Port-au-Prince/Bogotá/Brussels - As a critical strategy conference convenes today at the UN, a Haitian-owned and led process, based on broad consensus among Haitians and with resolute international support, is needed to build the country back better after the devastating earthquake.
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Nairobi/Brussels - The Khartoum government is rigging the 11-13 April elections in Darfur to return an indicted president and his party to power with catastrophic consequences for Sudan.
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Beijing/Brussels -While China resists tougher UN Security Council sanctions on Iran, it is likely to ultimately come on board but will seek to delay and weaken the West’s desired measures.
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Multi-billion dollar arms deals announced by the US on Friday caused strong protests from China along with an announcement halting all military and diplomatic visits. The latter had seen happier days in late 2009 when both countries exchanged high-ranking delegations, including a visit by US President Barack Obama to Beijing in November.
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By David T. Johnson, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
The threat of terror and the origins of terrorist groups spans beyond any single region. Moreover, terrorist groups’ links to criminal activity is not a new phenomenon. In the 70s and 80s, for example, groups like the Red Army Faction, the Red Brigades and the domestic Symbionese Liberation Army financed violent terrorism with violent crimes like bank robbery.
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Six actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and none improved in December 2009, according to the new issue of the International Crisis Group’s monthly bulletin CrisisWatch, released today.
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Bogotá/Brussels - The decision on whether to change the constitution to enable President Álvaro Uribe to seek a third consecutive term in 2010 will have important consequences for Colombia’s efforts to resolve its armed conflict and tensions with its neighbours.
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Damascus/Washington/Brussels - Syria’s foreign policy has long been a contradictory mix of militancy and pragmatism, but new dynamics create opportunities for the U.S. if it does more to deepen its engagement.
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Damascus/Brussels - U.S. diplomatic engagement with Syria risks losing momentum if it fails to build upon several potentially promising changes in Damascus’s policy.
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Bishkek/Brussels - Prisons in Central Asia are becoming hothouses for the growth of militant Islamism, threatening long-term stability in the region.
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