Who Cares About Georgia?

Scott McConnell reports that AEI's Fred Kagan has asked the rhetorical question, "Would the United States really want to live in a world where Russia held sway over Georgia and the Ukraine?" Daniel Larison finds the question strange, indeed: Obviously, I understand why Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians and Georgians are not interested in having Russia hold sway over their countries. They want ...

Georgia on Brink of War?

Russia's "new" government is just like the old one, it seems, and it is ramping up tensions in the Georgia-Abkhazia conflict. Russia's Defense Ministry said Thursday that it could further increase its peacekeeping forces in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia, where the threat of renewed fighting increased international alarm. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, meanwhile, said the threat of war with ...

The Euro at 10

Martin Walker argues that, "despite repeated protestations that the EU does not seek to become a federal super-state," the organization is steadily increasing its powers to the detriment of the interests of its constituent states. The Commission of the European Union is celebrating the forthcoming 10th anniversary of the euro with an ambitious new plan to direct the economic strategy of ...

Europe’s Middle Class Stagnant

The Middle Class is disappearing, the NYT reports. In Europe. The European dream is under assault, as the wave of inflation sweeping the globe mixes with this continent’s long-stagnant wages. Families that once enjoyed Europe’s vaunted quality of life are pinching pennies to buy necessities, and cutting back on extras like movies and vacations abroad. Potentially more disturbing — especially to ...

The ‘Do What We Say’ Foreign Policy?

Radio Free Europe has an interview with Randy Scheunemann, who is one of the McCain campaign advisers on our policy towards Russia, especially with regards to Georgia. One part of the interview that seems problematic to me, as well as others, is this bit about potential negotiating of issues with Russia:RFE/RL: In situations like this one, many analysts start ...

Overseas Venue Shopping

Floyd Abrams notes the rise of a troubling new trend: In recent years, English libel law has come to have a disturbing impact on the right of Americans to speak out. England has become a choice venue for libel plaintiffs from around the world, including those who seek to intimidate critics whose works would be protected in the U.S. but might ...

McCain the Anti-War Warrior?

In the cover story of the new American Prospect, Matt Yglesias describes John McCain thusly: The candidate who, despite his protestations in a March speech that he "hates war," not only stridently backed the 2003 invasion of Iraq but has spent years calling on the United States to depose every dictator in the world. He's the candidate of ratcheting-up action against ...

U.S. Foreign Policy in the Post-Bush Era

Fareed Zakaria argues that John McCain's foreign policy would be bellicose whereas Barack Obama's would be conciliatiatory but, as Dave Schuler notes, both are "confrontational" and "interventionist," just with slightly different priorities. Zakaria points to a recent McCain speech: Not only does it declare war on Russia and China, it places the United States in active opposition to all nondemocracies. It proposes ...

UK Court Invalidates Terrorist Asset Freezing

Counterterrorism Blog: UK Court Invalidates Terrorist Asset Freezing Regime as Unconstitutional Today, the UK's high court invalidated the country's asset freezing regime against terrorists, ruling it to be unconstitutional. The ruling has been described as devastating to the UK's strategy against terrorism. It was based on the court finding that the UK government could not simply implement UN Security Council resolutions ...

Tony Blair ‘Caught Riding Without a Ticket’

An awkward moment for Tony Blair on his way across the pond Monday. Former prime minister Tony Blair was left red-faced when he was caught travelling on a train without a ticket and said he had no cash to pay the fare, a report said on Wednesday. Blair, who has earned around 500,000 pounds on the speaking circuit since leaving ...

Murdoch: NATO Faces ‘Crisis of Confidence’

News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch says that NATO is in a “crisis of confidence” because Western Europe is “losing its faith in the values and institutions that have kept us free.” He calls for a radical redefinition of the Alliance in order to save it, including extending membership to Australia, Japan, and Israel. Murdoch, who is receiving the Atlantic Council ...

Son of Dutch Defense Chief Killed in Afghanistan

Lt. Dennis van Uhm, the son of Holland's top general, was killed today in Afghanistan. The son of the Dutch defense chief was killed Friday by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, and the Taliban claimed they deliberately made the young lieutenant a high-profile target. While the Dutch quickly cast doubt on the Taliban claim, the death underscores the danger high-profile ...

France Outlaws Inciting Extreme Thinness

French lawmakers have passed a bill that would outlaw inciting thin behavior, thus obviating the old rule that one can't be too rich or too thin. The French parliament's lower house adopted a groundbreaking bill Tuesday that would make it illegal for anyone — including fashion magazines, advertisers and Web sites — to publicly incite extreme thinness. ...

US-European Relations After Bush

Henry Kissinger's column today makes some important observations about three major trends in international relations that will shape the debate in coming decades. There's not much I can add to his analysis but I wanted to draw especial attention to this observation: Conventional wisdom holds that disenchantment with President Bush's alleged unilateralism is at the heart of European-American disagreements. But ...

NATO Adds Albania and Croatia, Rejects Macedonia, Georgia, Ukraine

Despite -- or perhaps partly because of -- backing from the United States, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has denied membership to Macedonia and rejected a bid to grant Membership Action Plans to put Georgia and Ukraine on a one-year path to membership in the Alliance. BBC: Nato has confirmed it will not yet offer membership to Georgia or ...