Friday, November 20, 2009

[RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, November 20, 2009

 

From the Council on Foreign Relations

November 20, 2009

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

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

-EU chooses president and foreign policy chief.
-U.S. report says China is increasing cyber-spying.
-Nigeria signs $1 billion anticorruption pact with EU.
-Pentagon launches Fort Hood probes.

Top of the Agenda: EU Chooses Top Posts

EU leaders chose two lesser-known figures (EUObserver) in global affairs, Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy and UK Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton, as the top leaders of the European Union. Van Rompuy will be the first president of the European Council, and Ashton will be the bloc's foreign policy chief. Van Rompuy, a center-right economist who has been Belgian's leader for less than a year, came to prominence after Germany and France agreed to promote him. Ashton emerged after preferred candidate UK Foreign Secretary David Milliband said he was not interested in the position. Some diplomats have suggested Van Rompuy's short term in office means he had little time to make enemies among EU leaders. The decision to nominate the president from a small country lacking an international profile confirms some experts' speculation that EU member states want the person to serve as "internal fixer" rather than international negotiator. Van Rompuy said he intended to be "discreet" and that his personal opinions were "subordinate" to the council.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said (DeutscheWelle) it was a "very wise decision" to fill the top job with a leader from "an important country but not one of the most important countries, so that no one will feel excluded."

Analysis

The New York Times reports that, after an eight-year battle to rewrite its internal rules and to pass the Lisbon Treaty, the selection of such low-profile figures shows Europe's problems rather than its readiness "to take a more united and forceful place in world affairs."

The Telegraph reports that many European newspapers were dismayed by the EU's choices for president and foreign minister, because Van Rompuy and Ashton lack the necessary weight to compete on the world stage with the United States and China .

In Der Spiegel, Carsten Volkery says the EU has once again missed an opportunity to boost its standing on the global stage.

Background:

In a CFR interview, Charles Kupchan says the approval of the Lisbon Treaty could create a stronger European partner for Washington in global affairs but that there is a competing trend toward stronger nation-states in Europe.

MIDDLE EAST: Iran Nuclear Program

France rejected Iran's request (ILNA) to discuss the technical details of a plan to swap enriched uranium for fuel, ahead of Friday's diplomatic meetings in Brussels on Iran's nuclear program.

Iraq: Iraqi exiles have praised the decision (The National) by Iraqi Vice President Tareq al Hashemi to veto Iraq's new election law, saying it under-represented hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees living outside the country.

PACIFIC RIM: China Cyber-Spying

A U.S. congressional report says Chinese spies are stealing U.S. secrets (AP) to build up China's military and economic strength. The report goes on to say that China is building a navy that could block the U.S. military from entering the region if fighting broke out between China and Taiwa.

South Korea: South Korea announced plans (Yonhap) to ease domestic investment rules and foreign entry procedures in an effort to triple tourism to the country by 2020.

SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA: Afghanistan Troops

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says it's too soon (AFP) to set a timeline to transfer the security duties from NATO-led troops to Afghan forces, as proposed by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Bangladesh: Human rights groups are pushing (al-Jazeera) for the United Nations' Convention of the Rights of the Child to adopt a clause protecting underage brides in Bangladesh, where 63 percent of girls below the age of twenty-five are married before they turn eighteen.

AFRICA: Nigerian Corruption

Nigeria signed a $1 billion pact (BBC) with the European Union to fight corruption and promote peace in the oil-producing Niger Delta.

Democratic Republic of the Congo: A United Nations report on rebel militias in the DRC probed links between Rwandan rebels in the DRC and the countries of Spain and France, the New Times reports.

AMERICAS: Fort Hood Probe

The Pentagon launched urgent investigations (WashPost) into whether military procedures inhibit the identification of service members who pose a threat to fellow troops.

Cuba: Cuba rejected a report (MiamiHerald) released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch, which says that human rights abuses under Raul Castro have not improved since his brother Fidel's rule.

EUROPE: Netherlands Flood Threat

The Dutch government is spending 130 million euros (Telegraph) to build a new coastal band of sand dunes to battle rising sea levels resulting from climate change.

TRANSNATIONAL: Oceans and Climate Change

A new study in the Public Library of Science finds that warmer water and overfishing are increasing the presence of "mucilages," or gelatinous composites in the ocean that lead to overpopulation of microbes, toxic algae, jellyfish, and disease, the Economist reports.
 

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