Publications

This report is the result of an experts meeting hosted by the Post-Conflict Reconstruction (PCR) Project on October 15, 2009. The discussion focused on the role of regional players in Afghanistan and Pakistan – primarily China, India, Iran, Russia, and Saudi Arabia – in promoting stability in the region.

President Obama must now make a decision that will define his presidency. President Obama will have to take personal responsibility for the outcome of the war in Afghanistan, betting his historical reputation and second term on the outcome.

The Russia Eurasia Insider is produced by the Russia and Eurasia Program and provides reports and analysis on the region's geopolitical engagement, economics and internal politics. The newsletter draws on several Russian, U.S. and international media sources, including Associated Press, Bloomberg, Financial Times, RIA Novosti, Interfax, and others.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Q1: As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh heads for Washington, where does India fit into the Obama administration’s policy?

This policy brief focuses on the challenges to the OSCE Human Dimension and the challenges to Kazakhstan as Chairman-in-Office of the organization in 2010.

Providing leadership in this difficult political context will require the United States, the United Kingdom and France to achieve unprecedented levels of cooperation and collaboration.

This report is the result of an experts meeting hosted by the Post-Conflict Reconstruction (PCR) Project on October 15, 2009. The discussion focused on the role of regional players in Afghanistan and Pakistan – primarily China, India, Iran, Russia, and Saudi Arabia – in promoting stability in the region.

This policy brief focuses on the challenges to the OSCE Human Dimension and the challenges to Kazakhstan as Chairman-in-Office of the organization in 2010.

Providing leadership in this difficult political context will require the United States, the United Kingdom and France to achieve unprecedented levels of cooperation and collaboration.

Iraq has made significant progress in defeating the insurgency and improving its security. The level of violence in Iraq is sharply lower than the levels that peaked in 2007.

The world was surprised when China emerged in 2004 as a major importer and consumer of oil. Today, that surprise has been replaced by growing concern that the China of tomorrow may be in a position to challenge the United States not only for economic leadership but for political leadership as well.

The United States is pouring massive resources and risking precious lives of its soldiers in its efforts to stabilize Afghanistan, a part of the world most Americans could not identify on a map before 9/11. President Barack Obama has already increased the U.S. force presence considerably and is deliberating further increases in what may be the most portentous decision of his presidency.

Saudi Arabia: National Security in a Troubled Region provides a comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of Saudi Arabia's strategic security efforts, both within the country and as a stabilizing regional presence.

Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Birth of a Regional Nuclear Arms Race? is an expert, insider’s look at Iran’s current and potential ability to wage both conventional and asymmetrical warfare—and the options available for dealing with a nuclear Iran.

Globalization and the American Worker is a path-breaking work on economic policy in a global age. It debunks the myths that clutter the political debate over globalization, focusing instead on the hard challenges the United States faces in building a stronger economic future.

"There are few more knowledgeable observers of US-India relations than Teresita Schaffer, a former senior US diplomat, who has served in virtually every south Asian capital and is now a doyenne of Washington’s still surprisingly small coterie of India watchers. . . .

Russia has been on a wild roller-coaster ride for the past three decades with no end in sight. Just in the past year as the global financial crisis deepened, the conventional perception of Russia has changed from “safe haven” from the economic tsunami to one of the hardest hit larger markets in the world.

U.S. policy toward Africa underwent a dramatic expansion under the tenure of President George W. Bush, marked by unprecedented resource flows, a major diplomatic effort in Sudan, and the establishment of historic initiatives in health, development, and security.

After many months of speculation, numerous meetings, articles, and suggestions, the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee (aka the Augustine Committee) has released its reports providing options to the administration for consideration in plotting the course of human exploration through the rest of the decade and beyond.

President Obama is headed to Asia in a week.  It is imperative that he begin to lay the groundwork for passage of the KORUS FTA.  The agreement signed by the Bush administration in June 2007, still awaits passage of implementing legislation by the Congress.  The administration has not supported the agreement because of concerns over trade issues regarding beef and automobiles.&nb

If Abdullah’s decision to withdraw from a second round of voting holds, President Obama must then make a decision that will define his presidency. President Obama will have to take personal responsibility for the outcome of the war in Afghanistan, betting his historical reputation and second term on the outcome.

The unusual clinical characteristics of the H1N1 virus and the uncertainties about H1N1 vaccine production have brought home powerfully the unpredictability—the “slippery” nature—of influenza virus and the vaccines designed to reduce its disease burden.

The Changing Challenge to Iraqi Security

After months of internal debate, mounting impatience among U.S.

Until Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, it was taken for granted that no African-American could become president of the United States. Any great talent in that population group, about 13.5 percent of Americans, was discarded for the top position in the country. The situation has changed, and the United States is surely better for it.

The “Joint Vision Statement” signed during South Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s visit to Washington in June 2009 has set the stage for what promises to be a highly successful visit to Seoul by President Barack Obama later this week.

It is a strange kind of republic in which presidents serve for life. It is an even stranger one in which rulers inherit power from their fathers. Yet, that is the direction in which the Arab Republic of Egypt is going.

BEIJING – With President Barack Obama making his first trip to China, it is vital that the two countries have a clear understanding of what they expect from each other. Failure to reconcile expectations could derail a partnership that is increasingly critical to the management of pressing global issues.

Recently, Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, in an address at the Center for a New American Security, called on China to provide “strategic reassurance” that its intentions were peaceful. Many Chinese argue this term is an important test balloon to establish a new principle for the Obama administration’s approach to Sino-U.S. relations.

As President Obama’s Asia trip begins, it is useful to look at how the table is set for the most complex relationship an American president must manage: