Regional multilateralism: The next paradigm in global affairs – GPS

What comes next as a model for dealing with global trouble spots?  Think about more Libya approaches:

In a world of diminished U.S. involvement and unsuccessful multilateralist endeavors, an alternative vision for global engagement is necessary. Instead we are faced with a reluctant China, an unprepared India, an European Union in the midst of a financial debacle and a host of regional powers that focus on their neighborhood rather than claiming a global role. Given these realities, regional multilateralism can serve as the way out from this dead end.

via Regional multilateralism: The next paradigm in global affairs – Global Public Square – CNN.com Blogs.

Booklist | Niall Ferguson’s ‘Civilization’ Traces West’s Decline – Review – NYTimes.com

A renowned Harvard historian offers his take on the decline of the West with a take that is two parts history and one part finance:

Indeed, the central thesis of “Civilization” is that six “killer apps” (along with “the fortuitous weakness of the West’s rivals”) enabled the West “to dominate the world for the better part of 500 years.” Those “apps” were competition, science, property rights, medicine, “the consumer society” (“without which the Industrial Revolution would have been unsustainable”) and “the work ethic” (which Mr. Ferguson, drawing upon Max Weber, associates with Protestant Christianity).

Much as Mr. Zakaria did in “The Post-American World” (2008), Mr. Ferguson notes that in recent decades much of the rest of the world has become increasingly adept at downloading such Western concepts.

via Niall Ferguson’s ‘Civilization’ Traces West’s Decline – Review – NYTimes.com.

Turkey Shelters Anti-Assad Group, the Free Syrian Army – NYTimes.com

This story illustrates how complex Middle East politics, alliances, and shifting forces–especially in 2011 and the Arab Spring–can be.  Turkey is not just providing “humanitarian” support;  this is a small step toward taking sides, but probably not just because it tends to ally itself with Western interests.

Turkey’s muscular foreign policy is frequently unpredictable–unless you look at it in terms of its national interests and new foreign policy agenda.  This is a country to watch with great interest.

At the moment, the group is too small to pose any real challenge to Mr. Assad’s government. But its Turkish support underlines how combustible, and resilient, Syria’s uprising has proven. The country sits at the intersection of influences in the region — with Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Israel — and Turkey’s involvement will be closely watched by Syria’s friends and foes.

via Turkey Shelters Anti-Assad Group, the Free Syrian Army – NYTimes.com.

NATO War in Libya Shows U.S. Was Vital to Toppling Qaddafi – NYTimes.com

The role that the US played was constant, irreplaceable, and vital–signaling that NATO may not be all its cracked up to be:

The United States military has spent just $1.1 billion in Libya, and in the words of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., “didn’t lose a single life.” He added that “this is more of the prescription for how to deal with the world as we go forward than it has been in the past.”

Libya proved that the leaders of some medium-size powers can be overthrown from a distance, without putting American boots on the ground, by using weapons fired from sea and air with the heaviest load carried by partner nations — in the case of Libya, European allies and even some Arab states.

via NATO War in Libya Shows U.S. Was Vital to Toppling Qaddafi – NYTimes.com.

Putin Proposes Setting Up ‘Eurasian Union’ : NPR

A new alliance of nations:

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has proposed forming a “Eurasian Union” of former Soviet nations, saying the bloc could become a major global player competing for influence with the United States, the European Union and Asia.

Putin, who has lamented the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union as the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century,” denied that his proposal represents an attempt to rebuild the Soviet empire.

But he said in an article published Tuesday in the daily Izvestia that the new alliance should emerge as “one of the poles of the modern world, serving as an efficient link between Europe and the dynamic Asia-Pacific region.”

via Putin Proposes Setting Up ‘Eurasian Union’ : NPR.

Romney fails International Relations 101 | Stephen M. Walt

Profesor Walt grades Romney.  Fail.

This principle isn’t rocket science: the same is true in our personal lives. I’ve got some wonderful friends, but we don’t agree on everything and sometimes we have to sort out disagreements about rules for raising children, which movie we’re going to see, or even more fundamental issues of politics. Try taking a vacation with even close friends and you’ll probably have at least one or two moments where you’re genuinely ticked off at each other. Conflicts between close friends or family members can get especially intense when you think a friend is doing something foolish and you try to get them to change their minds and their behavior.  In ordinary life, as in international politics, in short, there’s often a lot of airspace between various parties even when some of their other interests and objectives are closely aligned.

via Romney fails International Relations 101 | Stephen M. Walt.

Congress Passes Trade Deals, Ending 5-Year Standoff – NYTimes.com

Why did the trade deals take so long?  Some say it was an effort to deny President Obama the political victory, because the economic net gain was nominal. If they had not passed this would have signified a critical failure to back three US allies.

The passage of the trade deals is important primarily as a political achievement, and for its foreign policy value in solidifying relationships with strategic allies. The economic benefits are projected to be small. A federal agency estimated in 2007 that the impact on employment would be “negligible” and that the deals would increase gross domestic product by about $14.4 billion, or roughly 0.1 percent.

via Congress Passes Trade Deals, Ending 5-Year Standoff – NYTimes.com.

A New Approach to Multilateralism: Open Government

What is the new Open Government Partnership?

Eight countries (Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States) have committed to the program and another thirty have been deemed eligible to participate. Interestingly, Russia is currently eligible while China is not. Those countries that participate conduct regular self-assessments and are reviewed as well by outside observers.

via The Multilateralist | FOREIGN POLICY.

 

Open Government from The Academy on Vimeo.

In Mideast Riddle, Turkey Offers Itself as an Answer – NYTimes.com

Turkey rising:

The old policy collapsed, and a new policy is required now toward the Middle East,” said Ersin Kalaycioglu, a professor of political science at Sabanci University in Istanbul.

In an interview, the foreign minister, Mr. Davutoglu, viewed by many as the architect of Turkey’s engagement with the region, laid out that new policy. In addition to a proposed alliance with Egypt, he said Turkey would position itself on the side of the revolts, especially in neighboring Syria, which represents Turkey’s biggest challenge. He insisted Turkey could help integrate the region by virtue of its economy, with its near tripling of exports since Mr. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party took power in 2002.

via In Mideast Riddle, Turkey Offers Itself as an Answer – NYTimes.com.

Turkey Predicts Partnership With Egypt as Regional Anchors – NYTimes.com

What to do when you’re the head of a growing regional power?  Create an “axis of democracy”–a process of coalition-building that benefits from the incredible changes taking place in the Middle East and North Africa this past year.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu explains:

Turkey, he said, was “right at the center of everything.”

He declared that Israel was solely responsible for the near collapse in relations with Turkey, once an ally, and he accused Syria’s president of lying to him after Turkish officials offered the government there a “last chance” to salvage power by halting its brutal crackdown on dissent.

Strikingly, he predicted a partnership between Turkey and Egypt, two of the region’s militarily strongest and most populous and influential countries, which he said could create a new axis of power at a time when American influence in the Middle East seems to be diminishing.

via Turkey Predicts Partnership With Egypt as Regional Anchors – NYTimes.com.