This past week the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton presented “her” proposal for the new European External Action Service (quotation marks on “her” because, of course, it is not hers alone – even in draft it is already a compromise). So far she has not won all her battles but nor has she lost them. In fact, those battles are not over. All options are open still and those of us who want a genuine Action service need to keep our sleeves rolled up and engage in the arguments ahead. (more…)
Entries categorized as ‘Power’
EU’s External Action Service: options remain open
March 28, 2010 · Comments Off
Categories: Conflict & peace · Power
Tagged: Ashton, EU, EU External Action service, European politics, human security, international politics, peacebuilding
Quiet start from EU High Rep Ashton? Good! Go for the long game
March 2, 2010 · 2 Comments
Baroness Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s High Representative, is facing a mountain of a job and a rockfall of criticism across Europe after her first 100 days. But most of the negativity is a matter of Brussels gossip, bruised little egos and out-dated thinking about international politics. Ashton has got things more right than her critics. Rightly, she is focused on the long game rather than short-term headlines (which some journalists find impossible to forgive and others equally impossible to understand). (more…)
Categories: Power
Tagged: Ashton, Climate change, EU, EU External Action service, European politics, international politics, peace and security, Quatremer, trade
Obama, 1 year in: flaws aren’t failure – but there are new risks in policy towards Iran
February 1, 2010 · Comments Off
President Barack Obama has handed himself his sharpest challenge yet: a year of showing his unclenched fist to Iran has produced nothing and now he is toughening up his stance with a missile shield for the US naval forces in the Gulf. What will this do to his presidency? There was so much hope and much of that energy remains, even if it is not being so effectively tapped, but in confronting Iran, might Obama seriously lose his way?
Categories: Conflict & peace · Power
Tagged: Bush, Clinton, IAEA, international politics, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Middle East, Nixon, nuclear weapons, Obama, Palestine, Reagan, UN
Obama in power (12): more on that prize
October 13, 2009 · 3 Comments
It wasn’t Obama’s fault. He didn’t pick him and so far as we know there was no lobbying though that is common behaviour by would-be laureates and their friends. Once the prize was announced he would have been churlish to turn it down. His dignified acceptance and remarks about the other worthy nominees struck the right note. But… (more…)
Categories: Conflict & peace · Power
Tagged: Middle East, Nobel Peace Prize, nuclear weapons, Obama, US
Obama in power (11): Hope’s prize
October 9, 2009 · 7 Comments
The Nobel Peace Prize Committee has not done either President Obama or itself any favours by awarding him this year’s prize. It’s an award for promise rather than achievement. Read the citation and it sounds pretty much like saying, ‘We award the prize to the most popular man in the world because we like his views.’ (more…)
Categories: Conflict & peace · Power
Tagged: Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Middle East, Nobel Peace Prize, nuclear weapons, Obama
Climate agreement in Copenhagen? Prospects dimming rapidly
October 6, 2009 · Comments Off
September’s UN Climate change summit convened by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appears not to have succeeded. It was a good try and could have worked if national leaders had stepped up to accept the challenge. But most of them haven’t. The regular conferencing to prepare the Copenhagen summit in December has resumed in Bangkok and the acrimony is at an unprecedented level. (more…)
Categories: Climate change · Power
Tagged: Brown, carbon emissions, China, Copenhagen, EU, Obama, UN
Obama, Hu and climate change: a question of who leads
September 25, 2009 · Comments Off
What just happened? – it might be a good question to ask about the UN climate summit convened by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last Tuesday. “Not a lot” is the most likely answer. (more…)
Categories: Climate change · Power
Tagged: adaptation, Ban Ki-moon, carbon cuts, carbon emissions, China, Copenhagen, green economy, Hu Jintao, Israel, mitigation, Obama, Palestine, UN, US
As Obama opens doors to the Muslim world, will Europe close them?
June 22, 2009 · 1 Comment
President Obama’s 4th June speech in Cairo about relations with the Islamic world rightly got huge plaudits, including here. It doesn’t solve all problems but doors are open for new dialogue, policies and approaches. But as Washington wins credit and credibility through expressions of openness and respect and heads towards better links with the Muslim world, is Europe moving the opposite way? (more…)
Categories: Power
Tagged: Erdogan, EU, European politics, international politics, Middle East, Obama, Papandreou, Turkey
Obama in power (10): Cairo – brilliant speech but that awkward question persists
June 6, 2009 · 2 Comments
President Obama’s speech in Cairo on 4 June offers further evidence of his unrivalled communication skills and of his will and capacity to address thorny issues by reframing and reshaping them in a way that offers new openings for change and improvement. As an opening to the Muslim world, is it possible to imagine an American president doing better given the realities in which he works? For many of the issues he raised, the question is if interlocutors and counterparts will step forward able to use the opportunities he is creating. And over Israel and Palestine, that is a familiar and awkward question. (more…)
Categories: Conflict & peace · Power
Tagged: Bush, international politics, Iraq, Israel, Middle East, Obama, Palestine, peace agreements
Obama in power (9): To strengthen peace in the Middle East, the first big step is in the US
June 1, 2009 · Comments Off
It’s a big week for US policy and the Middle East, a defining moment for the Obama administration’s impact. What happens this week will not alone be enough to achieve regional cooperation with the US on peace and security but, if it goes wrong, that will be enough to make that cooperation next to impossible for several years again. (more…)
Categories: Conflict & peace · Power
Tagged: Bush, international politics, Iraq, Israel, Middle East, Obama
