Month: December 2009

Phi Beta Iota: We thought we would look at one month's English-language news reporting on the term <stabilization and reconstruction> in relation to top countries of concern to the USA.  Here is what we found.  Our general conclusion: the US is doing all it can in Afghanistan; the Strategic Communication in Iraq is totally hosed, no one knows how to get the word out on all the good things being done as we transition from advise & assist to exit; and we are totally out to lunch on Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.  As is its custom, the US Government is waiting for those three places to explode into a fiery inferno rather than ramping up what General Al Gray, USMC, then Commandant of the Marine Corps, called “peaceful and preventive measures.”

Afghanistan

AFG IJC Op's Update, Dec. 1: Reconstruction in Zabul Province; Casualty Update

Afghanistan and Pakistan: Anatomy of a Proxy War

Afghanistan stabilization may depend on Indo-Pakistani reconciliation

Afghans Assess Roles for NATO, U.N., Regional Actors

Agencies sending more civilians to Afghanistan

Canada must keep up aid after leaving Afghanistan, say locals

Contractors Watching Contractors

‘Germany Is Not Armed for War'

Indo-Pak-Afghan knot: threat to region’s stability?

Korea refutes Taliban statement

Lithuania will continue working towards stability in Afghanistan

Local shuras, jirgas and local community efforts in Afghanistan

Nation-Building in Afghanistan

On Afghanistan, Obama finds friend in India

Predoiu: Romania to increase number of troops in Afghanistan by 100

Provincial reconstruction team builds up Zabul to benefit Afghans, future generations

Remarks at the American Enterprise Institute

The Regional Alternative to Escalation in Afghanistan

Top UN official: Civil effort needs restructuring

Turkey not to send troops to Afghanistan

U.S. asks Gulf states for help in Afghanistan

US envoy says China can help Afghans

When bricks trump bullets

Iraq

Blair adviser: US did not expect to stabilize Iraq

Inherited wars, inherited corruption

Iraq hopes Babylon ruins translate into tourist dollars

Rethinking the American Way of War

U.S. and Iraq become partners in education

U.S. Brigade Makes Steady Reconstruction Progress in Iraq

Somalia

No articles with term “stabilization and reconstruction”

Sudan

Testimony by John Prendergast at the Review of the U.S.-Sudan Policy Hearing

Yemen

UAE to give Yemen Dh2.4b development grant

Al Qaeda Hierarchy in a Pocket? (30 Nov 09)

Ikram Sehgal suggests that Pakistan’s offensive in South Waziristan has cornered Al Qaeda and urges the Pakistani military to capitalize on this opportunity to disrupt the network’s leadership.

U.S. Policymakers Discuss Measures to Reduce Readiness of Nuclear Weapons (30 Nov 09)

On November 18, 2009, H.E. Urs Ziswiler, Swiss Ambassador to the United States, organized a working lunch in partnership with the EastWest Institute to discuss the recommendations of the EWI report “Reframing Nuclear De-alert: Decreasing the Operational Readiness of U.S. and Russian Nuclear Arsenals” with U.S. policymakers.

Climate Terrorists: They Will Come (25 Oct 09)

Three facts are staring us in the face about certain communities around the world: more people in poverty; rising and large numbers of unemployed youth; and an increasing absolute population (increasing the demand for resources). This is a recipe for violent unrest even in ordinary times.

Groundbreaking U.S.-Russia Joint Threat Assessment on Iran (19 May 09)

A confluence of events has presented the Russian Federation and the United States with an unusual opportunity to transform their relationship.

U.S.-Russia Joint Threat Assessment on Iran's nuclear and missile potential

Reactions to the joint threat assessment

The unfortunate reality is that trust is at an exceedingly low level between the elites and publics of both nations. Building that trust requires a leap of faith that they can work together on the most difficult issues.