The Problematic Campaign against START

By James Kimer | Published: November 11, 2010

Writing on Slate.com, Fred Kaplan picks apart a recent op/ed signed by John Yoo and John Bolton recommending that the U.S. Senate put off ratification of the new START treaty with Russia.  While there are parts that are more convincing than others in Kaplan’s response (i.e., linkages), the fact of the matter is that 1,550 […]

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Deepening Political Risk in Brazil

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: November 7, 2010

Who doesn’t love Brazil?  Its raw beauty, bountiful human and natural resources, and strong economy have helped make it the democratic pearl of the BRIC nations.  Few other countries have enjoyed such a prominent winning streak for the national pride, having been awarded the Olympic Games for 2016 in Rio, the FIFA World Cup for […]

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Corker’s Dilemma

By James Kimer | Published: November 5, 2010

With the Democrat’s loss of House majority this week, some eager and angry representatives have their eyes set on dismantling the replacement START treaty.  From Josh Rogin on FP’s The Cable: Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), one of three Republicans to vote for the treaty on Sept. 16 in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, hasn’t yet […]

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India and Brazil Jumping Ship from the G20

By James Kimer | Published: October 20, 2010

Looks like the G20 is rapidly losing credibility, as core members Brazil and India have both spurned meetings this week ahead of the November summit in South Korea.  There are some interesting factors pushing emerging BRIC nations away from the bloc. From the Financial Times: More and more, the story of the G20 is beginning […]

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Biden Has His Putin Moment

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: October 12, 2010

Vice President Joe Biden and the Democrat Party at large have recently embarked upon a messianic crusade to attack opposition fundraising, invoking the time-honored tropes of classic populism. “It bothers me, all these unattributed contributions,” he thundered to campaign workers in Scranton, PA yesterday. “I challenge the Chamber of Commerce to tell us how much […]

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The End is Nigh, Again

By James Kimer | Published:

Declinism is a hot topic these days, and although the predictions have been so comically off-base in the past, it feels more real this time (just like every time).  Maybe those kooky experts that RT regularly digs up are actually on the vanguard of thought leadership.  David A. Bell has an interesting argument going on […]

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Georges D. Landau: A Brazilian Perspective on Global Governance

By James Kimer | Published: September 6, 2010

In relation to our ongoing coverage of the rise of the BRIC economies, we’re grateful to present the following contribution on Brazil from Georges D. Landau, a professor of international relations from S. Paulo. One month before the elections on 3 October 2010, Brazil finds itself as a cross-roads. The most likely winner of these […]

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Viktor Bout’s Upcoming Great Escape

By James Kimer | Published: August 27, 2010

From Robert Amsterdam’s latest article on the Huffington Post: Most importantly, Bout is a picture perfect representation of “one of the men” currently in power in the Kremlin, and say what you will about Vladimir Putin, he is very loyal to his friends. Even if we could discount what Bout might or might not share […]

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Romney and the Realists Split on the Reset

By James Kimer | Published: July 16, 2010

I have a persistent fascination with how U.S. domestic politics break down on the Russia debate, and seems now more clear than ever that there is no clear right-left split, for as much as many pundits wish to impose one.  The most vigorous pro-Putin arguments come from both the far right and left, while the […]

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Cold War Throwback

By Citizen M | Published: July 15, 2010

Writing in The New York Times today, op-ed contributor David Harris argues for doing away with the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, a US federal law from 1974 whose aim was to push the Soviet Union to let Russians, especially religious minorities, to emigrate. He calls on the US Congress to “recognize reality and graduate Russia from this […]

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