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Robert Kagan, Washington Post | March 19, 2010 President Obama thus far has failed to strengthen relationships with historic allies, focusing instead on a fruitless search for improved relations with adversaries. ++ "This administration pays lip-service to 'multilateralism,' but it is a multilateralism of accommodating autocratic rivals, not of solidifying relations with longtime democratic allies." ++ In ...More

Andrew Nagorski, Newsweek | March 19, 2010 "So many people have bet on our demise that it absolutely drives me crazy" states US Vice-President Joseph Biden. ++ Indeed, to the chagrin of many Americans, it has been said countless times before that America is in decline. ++ Yet trends highlighted by economist Niall Fergusson in a recent Foreign Affairs article offers compelling evidence that this is ...More

Editorial, Le Monde (in French) | March 18, 2010 The 21st century will witness new commercial battlefronts: the yuan vs. the dollar  is one of them. ++ Americans blame Chinese officials for maintaining the yuan at an unnecessarily low exchange rate, therefore making it more difficult for the American economy to recover. ++ Responding to a letter written by Congressmen ...More

Petra Bornhöft, Der Spiegel | March 18, 2010 Germany has failed to keep its aid pledges to developing countries. ++ It has fallen short of both EU and UN aid requirements. ++ "In the international community, Germans are now seen as masters of the empty promise." ++ Aid in Germany is no longer seen in terms of moral values but rather in terms of buying support for global challenges like security and ...More

George Walden, former British diplomat and MP| March 17, 2010 The current EU diplomatic service is a total waste of time and money: it is multiplying decision-levels and expenses endlessly. ++ “Diplomacy is not all evasive waffle, and sometimes you must take a stand.” ++ Developing countries like China and Russia are gaining more and more power on the international stage, and Baroness Ashton is not to be ...More

E J Dionne Jr., The Australian | March 17, 2010 David Cameron of Britain's Conservative Party seems like the favorite to win May's general election, but that assumption is no longer a given. ++ Poll numbers between Cameron and Brown are narrowing, which could lead to the "Truman effect" where the underdog ends up winning. ++ This shift is the result of Cameron's poor image management and Brown's resonating ...More

Konrad Ott | Internationale Politik | March 2010 The solar radiation management (SRM) represents the last great temptation of the industrialized world to continue its energy-intensive lifestyle and to forgo costly and inconvenient mitigation and adaptation. The costs to the rest of the world would be immense, however. Plant life would be affected and entire vegetation zones could shift location. Food chains ...More

Global Sun Block | Calgary University | March 2010 Faced with the grim reality of global warming, one researcher or the other may have dreamed of coming up with a type of sun block for the planet. This dream may yet come to pass. Canadian scientists are confident that they will be able to turn a new technology, called “solar radiation management” into an effective tool for fighting climate change. ...More

Ismael Rafols | University of Sussex | March 2010 Regulating nanomaterial is indeed difficult: For one, it is nearly impossible to intervene in early development phases - for example to ensure environmentally-friendly design - since the final application of the material may yet be unknown at this point. Any type of restriction at this time would merely stifle innovation. On the other hand, it is also ...More

F. Stephen Larrabee | Rand Corportation | March 2010 Discussions on Turkey's EU membership tend to neglect the fact that the country's strategic significance has skyrocketed since the end of the Cold War. From the standpoint of Western interests, Turkey plays a key role in conflict resolution from the Balkans to the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia, to the Persian Gulf region. It is hence essential that ...More