Showing posts with label Foreign Policy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Foreign Policy. Show all posts

Friday, April 11, 2014

During Hagel Visit, China Showed Its Military Might, and Its Frustrations

By HELENE COOPERAPRIL 10, 2014
The New York Times
ULAN BATOR, Mongolia — When Robert M. Gates visited China in 2011 as the United States defense secretary, the military greeted him with an unexpected and, in the view of American military officials, provocative test of a Chinese stealth fighter jet, a bold show of force that stunned the visiting Americans and may even have surprised the Chinese president at the time, Hu Jintao.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Is Putin “in Another World?”


Marvin Kalb | March 4, 2014 12:30pm

Brookings

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, rarely one to engage in flights of fancy, finished a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the crisis in Ukraine, and then, turning to several of her aides, she said that “she was not sure he was in touch with reality.” The Russian leader, she added, seemed to be “in another world.”

President Obama’s foreign policy is based on fantasy

By Editorial Board, Published: March 3
The Washington Post
FOR FIVE YEARS, President Obama has led a foreign policy based more on how he thinks the world should operate than on reality. It was a world in which “the tide of war is receding” and the United States could, without much risk, radically reduce the size of its armed forces. Other leaders, in this vision, would behave rationally and in the interest of their people and the world. Invasions, brute force, great-power games and shifting alliances — these were things of the past. Secretary of State John F. Kerry displayed this mindset on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday when he said, of Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, “It’s a 19th century act in the 21st century.”

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Japan to bolster military, boost Asia ties to counter China

BY LINDA SIEG AND KIYOSHI TAKENAKA
TOKYO Tue Dec 17, 2013 4:55am EST
(Reuters) - Japan will boost its military spending in coming years, buying early-warning planes, beach-assault vehicles and troop-carrying aircraft, while seeking closer ties with Asian partners to counter a more militarily assertive China.

The planned 2.6 percent increase over five years, announced on Tuesday, reverses a decade of decline and marks the clearest sign since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office a year ago that he wants a bigger military role for Japan as tension flares with China over islands they both claim.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Why did China impose an ‘air defense zone’ that was so likely to fail?

BY MAX FISHER
November 29 at 12:12 pm
The Washington Post
China has one of the largest and most consequential militaries in the world, but how Beijing thinks about its military and makes military decisions is largely a mystery to the outside world. The People's Liberation Army is technically attached to the Chinese Communist Party, rather than to the Chinese government, and scholars often describe it as a "black box" because it is so difficult to understand from the outside.
This week's decision by China to impose a special "air defense identification zone" over international waters was one such mystery. China announced that any foreign flights into the special zone would have to alert Beijing first and file a formal flight plan. The outcome was entirely predictable: The United States immediately violated China's requirement by flying two unarmed B-52 bombers into the "zone," basically a way of announcing that the U.S. would ignore China's requirement. Japan and South Korea also sent in flights. China's "air defense zone" not only failed, it backfired, embarrassing China while further uniting Japan, South Korea and the U.S. against Chinese military assertiveness.

Britain's Cameron 'turns page' on Dalai Lama row with China visit

BY ANDREW OSBORN
LONDON Sat Nov 30, 2013 7:27am EST
(Reuters) - Britain has put a diplomatic rift with China over the Dalai Lama behind it and Prime Minister David Cameron has no plans to meet Tibet's spiritual leader again, a senior source in his office said ahead of a visit by the British leader to Beijing.

Instead, Cameron will use a three-day visit to China next week, his first since the Dalai Lama rift, to focus on deepening trade ties with the world's second largest economy, taking with him a delegation of around 100 business people.

"This visit is forward looking. We have turned a page on that issue," said the source when asked whether Cameron would raise the issue of Tibet during his trip. "It's about shifting UK relations up a gear and looking to the future."

U.S. airlines advised to give China flight plans over new defense zone

BY LESLEY WROUGHTON AND TIM KELLY
WASHINGTON/TOKYO Sat Nov 30, 2013 5:11am EST
(Reuters) - The United States advised its commercial airlines to notify Chinese authorities of flight plans when travelling through an air defense zone that Beijing established a week ago over the East China Sea, ratcheting up regional tensions.

The United States said it expected U.S. carriers to operate in line with so-called notices to airmen issued by foreign countries, adding, however, that the decision did "not indicate U.S. government acceptance of China's requirements.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

U.S. Sends B-52s on Mission to Challenge Chinese Claims

By JULIAN E. BARNES in Washington and JEREMY PAGE in Beijing
Updated Nov. 27, 2013 5:00 a.m. ET
The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. moved forcefully to try to counter China's bid for influence over increasingly jittery Asian neighbors by sending a pair of B-52 bombers over disputed islands in the East China Sea, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
The B-52s took off from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam and flew more than 1,500 miles northwest, crossing into what China has declared as its new air-defense identification zone, at about 7 p.m. ET Monday. The U.S. deliberately violated rules set by China by refusing to inform Beijing about the flight, officials said.

China had warned of military action against aircraft entering the zone without notification, but didn't respond to the B-52s, which weren't armed and were part of a long-planned military exercise. A U.S. official said there was no attempt by the Chinese military to contact the B-52s. "The flight was without incident," a U.S. official said.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

The Syria deal

Russian reading
Sep 14th 2013, 22:46 by J.P.P. | WASHINGTON, D.C
AMERICA and Russia have an agreement on removing or destroying Syria’s extensive collection of chemical weapons. The headline points are that Bashar Assad’s regime must submit a full inventory within a week. Should his government find that deadline too exacting, Vladimir Putin’s former colleagues in the SVR, the successor organisation to the KGB, can probably help out. Then the weapons must be destroyed or removed by mid-2014. If Syria fails to comply with these terms it will face a chapter seven resolution in the UN Security Council which, for those who have not looked at their copy of the organisation’s charter since 2003, is the one that covers the use of force. Compliance will be in the eye of the beholder.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Obama to Show Support for Greece as Samaras Visits White House

By Margaret Talev - Aug 8, 2013
Bloomberg
President Barack Obama will show U.S. support for Greece at a meeting today with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras as Greece prepares for more talks with creditors on additional debt relief.

Cyprus unification, trade and counterterrorism initiatives also are on the agenda, the White House said in a statement ahead of the visit.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Exclusive: Saudi offers Russia deal to scale back Assad support - sources

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Amena Bakr
AMMAN/DOHA | Wed Aug 7, 2013 5:04pm BST
(Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has offered Russia economic incentives including a major arms deal and a pledge not to challenge Russian gas sales if Moscow scales back support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Middle East sources and Western diplomats said on Wednesday.

The proposed deal between two of the leading power brokers in Syria's devastating civil war was set out by Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week, they said.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Mitt Romney's Terrible Wall Street Journal Op-Ed


It's official: The Republican nominee has no new ideas for the Middle East.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

The celestial economy



The Economist
By 2030 China’s economy could loom as large as Britain’s in the 1870s or America’s in the 1970s
IT IS perhaps a measure of America’s resilience as an economic power that its demise is so often foretold. In 1956 the Russians politely informed Westerners that “history is on our side. We will bury you.” In the 1980s history seemed to side instead with Japan. Now it appears to be taking China’s part.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Libyan interim leader Abdul Jalil flies to Tripol


11 September 2011 Last updated at 04:43 GMT
BBC

The head of Libya's interim government, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, has flown to Tripoli for the first time since anti-Gaddafi forces captured the capital.
Mr Abdul Jalil was greeted by hundreds of cheering, flag-waving supporters.
Until now he had remained in the eastern city of Benghazi. His presence in the capital is aimed at sending a message about his authority.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Turkey Suspends Defense Trade With Israel


The Wall Street Journal
By MARC CHAMPION
ISTANBUL—Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Tuesday that his country was suspending defense trade with Israel and that Turkish naval vessels would be seen in the Eastern Mediterranean more often, as Ankara ratcheted up pressure in a rising dispute with its former ally.
Speaking to reporters in Ankara after giving a speech at the Ankara Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Erdogan repeated plans announced Friday to downgrade diplomatic relations with the Jewish state and suspend military agreements, specifying that the suspension would include trade in defense goods.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Σχέδιο δολοφονίας του Κ. Καραμανλή αποκάλυψε η FSB


16 Ιουνίου 2011, 10:04 EEST
SigmaLive
Σχέδιο δολοφονίας του Καραμανλή «με σκοπό την αναβολή ή τη ματαίωση της ενεργειακής πολιτικής της χώρας»
Για σχέδιο δολοφονίας του πρώην πρωθυπουργού της Ελλάδας, Κώστα Καραμανλή, κάνει λόγο έγγραφο της Ελληνικής Υπηρεσίας Πληροφοριών (ΕΥΠ), επικαλούμενο τις ρωσικές μυστικές υπηρεσίες.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Τουρκία: 50% ψηφίζει Ερντογάν σηματοδοτώντας εξελίξεις…


defense-point.gr
13/06/2011 03:23 |

Το 50% των ψήφων απέσπασε το Κόμμα Δικαιοσύνης και Ανάπτυξης (AKP) του Ρετζέπ Ταγίπ Ερντογάν στις βουλευτικές εκλογές που ολοκληρώθηκαν στην Τουρκία. Με το ποσοστό αυτό εξασφαλίζει 326 έδρες στο Κοινοβούλιο (550 έδρες) και καθίσταται αναμφισβήτητος πρωταγωνιστής των πολιτικών εξελίξεων στην Τουρκία.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Ενεργειακός «αρραβώνας»



Οι δύο Πρωθυπουργοί επισηµοποιούν τον Ιούλιο την ελληνοϊσραηλινή συµµαχία

ΡΕΠΟΡΤΑΖ: ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΙΑ ΠΕΛΩΝΗ
ΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΘΗΚΕ: Δευτέρα 6 Ιουνίου 2011, ΤΑ ΝΕΑ
  

Η κρίση γεννάει ευκαιρίες. Η περσινή κρίση του στολίσκου της Ελευθερίας που είχε ως συνέπεια τη ραγδαία επιδείνωση των σχέσεων Ισραήλ - Τουρκίας, άνοιξε τον δρόµο για την εντυπωσιακή προσέγγιση της Αθήνας µε το Τελ Αβίβ µε την επίσκεψη του έλληνα Πρωθυπουργού στο Ισραήλ, την οποία ακολούθησε η πρώτη στην Ιστορία επίσκεψη ισραηλινού Πρωθυπουργού στην Ελλάδα. Η σχέση αυτή αναµένεται να σφραγιστεί τον ερχόµενο Ιούλιο στην Ιερουσαλήµ, όπου ο Γιώργος Παπανδρέου και ο Μπενιαµίν Νετανιάχου θα επισηµοποιήσουν τον ενεργειακό «αρραβώνα» των δύο χωρών.