China Reform Monitor: No. 707
Beijing tells Exon Mobil: South China Sea off limits;
President Hu outlines priorities to "
non-party elites"
Beijing tells Exon Mobil: South China Sea off limits;
President Hu outlines priorities to "
non-party elites"
Russian Defense Ministry sees West as greatest future threat;
Putin: Russia should "
reestablish positions in Cuba"
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Reviving the Russian navy;
Moscow preparing for the worst after U.S. election
A third intifada?;
Iran's ideological backlash;
A poison spreads in Central Asia;
Nukes for Azerbaijan?
Ahmadinejad's new world order;
The war on secular education;
A new Egyptian-Iranian row;
Bolstering the Basij;
The high cost of the Internet
How Abu Sayyaf stays in business;
Turmoil in Thailand's south
Chinese traders breed resentment in Africa;
Security forces gearing up for Olympics
Another business leader in the Kremlin's crosshairs;
For the second time this month, Russia resorts to cyber-attacks
Russia threatens to play the Cuba card... again;
Medvedev concerned that "
offices are for sale"
Chinese trade surplus grows...;
...but the spying continues
Al-Qaeda's newest victims;
"
Status of forces"
on hold;
All eyes on the Strait of Hormuz;
Turmoil in Turkey;
An Islamist attack in Uzbekistan?
Russian navy: assertive in the Arctic;
Russian provocations fuel fears of war with Georgia
Give Nouri al-Maliki credit. Since assuming his post in May 2006, Iraq's embattled prime minister has been written off by more than a few observers as an agent of Iranian influence or a cat's paw of the US-led Coalition. However, since early this year, Al-Maliki has definitively proven that he is neither. In the process, he has moved his country considerably closer to lasting stability.
FSB fingered in Litvinenko murder;
Russia joins China to block Zimbabwe sanctions
Progress on the "
third site"
...;
...draws Russian ire...;
...amid doubts about timing;
Iran's missile tests...;
...and the campaign trail
BP feeling the squeeze in Russia;
Face to face: Bush and Medvedev meet
In "
threats to Britain"
poll, Russia nearly tops list;
Medvedev dismisses G8 eviction threat
U.S. concerned over Chinese space, missile policies;
Degrees promised, diplomas granted
The end of the LTTE?;
Dimming hopes for a U.S.-India nuclear deal
Putin still in the media spotlight;
New charges against Khodorkovsky
American and Chinese interests in Africa are different, but not substantially so. There are more areas where the two countries can cooperate for the benefit of Africans than there are issues of disagreement and potential competition. During his visit to Africa early in 2008, President George Bush acknowledged that the United States and China could pursue opportunities in Africa without increasing rivalry. He commented that he does “not view Africa as zero-sum for China and the United States” and believes both countries “can pursue agendas without creating a great sense of competition.” A few months later during a conference at Howard University in Washington on China-Africa relations, Chinese Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong said that China appreciated President Bush’s statement, adding that China and the United States need not pursue in Africa a “confrontational, or harmful rivalry, or a zero-sum game.”
Business environment gets failing grade...;
...amid signs of anxiety among Russia's middle class
China-Zimbabwe Special Edition
Hezbollah hunkers down;
In the Muslim Brotherhood, a boost for radicals;
Common enemies in Uzbekistan;
Fatah under seige in Gaza;
Solidarity across the Islamist divide...
A chill in the Sino-Russian arms trade;
The door to Taiwan opens a crack further
Rifts in the Kremlin growing deeper? Venezuela eyes more Russian arms
Politkovskaya investigation "
completed"
but questions remain;
Lavrov: "
No proof"
Iran seeks nukes
Next stop, Vilnius?;
Fear and loathing in Delhi...;
...and Tokyo;
More of the same from Moscow and Beijing;
Washington weighs investment in "
Iron Dome"
On politics, history, and economy, Russian feelings mixed;
Violence returns to Caucasus
Special Issue: a cross-Strait rapprochement
A Central Asian union in the works?;
Turkey's political scene erupts...;
...but U.S. intel courtship continues;
Egypt's perpetual state of emergency;
Syria talking... and hedging
Officials in Europe are beginning to sound more and more like their American counterparts when it comes to Iran. In the wake of President Bush's trip to Europe, they even appear to be moving towards freezing the assets of Iran's largest bank as a way of signalling their resolve over Tehran's nuclear intransigence. In recent months, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has warned publicly that a nuclear Iran poses an "unacceptable risk for regional and world stability," and his government has taken the lead in calling for tougher international sanctions against the Islamic republic. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made similar noises. "If Iran were to obtain nuclear weapons, it would have disastrous consequences," Merkel told Israel's parliament, the Knesset, during her visit there in March. "We have to prevent this." In practice, however, Europeans are sending a very different signal. Indeed, recent days have seen the Old Continent deal a body blow to efforts to isolate the Islamic Republic.
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Russia eyes the Arctic;
Nuclear smuggling still a challenge
Nuke sites spared from Sichuan quake;
China and Russia united: no strike on Iran
Prosecutor General: Government bribes at $33 billion a year;
Medvedev lampoons U.S. econ policies
Abkhazia flirts with Moscow;
...While Georgia discovers its own admirer;
Iran, Hezbollah teach new tricks...;
... And open old wounds
Chinese hacking raises alarm in India;
Despite rapprochement, Taiwan seeks U.S. arms
Hard-line general side-lined by Medvedev;
Moscow horse-trading in Thailand, seeks jailed tycoon's freedom
China closes a door to Taipei at the WHO...;
... but leaves one open on earthquake aid
In France Putin prodded on Iran, Khodorkovsky;
Medvedev uneasy with media restrictions
McCain proposes new nuclear accord;
The Russian Academy of Sciences takes a stand
China naval base gives India jitters;
Tightening the noose for the Olympics
Financial pressure, European style;
Iran's Baha'i under fire;
Securing Syria;
Larijani rising
UN confirms Russian attack on Georgian drone;
A new title for Putin: Chairman of the Russia-Belarus union
Russo-Syrian arms talks have Israel on edge;
Medvedev uses China trip to criticize U.S. missile defense
Defending U.S. space assets;
Indo-Israeli missile defense cooperation on the skids;
China's secret missile site;
Why European missile defense matters
FSB to reopen cooperation with UK, after apology;
Medvedev puts early focus on corruption
China-Russia trade collapses in first quarter;
Light shines on Beijing's plans
Russia cuts Belarus out, oil middleman no more;
With siloviki weakened, Khodorkovsky fingers Sechin