Gavinsblog.com

Category: International Relations

  • Pakistan is a nuclear time bomb: Graham Allison

    Not since the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 have I been as frightened by a single news story as I was by the revelation late last year that Abdul Qadeer Khan, the founder of Pakistan’s nuclear-weapons program, had been selling nuclear technology and services on the black market. The story began to break last…

  • Jiang said to offer to quit army post

    Jiang Zemin, China’s military chief and senior-most leader, has told Communist Party officials that he plans to resign, prompting an intense and so far inconclusive struggle for control of the armed forces, two people with leadership connections say. Jiang’s offer to relinquish authority as chairman of the Central Military Commission potentially gives Hu Jintao, who…

  • China's growth as a regional power

    Dan Drezner links to an informative article in the New York Times. Drezner sings her praises, perhaps correctly, she notes: American military supremacy remains unquestioned, regional officials say. But the United States appears to be on the losing side of trade patterns. China is now South Korea’s biggest trade partner, and two years ago Japan’s…

  • Neocons have Iran in their sights: William Pfaff

    Will Pfaff muses on the situation developing in Iran. There seems to be increasing media comment on a likely intervention by US forces in Iran – prompted in part by stories that Iraqi Shia militias are being armed with advanced weaponry by the Iranian government. Worries over their nuclear facilities are also making headlines, while…

  • Eight essays of dangerous ideas

    A summary of the essays in Foreign Policy: “Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds” noted Albert Einstein. Ideas can be good things, but sometimes, as in Einstein’s case, good ideas can lead to the creation of destructive power. Ideas are benign things, but some ideas once applied can result in serious consequences.…

  • Chavez has claimed victory…what now for Venezuela?

  • Turning a blind eye to nukes: Will Saudi Arabia have nukes next?

    Jonathan Power asks if Saudia Arabia will be the next country to declare it has nuclear weapons, and the ability to deploy them at long range. They bought Chinese CSS-2 rockets back in the 80’s. With elections to be held in Saudi in November, the first since 1932, are we seeing attempts to liberalise the…

  • Is Graham Watson MP a neocon?

    Graham Watson has come down on the side of myself and Reggie Dale, and decided that opening up the arms trade to China again would be a bad idea. He puts it very well: The guiding logic of the ban is ethical: It is a statement of revulsion. The pressure to lift it is commercial,…

  • Oil, Sudan, Darfur, China and genocide

    Kevin Drum points to the cover of the Economist. This has hardly been the UN’s finest moment, and China and supposed-American-ally Pakistan abstained on even the milquetoast resolution that the United States eventually compromised on. But I suppose it’s a start. But I am left wondering why those two countries abstained. CNN reports that Zhang…

  • America needs a China strategy

    More debate on China, this time from Tom Manning, a senior partner with Bain, a global consulting firm, and a long-time resident of Hong Kong. He is worth quoting at length here: In all these matters, the U.S. tendency has been to flip-flop between treating China as friend and foe. Our actions defy coherent categorization.…