World Politics Review: Articles

U.S. Delay on Anti-Nuclear Terror Measures Hinders Global Efforts

info@worldpoliticsreview.com (Miles A. Pomper, Kingston Reif) — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Two factors, among others, help explain the government’s decision to charge Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev with the use of a WMD: The charge is seen by prosecutors as relatively easy to prove, and it can be punished by the death penalty. This highlights the irrelevance of a dispute in the U.S. Senate that is holding up important new anti-nuclear and anti-radiological terrorism legislation.

The Realist Prism: China the Likely Winner if U.S. Intervenes in Syria

info@worldpoliticsreview.com (Nikolas Gvosdev) — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Chinese strategists likely see the prospect of a U.S. intervention in Syria as very beneficial to China. This might seem counterintuitive, given that Beijing has blocked efforts in the U.N. to authorize action in Syria. But while China is not interested in legitimizing U.S. involvement, Beijing would quickly seize the opportunity to take advantage should the U.S. decide to entangle itself in Syria.

World Citizen: In Spain, a Turn to 'None of the Above'

info@worldpoliticsreview.com (Frida Ghitis) — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The people of Spain are now living through the fifth year of a deep economic recession, experiencing a level of unemployment that would have seemed inconceivable before the bottom fell out. But despite countless protests and furious debate, the Spanish are becoming disillusioned with all the options before them. As the recession lingers and the hardships intensify, the answer increasingly is “none of the above.”

As U.S. Pivots, Britain Hedges Its Military Bets

info@worldpoliticsreview.com (Julian Lindley-French) — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

As the British armed forces rebuild after more than a decade of sustained military operations, the U.S.-U.K. strategic relationship has come under intense scrutiny. While London remains committed to working alongside the U.S., there is deep concern that Washington has become a less than reliable partner. Were it not for the political and economic turmoil in the eurozone, U.S.-U.K. relations might be in crisis.

Strategic Horizons: Benghazi and the Myth of the Invincible U.S. Military

info@worldpoliticsreview.com (Steven Metz) — Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The controversy over whether the Obama administration lied about the September 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, will consume Washington for some time, ultimately influencing the way the U.S. military responds to crises. But while the emotion associated with the inability to stop the attack is understandable, it may push the military to take excessive risks in future crises.

China-India Border Incident Highlights Uncertainties in Bilateral Relations

info@worldpoliticsreview.com (Iain Mills) — Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

China's recent incursion into Indian territory along their disputed border in eastern Kashmir brings to the fore the unpredictability of Chinese foreign policy implementation and Beijing's frequent recourse to low-level aggression. Despite a general trend toward deepening cooperation between China and India, the incident lowers hopes that China's new leadership will clear up uncertainty in bilateral relations.

Trading Up: The Impact of Trade Liberalization on Poverty

info@worldpoliticsreview.com (L. Alan Winters) — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Does international trade liberalization reduce poverty? The question is an important and relevant one. It was high on the agenda in the late-1990s and after a decade or so of quiescence it is starting to worry policymakers again. Fortunately, it permits a fairly definite answer, one that surprises many people. While there clearly are exceptions, the answer is “in the long run and on average, almost always, yes, trade liberalization reduces poverty.”

After Success: Poverty Beyond the MDGs

info@worldpoliticsreview.com (Claire Melamed) — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have now been part of the global conversation for nearly 15 years, and have proved to be a popular way to think about global development. As the 2015 deadline for achieving the MDGs looms, the discussion over what the next set of global ambitions should be is throwing into sharp relief some of the big changes that have happened in the world of global development policy, and in the world more generally, since the 1990s.

Global Insights: Sharif’s Victory Offers U.S. Opportunity to Reset Pakistan Ties

info@worldpoliticsreview.com (Richard Weitz) — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The victory by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan’s national elections offers the U.S. an opportunity to develop and execute a strategy for improving the troubled relationship with Islamabad. Although the Obama administration has defined detailed goals for what it would like to achieve in Afghanistan, as well as strategies for attaining them, U.S. officials have yet to do the same for Pakistan.

Russia Tries to Manage Arab Awakening From the Outside

info@worldpoliticsreview.com (Dmitri Trenin) — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Like virtually everyone else, Moscow was surprised by the groundswell of change that began in the Arab world in early 2011. The present “Arab Awakening,” Russian experts opine, may take decades and is likely to transform the region. The Russian leadership has two main worries: U.S. involvement in nominally sovereign countries, and the potential of spillover from the Arab Spring onto the Russian neighborhood.