[RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, July 21, 2010

 

July 21, 2010 View this newsletter as a web page on CFR's website. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - New Sanctions for North Korea - Iranian Shipping Hurt by Sanctions - Over 700 Dead in Chinese Floods - BP Chief May Step Down Top of the Agenda: U.S. Signals New N. Korea Sanctions U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced at a news conference in Seoul that Washington will impose new sanctions on North Korea (BBC), targeting the sale and purchase of arms and luxury goods. In a gesture also meant to signal intensifying pressure on North Korea (NYT) before meetings with their counterparts in South Korea, Clinton and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates traveled to the Korean Peninsula's demilitarized zone. President Obama's nominee for Director of National Intelligence (Bloomberg), James Clapper, added to the warnings, telling the Senate Intelligence Committee the United States may be entering “a dangerous new period” with North Korea marked by Pyongyang's military provocations designed to advance the state's political goals. Analysis: This new CFR Independent Task Force report says North Korea's continued provocations pose a serious threat to its neighbors and that the United States must lead intensified efforts to achieve the north's denuclearization. Background: This CFR Crisis Guide explores the military, economic and nuclear proliferation dimensions of the ongoing conflict on the Korean Peninsula. MIDDLE EAST: Sanctions Squeeze Iran’s Shipping Weeks after a new round of UN and U.S. sanctions against Iran (WashPost) went into effect, insurers say Tehran's ability to ship vital goods has been curtailed as some of the most powerful Western insurance companies cut off Iranian shippers. If the current sanctions strategy doesn't push Iran to negotiations, the United States and its allies with need to look at options including military force, containment, and fostering political change in Iran, CFR's Meghan O'Sullivan says in this recent interview. Israel: Israel announced that its new antimissile system, called Iron Dome (VOA) -- partly financed by the United States -- will be deployed near the country's borders by November to neutralize rocket threats from Hezbollah and Hamas. PACIFIC RIM: Over 700 Dead in China Floods Torrential flooding (CNN) across much of China, including at least one hundred cities, has killed more than 700 people, according to China's vice minister of water resources. AFRICA: Fighting Intensifies in Mogadishu Fighting has escalated in northern Mogadishu (WashPost), the Somali capital, since the al-Shabaab militia asserted responsibility for bombings in Uganda during the World Cup. Clashes between U.S.-backed Somali government forces and the Islamist militants linked to al-Qaeda have reportedly killed more than fifty civilians and wounded scores over the past week. In this CFR Special Report on Somalia, Bronwyn Bruton proposes a strategy to combat terrorism and promote development and stability. In parts of Africa, only about half of babies born to mothers with HIV (USNews&WorldReport) receive the HIV prevention drug nevirapine, according to a study in the July 31st issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA: U.S.-Pakistan Forces Team Up U.S. Special Operations Forces (WSJ) are teaming up with Pakistani forces on aid projects, intensifying U.S. efforts to defeat Islamist militants in Pakistani territory that has been closed off to U.S. troops. Attacks by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, known as drones, have become increasingly important in U.S. efforts to defeat militants in Pakistani regions near Afghanistan, but the covert program raises ethical and legal problems, says this new CFR Backgrounder. India-Pakistan: Peace talks on Kashmir are threatened by a battle over an Indian hydroelectric dam project (NYT) that Pakistan fears could manipulate power going to its agriculture industry, the employer of half its population. EUROPE: BP Chief May Step Down BP chief Tony Hayward will reportedly step down (Guardian) within ten weeks as the oil company announced plans to sell $7 billion of gas assets for its Gulf of Mexico cleanup fund. Turkey: Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal (BBC) in Syria to discuss how to break Israel's Gaza blockade and how to improve Hamas's relationship with rival Palestinian group Fatah. CFR's Steven Cook says a recognition that the European Union is unwilling to seriously consider Turkey's full membership "has contributed to the notion that Turkey needs a broader foreign policy, rather than one just focused on the West." Continued rejection by the European Union doesn't alone account for Turkey's embrace of Muslim nations; the U.S. should push for Turkey to reform internally (LAT), writes regional expert Henri Barkey. AMERICAS: Cuba May Release More Prisoners The head of Cuba's parliament says that Cuba is ready to release more political prisoners (AFP), after announcing earlier this month that 52 prisoners would be released. A coalition of news organizations has demanded that the Pentagon rescind parts of its guidelines for reporting on Guantanamo (NYT), which dictate how photos can be taken and what reporters can write in their notebooks, among other restrictions.

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