Thursday, November 19, 2009

[RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, November 19, 2009

 

From the Council on Foreign Relations

November 19, 2009

View this newsletter as a web page on CFR's website.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

- Karzai sworn in for second term as Afghan president.
- Iran says it is not willing to send enriched uranium abroad.
- U.S. and South Korea agree to push N. Korean disarmament and free trade.
- European leaders to vote on first EU president.

Top of the Agenda: Karzai's Second-Term Inauguration

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been sworn in (al-Jazeera) for a second five-year term amid international criticism of corruption in the Afghan government and the Obama administration's consideration of a new strategy to increase U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan. U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and representatives from more than forty other countries attended the inauguration. Karzai's speech appeared to invite election rivals Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani into a national unity government. "I want to invite both of them to contribute," he said. The speech also addressed international concerns over corruption.

Karzai promised to prosecute people (NYT) involved in the country's illegal narcotics industry and said the Afghan Army should assume full control of the country's security within five years.

Separately, U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have shifted the focus of Afghan war planning from troop levels toward an exit strategy, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Obama administration wants the Pentagon to identify key goals for the Afghan government on issues such as governance and the capability of its security forces. Brown has called for an international conference next year to establish a "process for transferring district-by-district to full Afghan control."

Obama said Wednesday he is close to making a decision (WashPost) about additional U.S. troops, but senior aides said Thursday that the decision would not come before Thanksgiving.

Analysis

In the Los Angeles Times, Gerard Russell says the situation in Afghanistan has steadily failed to get better and the Afghan government must take responsibility for its own survival.

CFR's Kim Barker, on return from a recent trip to Kabul, says Afghans are disillusioned with both the reelection of Karzai and what they perceive as the U.S desire for an exit strategy.

In a Los Angeles Times op-ed, CFR's Max Boot writes that although corruption, drug-trafficking, and other civil issues are important priorities, Karzai needs to become more engaged with the war raging around him.

Background

A CFR Backgrounder examines the Taliban in Afghanistan.

MIDDLE EAST: Iran Nuclear Deal

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Wednesday that Iran is not willing (ILNA) to send its uranium enrichment outside the country in line with the October deal stuck by Iranian negotiators and international leaders

A CFR Backgrounder examines Iran's nuclear program.

Israel: Israel's air force struck (Haaretz) two suspected smuggling tunnels and an alleged weapons factory in the Gaza Strip Wednesday after Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket into the western Negev Desert.

PACIFIC RIM: Obama's South Korea Visit

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and President Obama urged North Korea (Yonhap) to return to nuclear negotiations and pledged to ratify a free-trade pact in talks Thursday.

Cambodia: Cambodia has taken control (Bangkok Post) of the Thai-owned air traffic control firm Cambodian Air Traffic Services, after the Cambodian government filed charges against one of the firm's Thai engineers, accusing him of spying.

SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA: Bangladesh Death Sentences

Bangladesh's supreme court upheld the death sentences (al-Jazeera) of five men convicted of killing independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in a military coup thirty years ago, raising security concerns.

AFRICA: Zimbabwe Diamonds

Zimbabwe is withdrawing soldiers (Reuters) from diamond fields in the eastern part of the country, where forces were attempting to seal off poorly secured diamond fields and combat illegal mining. The withdrawal follows recommendations by the Kimberley Process, which criticized the country for rights abuses by the army.

Sudan: Civil society peace talks resumed (UN) in Doha, Qatar, Thursday aimed at influencing the next round of talks between the Sudanese government and army.

AMERICAS: U.S. Healthcare

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid unveiled (WSJ) a ten-year, $848 billion healthcare overhaul bill, to be voted on later this week.

Peru: The Peruvian government has requested (Poder360) that the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) investigate evidence that Chile has been spying on the Peruvian Armed Force through an officer in the force.

EUROPE: EU President

European Union leaders meet in Brussels Thursday (EUObserver) to decide who will fill top posts, including that of the first EU president, created under the Lisbon Treaty.

Russia: Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko asked Russia (RiaNovosti) to amend its existing natural gas supply contract to avoid problems with transmitting gas to Europe, saying Russia pays too low a price.

TRANSNATIONAL: Economic Recovery

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says the global economic recovery will be stronger than expected (WSJ); its thirty developed-country economies will grow by 1.9 percent in 2010, compared to previously forecast growth of .7 percent. However, it will take years to reduce unemployment and government debt to pre-crisis levels, the group says.
 

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