Category: Blogs

Taiwan’s Democracy at Home and Abroad: Implications of 2010 Municipal Elections for Cross-Strait Relations

By Patrick deGategno and Sam Dreiman

Taiwan’s recent municipal elections show a growing de facto consensus among Taiwan’s major parties that officially declaring independence is not an option and that closer economic and cultural ties with the Mainland are a must. According to a panel of experts speaking December 1 at the Atlantic Council, future Taiwan governments, whether led by Taiwan’s current ruling […]

How China, Rest of World Can Get Along

By Banning Garrett

Poland to Join NATO Cyber Defense Center

By the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

A Coming Sino-Turkish Axis?

By Michael Auslin, the Wall Street Journal

From Michael Auslin, the Wall Street Journal:  [T]he current downturn in relations is made even worse by Mr. [Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdogan‘s decision to reach out to yet another authoritarian power, one that currently has a tense, if not troubled, relationship with the United States and many of its neighbors. That power is […]

Britain Blocks Budget Increase for the European Defense Agency

By AFP

From AFP:  The defence ministers asked the European Defence Agency, set up to support military coordination, to intensify efforts to find assets that militaries can pool together and share.

Georgia pressing US for NATO membership prospectus

By the AP

From the AP:  The former Soviet republic of Georgia wants the United States to outline the steps necessary for it to join NATO. Deputy Prime Minister Georgia [sic] Baramidze was raising the issue in Washington this week with the Obama administration. He said in an interview with The Associated Press that Georgia wants a "road […]

European Defense Integration

By James Joyner

 With defense austerity a fact of life during the global recession, many of us have been calling for more cooperative measures such as the recent French-UK accord.   Not only would this help rationalize the process and thus minimize the security impact of the cuts but it lessens the political damage that would stem from […]

Poland: “We got tired of being the one country to stand up to Russia”

By Marcin Sobczyk, the Wall Street Journal

From Marcin Sobczyk, the Wall Street Journal:  According to analysts, the thaw in relations helps both sides as Poland’s previous Russophobic image wasn’t helping to build the country’s position within western structures

5 Reasons Why Russia Could Join NATO

By Alexander Kramarenko, the Moscow Times

From Alexander Kramarenko, the Moscow Times:  1.  Russia does have civilian and democratic control over its armed forces, which one could easily confirm by following debates in the country’s media. Some even believe that this control cannot be more civilian than is already the case. Moreover,  in Russia’s history, including during the Soviet period, the […]

Dealing with Debt in Europe – Begging for Clarity

By Susan Schadler

Alongside last week’s unveiling of support for Ireland, the euro group announced the broad outline of a permanent plan, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), for dealing with future debt crises. Two aspects of the announcement stand out: it takes at most a wobbly step toward the professed goal of creating a mechanism for restructuring sovereign […]