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31. The International Dimension of the Arab Spring

Author:
Roberto Aliboni
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The Arab revolts are one dimension of the strategic change that is affecting the Middle East and Arab world as a consequence of the failure of the West, especially the United States, to shape the region in line with their views during the last decade. They definitely point to the weakening, or perhaps even the end, of a long period in which US and Western objectives in the region were supported by a large coalition of regional powers with conservative interests. The revolts did not come out of the blue and have quite a different nature and significance from the ones that Western official rhetoric and media tend to assign them. To understand the Arab revolts and work out a fresh Western approach toward the region, the West must frame the revolts in the region's evolving strategic context.
Political Geography:
United States, Middle East, and Arabia

32. The United States and Latin America: The Neighbourhood has Changed

Author:
Peter Hakim
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
More often than not, United States policies toward Latin America and the Caribbean have had the appearance of a kaleidoscope. They are shaped by so many different forces and variables that it is hard to find a consistent pattern of decision-making. On its face, this should not be a surprise – given the enormous variations among the 33 countries of this diverse region and the multitude of interests at play in their relations with the United States.
Political Geography:
United States and Latin America

33. Learning From a Troubled Experience – Transatlantic Lessons from the Nuclear Standoff with Iran

Author:
Riccardo Alcaro
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The dispute over Iran's nuclear programme, widely suspected of having a secret and illegal military objective, is a major flashpoint. A nuclear Iran would alter the balance of power in the strategic Gulf area and seriously weaken the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to which Iran is a party as a non-nuclear state. The magnitude of the issue has prompted a number of countries to step in to curb Iran's nuclear plans. The European Union and the United States have been at the forefront of this effort. However, it was only at the end of a gradual, irregular and difficult process that the two sides were able to reach convergence.
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and Iran

34. The 2010 NPT Review Conference: Some Breathing Space Gained, But No Breakthrough

Author:
Harald Müller
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The 8th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) started on 5 May 2010. The mood was 'cautiously optimistic' as the parties had experienced a productive last preparatory phase. In contrast to the fatally failed 2005 conference, the agenda and rules of procedures had been agreed and conference officers designated. The new US–Russian disarmament treaties on strategic nuclear weapons (NSTART) and disposal of weapon plutonium contributed to raising optimistic expectations. President Barack Obama's commitment to a nuclear weapons free world had impressed many people.
Political Geography:
Russia and United States

35. A Deeply Fractured Regime: Assessing the 2010 NPT Review Conference

Author:
Steven E. Miller
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The United States had mixed results at the 2010 NPT Review Conference. On the one hand, it avoided the isolation and criticism directed at Washington in connection with the failed 2005 Review Conference, in large measure because the Obama administration took more congenial positions on a number of nuclear issues. Its cooperation also facilitated the successful achievement of a consensus final document. On the other hand, there was wide resistance to a number of measures for strengthening the NPT system favoured or promoted by the United States, resistance that reveals deep and worrying divisions within the regime.
Political Geography:
United States and Washington

36. China-US Relations, Tending Towards Maturity

Author:
Huang Ping, Tao Wenzhao, Wang Rongjun, Yuan Zheng, and Zhao Xingshu
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The China-US relationship is one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world, and it is progressively maturing. Non-traditional security threats are expanding the shared interests of China and the US. The two countries have developed more realistic views of each other than they had decades ago, and this is making military relations more practical. The two are also interdependent in the economic realm, whether they like it or not, and therefore must work together to succeed in handling the current economic crisis. Connected to this economic challenge is that of climate change, an issue which the US must handle wisely in its relations with China. In addition, traditional security and peace issues will remain important, some even sensitive and difficult, in relations in the near future. The better relationship which China and the US are moving towards will contribute substantially not only to bilateral relations but also to global peace and order.
Topic:
Security and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
United States and China

37. A Rejoinder: Building 'Positive, Cooperative and Comprehensive' China-US Relations

Author:
Ralph A. Cossa
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The US-China relationship is one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world. As two of the world's largest economies, there can be no solution to the global economic crisis if the two work at cross purposes and many of the region's most complex security challenges - North Korean denuclearisation first among them - require Sino-US cooperation. The good news is that both US President Barrack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao are aware of and accept the shared responsibility and necessity for a cooperative approach toward dealing with the global financial crisis and regional security challenges; both have pledged to develop a "positive, cooperative and comprehensive" relationship and build mutual trust in a way that encourages, rather than worries, friends and allies in the Asia Pacific.
Topic:
Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
United States, China, and North Korea

38. China Central? Australia's Asia Strategy

Author:
Robert Ayson
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
From Australia's perspective, and in spite of the global economic crisis, an increasingly strong China will remain the dominant theme in Asia's evolving distribution of power. Australia has benefited from the prosperity which is the foundation of China's rise. But it continues to value the reassurance that a strong United States can bring to Asia. This favourable status quo seems superior to the alternatives: a cooperative Asian community which may be more aspirational than practicable; an Asian concert which requires an unlikely sharing of leadership between the great powers; or a coalition of Asian democracies which could be especially divisive. But as this comfortable status quo is strained, Australia may need to consider geopolitical options which until now have appeared fanciful and risky.
Political Geography:
United States, China, Asia, and Australia

39. American Primacy by Default: Down but Not Out

Author:
Roberto Menotti and Jason W. Davidson
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
American primacy continues to characterise the international system, despite trends toward a diffusion of power. The discussion is too often biased in favour of multipolarity due to imprecise or misleading definitions of US primacy. On the basis of a simple definition of what a "pole" is, combining GDP and defence expenditure, only the US can be considered a global pole. The current economic crisis is not changing this reality. Even considering perceptions, soft power, and the ability to translate power into influence, rising powers like China or an aggregate power like the EU have a long way to go before they can get on an equal footing with the United States.
Political Geography:
United States, China, and America

40. The Domestic Conditions for a Paradigmatic Change in US Foreign Policy

Author:
Sergio Fabbrini and Daniela Sicurelli
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Although foreign policy changes reflect transformations in the international system, they are also strongly conditioned by domestic factors. This is particularly true in the United States. Domestic factors have affected US decision-makers' interpretation of the international system and the role their country should play in it. That interpretation has gone through various phases, each characterised by a predominant paradigm or a struggle between competing paradigms. If the period between 11 September 2001 and the 2006 mid-term elections witnessed the uncontested success of unilateralism, after those mid-terms and the elections of 4 November 2008, the necessary domestic conditions for a new multilateral paradigm may have been created.
Political Geography:
United States