In Beijing last week to catch up with Chinese security experts on Afghanistan and Pakistan, with two issues the main focus. Having talked on-and-off with people there about the Chashma-3 and 4 deal since it was first announced, this was the first occasion where I was greeted with disciplined – and largely unapologetic – talking [...]

Read the full story

G20’s commitment on Sunday to halve government deficits by 2013 and “stabilize” debt loads by 2016 is not international cooperation, but a statement that describes national policies already in place. Entailing that all countries can adopt the policies they want to adopt, the communiqué struck a balance between thrifty and spendthrift nations, respectively spearheaded by [...]

Read the full story

Of all the stops on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s upcoming trip to Europe, none is more important than Ukraine. This is a country heading in the wrong direction—as evidenced by the disturbing and rapid rollback of its democratic gains. Much is at stake, for the implications of a Ukraine moving toward a non-democratic, if [...]

Read the full story