The G20’s flagship commitments in Sunday’s Toronto Summit are but a reflection of ongoing domestic politics in the leading economies. There are five main outcomes: 1. Fiscal Policy Status Quo Affirmed G20’s commitment to halve government deficits by 2013 and “stabilize” debt loads by 2016 is not international cooperation, but a statement that describes national [...]

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BUCHAREST—World leaders continue to search for solutions to the global recession, as we witnessed during the just-concluded G-20 summit in Toronto—a forum representing the full spectrum of regime types, and one that has effectively replaced the G-7 group of industrialized democracies as the international high table. Rescuing the global economy is imperative. But it is [...]

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This week’s G20 summit in Canada is the first leaders’ meeting since the start of the global economic recovery. While a favorable summit outcome could strengthen market confidence, world leaders continue to face several daunting challenges. In particular, three areas—addressing global imbalances, coordinating financial regulation, and combating protectionism—remain politically thorny. Global imbalances have exacerbated frailties [...]

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President Barack Obama Wednesday fired his own chosen field commander for Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, and replaced him with McChrystal’s boss in the military chain of command, General David Petraeus.  Obama was right to fire McChrystal after the general and his staff made outrageous comments to a Rolling Stone reporter, with unfavorable characterizations of Vice [...]

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Bank of England Governor Mervyn King’s quip “banks are global in life but national in death” has become a cliché. Round 2 in the financial regulatory reform process must make the remark history. At its 26-27 June Summit, the G-20 needs to step up work toward common principles for countries to jointly unwind ailing multinational [...]

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WASHINGTON — As a member of the U.S. Congress, I spent most of my 22 years as a vocal deficit hawk—warning against the danger of unchecked deficits and most particularly against mounting costs of entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare adding to a mounting debt load for future generations.  So, I find myself [...]

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It might be thought that the flow of tens of thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico would renew American interest in achieving independence from fossil fuels and combating climate change. Sadly, this assumption remains questionable. A cursory glance at polls indicates that American attitudes towards these environmental and energy problems have [...]

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SOFIA — Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov announced last Friday that his government cancelled the Burgas–Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project and suspended the Belene nuclear power plant construction. That statement was linked by local and international observers to the recent visit to Sofia of CIA Director Leon Panetta and to strategic energy security concerns of the [...]

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In the debate about the recent Gaza flotilla incident, a key issue has been given very little attention – the fact that Hamas is turning the Gaza strip into a Sharia state. Decision-makers and strategic thinkers in the United States and Europe should devote more attention to the role of the transatlantic community in preventing [...]

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BUCHAREST — On June 5, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev signed a brief but significant memorandum on a joint EU-Russia Committee on Security and Foreign Policy (ERPSC) in the German town of Meseberg. The document proposes to “explore” the creation of a ministerial-level committee to be chaired by the EU High [...]

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