by Vikash Yadav | 4 Dec 2011 | Featured
The second phase of the transition of security responsibility from ISAF/NATO to Afghan Security Forces has begun (the first phase began in July 2011). This means that roughly 50% of the population will now be under the protection of Afghan troops.Some of the areas being handed over are still quite active insurgent zones including many parts of Helmand, Ghazni, and Nangrahar provinces. For example, Ajristan, one of the districts in Ghazni, is...
by Vikash Yadav | 3 Dec 2011 | Featured
The chasm between Pakistani and Western reactions to last week's NATO attack on Pakistani forces seems to be growing if official actions/statements, media reports, conversations with friends on all sides, and ad hominem twitter flame wars are any indication.It goes without saying that Pakistanis are still in mourning for the death of their soldiers in what is a major national tragedy for a country that has had many national tragedies in recent...
by Dan Nexon | 3 Dec 2011 |
If you're that rare sort of person who doesn't avidly follows political machinations in South Caucasus breakaway republics, then you're missing some surprising developments in South Ossetia. RFE provides some good background:Tensions are rising in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia following a clumsy attempt by de facto President Eduard Kokoity to thwart Moscow's attempt to install its preferred candidate to succeed him and...
by Jon Western | 2 Dec 2011 |
Unfortunately this ad from the South African fast food chain Nando is now banned:Nando's South Africa decided to axe its commercial after Mugabe loyalists from the Chipangano group had called for a boycott and other unspecified punitive action against the company."We condemn such adverts because it reduces our president to be someone without values," Chipangano leader Jimmy Kunaka told the BBC's Brian Hungwe earlier this week. Hmmm.... I...
by Steve Saideman | 2 Dec 2011 |
In the fifth book of the Game of Thrones series, it seems like every character at some point says: "Words are Wind." This means that a promise or threat is being made, but there may not be any credibility. Without getting sunk into an overly academic debate about the credibility of commitments, signaling and resolve, I just wanted to highlight a promise or two that might be "wind-worthy."Specifically, NATO, the US, the Danes, the Canadians,...
by Josh Busby | 2 Dec 2011 |
Three weeks ago, Hillary Clinton gave a speech at the National Institutes of Health suggesting that because of recent advances in scientific understanding we could finally envision an AIDS-free generation. Wow, fantastic, the beginning of the end! Could it be? A week ago, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria announced that because of insufficient donor funding, it was canceling its next funding round for new projects and that it would...
by Josh Busby | 30 Nov 2011 |
Durban SkylineWhy aren't you there? You love South Africa. New baby. 'Nuff said.What, there is more? Low expectations. Hard to justify traveling all that way (let alone burn all those hydrocarbons) for a meeting that is likely to be unproductive.*I take it you are not a big fan of big global conferences? Not really. Hard to see how thousands of delegates and NGOs can converge in a single place and actually produce meaningful results.Jealous...
by Dan Nexon | 30 Nov 2011 |
According to Politico:Senate Republicans are coalescing around a plan that would continue the current salary freeze for all federal workers and lawmakers to pay for an extension of the payroll tax cut favored by President Barack Obama and other Democrats...The GOP apparently calculates that they can shift the discussion from their defense of tax cuts for the most prosperous Americans by attacking Federal workers. Sadly, they're probably right....
by Dan Nexon | 30 Nov 2011 |
Phil Arena does it very effectively.Personally, I don't see how the claim that the US is not in decline follows logically from the observation of changes in Australian policy, Japanese policy, and Burmese policy. What is the logic behind assuming that the US would be less likely to push for all the changes highlighted by Mead if the US was not in relative decline? Is it not at least plausible that states try harder to assemble counter-balancing...
by Rodger Payne | 30 Nov 2011 |
Born Newton Leroy McPherson, the man now simply known as "Newt Gingrich" has been surging in the latest opinion polls asking Republican voters to identify their preferred presidential candidate. He also recently won the endorsement of the Manchester Union Leader, which 538's Nate Silver finds to be important in the early New Hampshire primary:This analysis finds that The Union Leader’s endorsement has been highly statistically significant in...
by Vikash Yadav | 30 Nov 2011 | Featured
The term "Indo-Pacific" has been used since the mid-seventies, mainly to refer to a biological ecosystem. In the last few years, however, "Indo-Pacific" has come to describe a set of interrelated maritime security challenges from the East China Sea to the Arabian Sea -- particularly as India's Navy makes forays into the South China Sea and China seeks to protect its supply routes through the Indian Ocean. But the geopolitics brought into focus...
by Dan Nexon | 30 Nov 2011 |
Steve Walt, who won last year's prize, is judging.If anyone wanted to nominate a post from the Duck, that would be a nice thing to do.