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University.

Time and again over the last century, the United States and the other liberal democracies in Europe, East Asia, and elsewhere have found themselves on the same side in grand struggles over the terms of the world order. This political grouping has been given various names: the West, the free world, the trilateral world, the community of democracies. In one sense, it is a geopolitical formation, uniting North America, Europe, and Japan, among others. It is an artifact of the Cold War and U.S. hegemony, anchored in NATO and Washington’s East Asian alliances.

Vivek Ramaswamy’s Foreign Policies Raise Eyebrows in Washington

Vivek Ramaswamy's Foreign Policies Raise Eyebrows in Washington – DNyuz

The GOP’s rising star offers up a grab bag of ideas cribbed from Eminem to Richard Nixon.

By Jack Detsch

End American dependence on Taiwan’s semiconductor factories. Declare economic independence from China. Give India an AUKUS-like submarine deal. And stage a dramatic visit to Moscow to broker a deal to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

Analysis: China’s Large Investments In Europe

CNBC International (August 30, 2023) – China has invested heavily in Europe, particularly in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008 when the region was strapped for cash. This means that Chinese firms are now shareholders in many key European infrastructure projects.

These include ports, wind and solar farms, telecommunications, airports – the list goes on. But there are growing fears that Beijing could use its strategic investments to further its own political ambitions. A recent dispute between the Baltic nation of Lithuania and Beijing shed light on potential reactions from China.

It’s led European governments to step up their scrutiny of Chinese investments and attempt to figure out how to redesign their relationship with Beijing. Dr Yu Jie from Chatham House told CNBC that we’re going to see more frictions regarding Chinese investment in Europe looking ahead.

Preview: Foreign Affairs Magazine- SEPT/OCT 2023

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Foreign Affairs – September/October 2023: The issue features ‘The Desperation of the Dictators’; Why America and China Will Be Enduring Rivals; What It Will Take to Break Putinism’s Grip; Xi’s Age of Stagnation – The Great Walling-Off of China, and more…

Delusions of Détente

Why America and China Will Be Enduring Rivals

By Michael Beckley

With U.S.-Chinese relations worse than they have been in over 50 years, an old fairy tale has resurfaced: if only the United States would talk more to China and accommodate its rise, the two countries could live in peace. The story goes that with ample summitry, Washington could recognize Beijing’s redlines and restore crisis hotlines and cultural exchanges. Over time and through myriad points of face-to-face contact—in other words, reengagement—the two countries could settle into peaceful, if still competitive, coexistence.

The End of the Russian Idea

What It Will Take to Break Putinism’s Grip

By Andrei Kolesnikov

In June 17, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin staged a special ceremony on the St. Petersburg waterfront to mark the anniversary of three flags: the flag of the Russian Federation, otherwise known as Peter the Great’s tricolor, formally unfurled in 1693; the imperial Russian flag, introduced by Tsar Alexander II in 1858; and the Red Banner, the Soviet Union’s hammer and sickle, adopted by the Soviet state 100 years ago and later used by Joseph Stalin. Putin watched the event from a boat as the National Philharmonic and the St. Petersburg State Choir performed the national anthem, which, thanks to a law Putin enacted in 2000, has the same melody as its Stalin-era counterpart. 

ESSAYS: CHINA’S ‘ECONOMIC MIRACLE’ HAS NOW ENDED

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Foreign Affairs (August 2, 2023) – As 2022 came to an end, hopes were rising that China’s economy—and, consequently, the global economy—was poised for a surge. After three years of stringent restrictions on movement, mandatory mass testing, and interminable lockdowns, the Chinese government had suddenly decided to abandon its “zero COVID” policy, which had suppressed demand, hampered manufacturing, roiled supply lines, and produced the most significant slowdown that the country’s economy had seen since pro-market reforms began in the late 1970s.

Economic long COVID will likely plague the Chinese economy for years.

In the weeks following the policy change, global prices of oil, copper, and other commodities rose on expectations that Chinese demand would surge. In March, then Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced a target for real GDP growth of around five percent, and many external analysts predicted it would go far higher.

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Preview: Foreign Affairs Magazine- July/Aug 2023

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Foreign Affairs – July/August 2023 issue:

The Treacherous Path to a Better Russia

Ukraine’s Future and Putin’s Fate

There is good reason to be pessimistic about the prospects of Russia’s changing course under Putin. He has taken his country in a darker, more authoritarian direction, a turn intensified by the invasion of Ukraine.

China Is Ready for a World of Disorder

America Is Not

In March, at the end of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin stood at the door of the Kremlin to bid his friend farewell. Xi told his Russian counterpart, “Right now, there are changes—the likes of which we haven’t seen for 100 years—and we are the ones driving these changes together.” Putin, smiling, responded, “I agree.”

An Unwinnable War

Diego Mallo

Washington Needs an Endgame in Ukraine

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was a moment of clarity for the United States and its allies. An urgent mission was before them: to assist Ukraine as it countered Russian aggression and to punish Moscow for its transgressions. While the Western response was clear from the start, the objective—the endgame of this war—has been nebulous.

The Korea Model

Why an Armistice Offers the Best Hope for Peace in Ukraine

In the middle of August 1952, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai traveled nearly 4,000 miles to Moscow to meet with the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin… The two Communist powers were allies at the time, but it was not a partnership of equals: the Soviet Union was a superpower, and China depended on it for economic assistance and military equipment.

Preview: Foreign Policy Magazine – Summer 2023

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Foreign Policy Magazine – Summer 2023: Artificial intelligence is suddenly everywhere. It seems as though no conversation about jobs, education, health care, technology, or politics happens without an inevitable question about how AI could disrupt it all. 

AI Is Winning the AI Race

Success isn’t just staying ahead of China.

A textural drawn illustraiton shows a robotic AI arm stabbing a flag through a globe wireframe containing two wrestling human-shaped figures with U.S. and China colors on each for a story about global competition over artificial intelligence.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS: AMERICAS QUARTERLY – SPRING 2023

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Americas Quarterly (Spring 2023) – Love him or not, the return of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is a watershed moment not just for Brazil, but Latin America as a whole. The 77-year-old is “the region’s only diplomatic heavy hitter and the most globally visible Latin American leader of his generation,” writes Oliver Stuenkel in this issue’s cover story.

Under Lula, Brazil Can Take On Regional Leadership. Will It?

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during a visit to Portugal in April.

A diplomatic heavy hitter is back at the helm of Latin America’s largest country—but the path to an influential international role is full of obstacles.

Gustavo Petro Can’t Ignore Human Rights in Venezuela

Gustavo Petro, Colombia's president, left, and Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's president, meet at the Tienditas International Bridge in Cucuta, Colombia, on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. During the meeting near the border, the heads of state signed a memorandum of understanding focused on modernizing trade rules between Colombia and Venezuela. Photographer: Ferley Ospina/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Presidents Gustavo Petro and Nicolás Maduro at the Tienditas International Bridge in Cúcuta, Colombia, on February 16.

At his summit on Venezuela, Colombia’s president must demand respect for democracy and the environment, writes a former Venezuelan mayor.

Thinking Abroad: Latin America’s Foreign Policies

AQ tracks priorities in external relations, including positions on Venezuela and China, in eight countries.

Amid growing tensions between the world’s largest superpowers, much of Latin America has taken an independent approach to foreign relations. Countries are increasingly following a path that Chilean scholars Carlos Fortin, Jorge Heine and Carlos Ominami titled the “active non-alignment option.” Regional integration is a top concern for some leaders, while others are seeking engagement far beyond the Western Hemisphere. Meanwhile, policy choices have to contend with domestic infrastructure challenges and a global concern with the impacts of climate change.

Military Analysis: Why Are Wars Getting Longer?

The Economist (April 18, 2023) – The outbreak of violence in Sudan isn’t an anomaly; the world’s civil wars are growing longer and deadlier. Robert Guest, The Economist’s deputy editor, explains why.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Civil wars are getting longer 00:58 – Complexity 02:14 – Criminality 03:12 – Climate change 04:52 – The road to peace?

Preview: Foreign Affairs Magazine- May/June 2023

May/June 2023

Foreign Affairs – May/June 2023 issue:

In Defense of the Fence Sitters

What the West Gets Wrong About Hedging

Kumé Pather

As countries in the global South refuse to take a side in the war in Ukraine, many in the West are struggling to understand why. Some speculate that these countries have opted for neutrality out of economic interest. Others see ideological alignments with Moscow and Beijing behind their unwillingness to take a stand—or even a lack of morals. But the behavior of large developing countries can be explained by something much simpler: the desire to avoid being trampled in a brawl among China, Russia, and the United States.   

The Upside of Rivalry

India’s Great-Power Opportunity

Kumé Pather

For China, Russia, and the West, the last year has been one of fear and conflict. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has killed tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands, of people. It has prompted the United States and Europe to rearm and has pushed Moscow and Washington back into Cold War–style competition. 

Foreign Affairs: Haiti – A Violent & Broken Country

FRANCE 24 (April 5, 2023) – The security situation in Haiti has spiralled out of control since the shock assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021, with the country increasingly beset by violence. Today, unrest has reached such levels that the United Nations is being urged to intervene and there has been a total breakdown of governance.

Haiti country profile - BBC News

 The country is increasingly at the mercy of criminal gangs and half of the population struggles to find food. FRANCE 24’s team travelled to Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, before gangs took full control of the city. They met a writer, a street vendor and a food importer, as well as residents trying to flee abroad.

Haiti is a Caribbean country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic to its east. Though it’s still recovering from a 2010 earthquake, many of Haiti’s landmarks dating to the early 19th century remain intact. These include Citadelle la Ferrière, a mountaintop fortress, and the nearby ruins of Sans-Souci Palace, the baroque former royal home of King Henry I.