CIRSD Recommends
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John Bolton: Don’t Mention the Norms
Brutal transactional talks is the only language the new National Security Advisor understands.
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Why is so much of the world's coral dying?
Roughly a fifth of all coral in the world has died in the past three years. Some experts believe that there is now just half the amount of coral that was in the oceans 40 years ago.
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Tabloid India
Indian media today report news recklessly, and, in the interest of ratings, focus on ephemera that have no impact on the public welfare. But trivializing public discourse and abdicating their responsibility as facilitators and protectors of democracy has cost Indian journalists dearly in terms of public trust.
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Are Trump's Moves a Springtime for Neoconservatism?
With his firing of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and appointment of the hawkish CIA director Mike Pompeo to replace him, Donald Trump has remained true to form.
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There’s a new secretary of state. Who cares?
Rex Tillerson’s sudden departure as secretary of state — alongside that of Gary Cohn last week as head of the National Economic Council — removes from the White House two of the only remaining pragmatists trusted by the rest of the world. With their departure, America’s credibility has taken another big hit.
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Moldova’s Conflict: Unfreezing, In a Good Way?
The word “frozen” is applied misleadingly to the series of half-dozen unresolved conflicts in the post-Soviet space. None of them are properly frozen, especially in eastern Ukraine and Nagorny Karabakh, where people continue to be killed.
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For Trump, a meeting with Kim is the ultimate test
President Trump, popping unannounced into the White House briefing room late Thursday, apparently just couldn't contain himself -- and with good reason.
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The Trap of Empire and Authoritarianism
For thousands of years the tragedy of politics has been that empire affords the answer to chaos. Imperialism, as the Oxford historian John Darwin says, “has been the default mode of political organization throughout most of history,” as the capabilities needed to build strong states, owing to the patterns of geography, were never evenly distributed, so that one ethnic group usually emerged to rule the territory of others.
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How populist uprisings could bring down liberal democracy
Authoritarians are on the rise, and electorates are seduced by extremes. To fight back, mainstream politicians need to grasp the causes of popular discontent and rebuild democracy’s moral foundations.
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Afghanistan ready to play connector role in Eurasian integration
One of the top roller-coaster sagas in what, some years ago, I christened Pipelineistan, has yielded a definitive twist.
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After the Olympics, the Chinese Reach Out
Before the Pyeongchang Olympics began, there were fears that North Korea would do something provocative during the games. Instead, the opposite happened.
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The Munich Conference Grapples with America's 'Burden Shedding'
Those with experience of attending previous Munich Security Conferences have described the mood of the 2018 conclave with terms like “retrenchment” and “hunkering down” and “waiting out the uncertainty.”
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Why Democrats Are Obsessed with Russia
The issue of Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election has intensified an already deep and bitter partisan divide.
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The World Bank Needs to Return to Its Mission
With a clear plan, the World Bank would be able to find partners to help it support progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which has been disappointing so far. Instead, the Bank is adopting an approach that would leave poor countries mired in debt, by relying on Wall Street to finance their basic needs.
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Israel's 'air strikes' in Sinai show its growing Arab ties
Over the weekend the New York Times carried a fascinating scoop. Under the headline "Secret Alliance: Israel Carries Out Airstrikes in Egypt, With Cairo's O.K." its correspondent, David D. Kirkpatrick provided details of a remarkable and highly secret military relationship.
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The One Phone Call Qatar Desperately Wants Donald Trump to Make
Top officials from the tiny, embattled Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar came to Washington this week with a simple message to President Donald Trump: You can solve the regional crisis that has seen it blockaded by all their neighbors with a single phone call.
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Commentary: For euro reforms, growth is the enemy
Europe’s currency union - not so long ago on its sickbed - has started the year in rude health.
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Want to Strike North Korea? It’s Not Going to Go the Way You Think.
Trust me: I was a nuclear strategist for the Pentagon.
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Four reasons why corruption matters
More than a trillion dollars are stolen from the world's poorest countries every year, which is such a vast sum that it is hard to visualise.
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The Two Camps Illusion
In recent weeks, Saudi Arabia has become more assertive. It first imposed a total blockade on Yemen, despite claims that this would lead to widespread famine.
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EU sets date for next wave of enlargement
The EU is preparing to pledge a 2025 deadline for the next wave of enlargement, but Balkans disputes could hold things back.
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These Are The Top 10 Risks to the World in 2018
Markets are soaring, but divisions are deepening among citizens of both developed and developing countries. Liberal democracy currently has less legitimacy than at any time since World War II, and the global order is unraveling.
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Coup or Hoax in Montenegro?
For those who remember the sad spectacle of Colin Powell at the UN Security Council, promoting bogus intelligence alleging Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD,) recent statements by American officials such as vice-president Mike Pence and Senator John McCain
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The Killing of Ali Abdullah Saleh - Is Peace in Yemen Possible?
The Middle East being the Middle East, everything is interrelated. What happens in the region impacts Yemen and what happens in Yemen impacts the region. The crisis in Yemen, like many conflicts in the Middle East, did not originate with the power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but inevitably get sucked into it.
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The Uses and Misuses of Historical Analogy for North Korea
Once you are convinced that it is August 1914 or October 1962 or September 1939, inevitable conclusions follow. But they may be the wrong ones.
