Michael Mandelbaum summarizes his new book, Frugal Superpower, for The New Republic. From now on, "the United States will have far less to spend on foreign...
Richard Gowan
Richard Gowan coordinates the International Security Institutions program at the Center on International Cooperation, New York University. He is also the UN Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and an associate of the Foreign Policy Center (London).
“Competitive strategic engagement”
Daniel Drezner is rightly intrigued by a new essay by Thomas Wright of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs on shifts in the U.S. approach to China. Wright...
UN bicycles endanger your freedom!
Look at the picture above. What do you see? A public bicycle rack in Denver. But look closer. It's really a terrifying plot to make Americans submit to the...
Can UN troops protect UK investments?
Last week, human rights types were up in arms about this news: Britain’s new government has signalled its willingness to become “candid friends” of Sudan’s...
Latrines Cave In, 1000 Users Stuck!
While doing a bit of research for the post above, I delved into the news pages of the Ugandan Observer. I came away with an undying respect for whoever...
From the Southside to South Sudan: rap war!
The LSE has just published a very worrying report about the potential for violence in South Sudan, which holds a referendum on secession from Khartoum next...
Obama and Cameron: we’re all Palmerstonians now
Speaking together at the White House today, Barack Obama and David Cameron had a lot to say about the "special relationship" between the U.S. and UK. But...
This is an interesting road
No, really. Find out why here (h/t Chris Blattman).
Conflict prevention: it’s the politics, stupid
Bruce Jones and I have just published a new paper called Back to Basics: The UN and crisis diplomacy in an age of strategic uncertainty. We've set out to...
Where the hell is Nigel Havers when the KGB needs him? And how bad is the man’s PR?
The Useless Yonkers 10 (mysterious Anna Chapman, real name Anna Chapman!!!, and chums) are being deported to Russia in exchange for Western spooks in Russian...
Is the G8 about to get blown away?
The G8 is, analysts concur, in trouble. Since the G20 shot to prominence during the financial crisis, the 8 have always looked, er, 12 members short of full...
Poland to Europe: beat the retreat!
In February 2009, I wrote an op-ed for the European Voice about Poland's decision to pull some of its troops out of UN missions in the Middle East: Whenever...
Light comedy, North Korean style
North Korea's team put up a creditable performance against Brazil in their World Cup game today. I've been keeping an eye on the North Korean news agency to...
Why the EU is like Danny Glover
What am I talking about here? You've seen this story in a thousand cop shows. The aged policeman, a week from retirement, takes one last case with an...
The UN’s Saigon moment – with added apes!
This is how some international interventions end: What if you add in a gorilla? The beleaguered UN mission in the Congo - which David Axe and I have been...
So now we’re crap at colonialism too?
Sweet God, can Britain be trusted with anything these days? Britain is facing a revolt against its rule of a group of Caribbean islands, amidst a gathering...
The French “non” to the EU – 5th anniversary
Five years ago today, I had a chicken korma for dinner. I know this not because of quality of the curry (it was, as I recall, not bad) but because about half...
Obama’s strategy can’t work… but it’s working
Yesterday, I blogged about Hillary Clinton's speech on the U.S. National Security Strategy at Brookings. Since then, a good few pundits have popped up to...
Clinton: it’s a “race between the forces of integration and the forces of disintegration”
Hillary Clinton just spoke on the new U.S. National Security Strategy at Brookings. Having been in the audience, the bits that stick in my mind are: Clinton...
Wanted: 100 American military observers to save Congo
The UN has had peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo for a decade. Congolese President Joseph Kabila, hoping to show he's not reliant on the blue...
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