President Biden delivered a stark warning to global leaders and policymakers on Friday that “democratic progress is under assault” in many parts of the world, including the United States and Europe. “Our partnerships have endured
Showing posts with label Foreign Policy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Foreign Policy. Show all posts
Friday, February 19
Tuesday, February 16
AMERICASThe crux of Biden’s foreign policy: JCPOA or East Asia?
Since President Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20, returning to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal has been quite controversial in various terms. The barriers for Biden’s administration to revive the JCPOA have been discussed extensively.
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Friday, February 5
Biden revokes terrorist designation for Yemen’s Houthis
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Saturday, November 6
Obama in India for Asian tour
"We visit here to send a very clear message that, in our determination to give our people a future of security and prosperity, the United States and India stand united," Obama said at Mumbai's famous Taj Mahal Palace hotel, which came under siege in November 2008.
A few hours later, as the president spoke with business leaders in Mumbai, the White House showcased a list of trade deals negotiated with India that will net both money and jobs for U.S. businesses.
The deals include a $4.1 billion agreement for the Indian air force to purchase 10 C-17 military transport planes from Boeing, which the White House said will support more than 22,000 jobs and is a further example of the expanding American partnership with India.
The attacks two years ago killed 164 people, including more than 30 staff members and guests at the Taj, and Obama's commemoration of them during his first event here underlined the importance that the United States is placing on boosting collaboration with India.
"We'll never forget how the world, including the American people, watched and grieved with all of India," Obama said. "But the resolve and the resilience of the Indian people during those attacks stood in stark contrast to the savagery of the terrorists. The murderers came to kill innocent civilians that day, but those of you here risked everything to save human life."
Obama goes to Mumbai
What's the true cost of Obama's trip?
RELATED TOPICS
Barack Obama
Asia-Pacific Politics
Terrorism
India
Just before the speech, Obama and his wife, Michelle, signed a memorial guestbook for the victims. In his message, Obama wrote about eradicating the "scourge" of terrorism and affirming "our lasting friendship with the Indian people."
The 2008 attacks, blamed on Pakistani-based militants, derailed a fragile peace process between New Delhi and Islamabad.
Under U.S. pressure, the two nuclear-capable states held talks this year in an attempt to resume their fully fledged dialogue, but progress has been slow.
Mumbai is India's financial hub, and talks on business and trade were also a focus of Obama's three days here. Hundreds of American business leaders and chief executives traveled to Mumbai with the president.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and Rajiv Shah, the head of USAID, the government's foreign aid agency, joined Obama for a meeting later with entrepreneurs.
It was the list of trade deals, however, that was likely to make the biggest impact back home in the United States, where there has been concern that much of the job creation for U.S. companies has happened overseas.
Boeing said the C-17 deal with India will support 650 suppliers in U.S. 44 states and support the company's own C-17 production facility in Long Beach, California, for an entire year.
Other deals announced Saturday include a contract for General Electric to profide the Indian Aeronautical Development Agency with 107 F414 engines for the Tejas light-combat aircraft, a deal worth $822 million and supporting 4,440 jobs, the White House said.
Harley-Davidson Motor Company announced it is opening a new plant in India for the assembly of its motorcycles from U.S.-built kits. Besides job creation in both countries, the deal will allow the company to reduce the tariff on its bikes for sale in India, thus driving sales growth for the Wisconsin-based firm.
Boeing also signed a deal to sell 30 of its B737-800 commercial aircraft to SpiceJet, a leading private airline in India. The deal is valued at $2.7 billion and supports nearly 13,000 jobs, the White House said.
Obama's three-day visit to India, Asia's third largest economy and one of the world's few growth markets, also includes meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi and addressing the nation's parliament.
"The simple truth is that India's rise, and its strength and progress on the global stage, is deeply in the strategic interest of the United States," said William Burns, under-secretary at the U.S. State Department, during a briefing on Obama's trip.
Obama's visit can also help balance regional geopolitics in the face of what is now seen as an increasingly assertive China, said Uday Bhaskar, director of the National Maritime Foundation in New Delhi.
The Chinese and Indian prime ministers met in October in a bid to ease growing tensions despite flourishing trade between the two neighbors.
China's support to Pakistan, India's accommodation of the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, and a decades-old border dispute between the two sides are points of friction as the economic powerhouses jockey for influence in the region.
After India, Obama travels to Indonesia, then on to the G-20 meeting in South Korea and APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) in Japan.
(source:cnn.com
Friday, November 5
High-Profile facts Wins Belie Female Numbers In Congress
Outstanding races involving women yet to be decided, but when the final count is tallied, this year's election will probably be the first time in 30 years that the number of women serving in Congress declines.
It started as a banner year for female candidates. More of them ran in party primaries than ever before, especially Republican women, who set a new record. Many of the winners had the backing of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who coined a new nickname for the like-minded conservative moms: Mama Grizzlies.
Some had big victories Tuesday night: Republican Susanna Martinez took the state's top race in New Mexico, making her the first Latina governor in the nation. Republican Nikki Haley not only became South Carolina's first female governor, but the first Indian-American woman to serve as a state's chief executive. The Senate will have a new Republican woman from New Hampshire, Kelly Ayote, and the House will get eight new GOP females, maybe more after all the tallying is done.
Heavy Losses
But Republican women chalked up big losses, too — especially in California where two wealthy businesswomen, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, lost to Democrats. Fiorina said she had no regrets.
"I'm not going to engage in a game of coulda, woulda, shoulda," she said. "I'm proud of every moment of this campaign."
Republican losses paled compared with those suffered by Democrats. Swept up in the conservative wave, Democratic women took big hits. Nine of them were booted in the House and one in the Senate.
Since most women in Congress are Democrats, the party's problem this week became theirs. That means there will be fewer women in Congress for the first time since the 1970s, said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
"This year is the first time that it has gone down, it's gone down a little bit, but going down or staying the same if you care about women's participation in politics," she said.
Women make up a mere 17 percent of Congress.
Walsh says given the Republicans' success this week, it's unfortunate that the GOP didn't have more female candidates running.
'A Corrective Moment'
Marjorie Dannenfelser agrees. She heads the Susan B. Anthony List, a political action committee that supports female candidates who oppose abortion rights.
Dannenfelser says the GOP may be short on women, but that won't last.
"I would describe this 2010 election cycle as a corrective moment for the women's movement, and I foresee women continuing to run in larger and larger numbers, but they are going to be a different type of women," she said. "They are going to look a lot more like Kelly Ayote and less like [U.S. Sen.] Barbara Boxer."
The Republican Party will have to work a lot harder for that to happen, said Kathleen Dolan, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin.
"The Republican Party structure has never been as open or as inclusive to women as have the Democrats, and Republican primary voters are less disposed to vote for women candidates," Dolan said.
(source:npr.org)
Thursday, November 4
Obama comes to the New World
American president flies smack into the throbbing heart of the new New World because Mumbai is India's financial capital and Barack Obama's main business here is commerce. The irony is unmistakable. America was once the New World, having been 'discovered' in the 15th century when Pietro Martire d'Anghiera, an Italian at the Spanish court, first referred to the novi orbis that Columbus found on his voyage. Six centuries on, Barack Obama represents the old New World. Or the new Old World. The future seems to be here in India.
This New World bears an unmistakable likeness to the one it has displaced as young, enterprising and hopeful. Back in the 19th century, French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville noted America's signature characteristics. Five of these might be an accurate description of India 2010. The commonalities mean more than the chance for India to brag about its double-helix DNA bond with America, the superpower. Instead, they illuminate great truths and could crucially help insure against the failures of the brash democratic experiment that was America.
In his 1835 classic, Of Democracy in America, de Tocqueville noted that Americans "combine the notions of faith and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other". If that sounds startlingly familiar it's because the majority of Indians - particularly its 80.5 per cent Hindus - is often heard to say that it is the live-and-let-live values of their faith that make India a tolerant and free country. Of course, this does not factor in the rise of right-wing Hindu nationalism. But nor did de Tocqueville's frank praise for America's "conviction and faith" predict the rise of televangelist Pat Robertson.
Few could have foreseen America's faith in its dominant faith transpose into dangerous excess. No one could have imagined that Fox News cable television and radio host Glenn Beck, who reaches two million people every day, would be seen as the intellectual guide of the idiotically illiberal Tea Party movement even though his hobbyhorse is to warn Americans against the progressives' cunning plot to "separate us from our history to be able to separate us from our Constitution and God". This is how religion is helping unmake America, leaving it vulnerable to what President Kennedy once deplored as the "counsels of fear and suspicion."
On digging "deeper into the national character of the Americans", de Tocqueville observed "that they have sought the value of everything in this world only in the answer to this single question: how much money will it bring in?" Is India, the new New World, in danger of following too closely in its predecessor's footsteps? For, despite oft-repeated claims to a civilisation with deep spiritual roots, India unbound and post-1991 has taken the worship of money and materialism to gross levels of acquisitiveness, greed and corruption.
The third shared signature characteristic is particularly significant in the light of the self-censorship demanded of Arundhati Roy and the calls for her prosecution because she spoke the truth as she saw it. It was the same in the old New World with de Tocqueville describing how "the majority raises formidable barriers around the liberty of opinion; within these barriers an author may write what he pleases, but woe to him if he goes beyond them".
He diagnosed two further problems, which caused America then - and perhaps India today and tomorrow - to "perish miserably amongst the shoals of democracy". The political leader, he lamented, had a "desire to be re-elected...(the president's) personal interest takes the place of his interest in the public good...(this) tends to degrade the political morality of the people and to substitute management and intrigue for patriotism". He found the US House of Representatives, much like today's Lok Sabha, to be "remarkable for its vulgar demeanour and its poverty of talent".
Most telling of all was his observation of the country's statesmen "50 years after America was struggling in the high cause of independence to throw off the yoke of another country and when it was about to usher a new nation into the world". They are "vastly inferior today'', he said, using words that might appear in any commentary in any Indian newspaper 63 years after independence and the passing of Nehru, Patel and other freedom fighters.
The parallels are clear. It is hard to imagine a greater twinning of mindsets - and reality - between two countries separated by half the world, as well as a century and a half.
This matters only if India recognises that its commonalities give it a unique chance to avoid the mistakes of yesterday's New World. When de Tocqueville tried to compute democratic America's extraordinary insistence on equality, he studied income levels and his data is thought consistent with the early stages of a developing country's growth. At the time, it was reliant on agriculture - another parallel with India - but America's egalitarianism of economic and political opportunity gave its people room to build and grow. However, unlike Europe, the old Old World, it never thought to provide community support in a disinterested way - for instance, quality free education for all and universal healthcare. Today, it is no longer the thrusting New World and is left with islands of poverty and ignorance unbecoming of one of the wealthiest countries of the world. This is one parallel India cannot allow to become true as it lives - and re-fashions - the American Dream.
(source:indiatimes.com)
Tuesday, August 10
Brazil – United States relations
The United States was the first country to establish a consulate in Brazil in 1808, following the transfer of the Portuguese royal court to Rio de Janeiro and the subsequent opening of the ports to foreign ships. It was also the first nation to recognize Brazilian independence from Portugal in 1824, two years after its proclamation.
American propaganda film Brazil at War (1943), praising Brazil as "a powerful new ally" and pointing out the similarities between both countries.
However, it was not until after World War II that the United States became Brazil's most important trading partner and foreign investor. During the presidency of Eurico Gaspar Dutra (1946–51), Brazil's foreign policy was aligned closely with that of the United States. Brazil outlawed the PCB (Brazilian Communist Party) in 1947 and broke off relations with the Soviet Union. Getulio Vargas's return to power in 1951 signaled a cooling of relations. Vargas blamed the U.S. for his ouster in 1945 and appealed to Brazilian nationalism, which was growing in many sectors, including the armed forces.
President Juscelino Kubitschek (1956–61) improved relations with the United States, while strengthening relations with Latin America and Europe. His industrial development policy attracted huge direct investments by foreign capital, much from the United States. He proposed an ambitious plan for United States development aid in Latin America, the Pan-American Operation. The outgoing administration of President Dwight Eisenhower found the plan of no interest, but the administration of President John F. Kennedy appropriated funds in 1961 for the Alliance for Progress.
Relations again cooled slightly after President Janio Quadros announced his new independent foreign policy in January 1961. Quadros also made overtures to Cuba and decorated Cuban revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara with Brazil's highest honor. In late 1963, Washington, alarmed that Brazil might become a hostile, nonaligned power like Egypt, reduced foreign aid to Brazil.
Presidents Emílio Médici and Richard Nixon, in December 1971.
In March 31, 1964 a military coup overthrew the government of President João Goulart. The exact role of the United States in that event remains controversial, as the U.S. immediately recognized the new interim government (before Goulart had even fled Brazilian territory); a United States naval task force was anchored close to the port of Vitoria; the United States government made an immediate large loan to the new Castelo Branco government (1964–67); and the new military president adopted a policy of total alignment with the United States. The presidents that followed pursued an independent foreign policy while maintaining friendly relations with the United States.
The Nixon administration remained basically sympathetic to Brazilian hopes for growth and world power status, and considered Brazil to be one of the developing nations most sympathetic to the United States. In 1976, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Minister of Foreign Relations Antonio Azeredo da Silveira signed a memorandum of understanding that the two powers would consult on all issues of mutual concern and would hold semiannual meetings of foreign ministers. Only the major Western allies had such an agreement with the United States.
The Carter administration marked a definite cooling of the Brazilian–American relations. The confrontation involved two very sensitive issues – human rights and nuclear proliferation. In 1967 Brazil had signed a contract with Westinghouse to build a 626-megawatt nuclear power plant at Angra dos Reis to be complete in 1977. However the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission renounced its guarantee of delivery of enriched uranium, and prohibited Westinghouse from constructing enrichment and reprocessing plants in Brazil.
Brazil, desiring independent control of the full cycle from ore to kilowatts, signed a broad nuclear agreement with West Germany in June 1975. It involved furnishing technology and equipment for eight nuclear power plants, plus enrichment and reprocessing facilities. Despite safeguard provisions, some thought this agreement opened the door for Brazil to construct nuclear weapons, if desired. The Ford administration reacted mildly to the agreement, but from his first day in office, President Carter sought to prevent its implementation. In 1975 Brazil renounced the United States – Brazil Military Assistance Agreement, which had been in effect since 1952, in a clear response to the position of the Carter administration. Formal relations between the two armed forces have still not been reestablished.
In the early 1980s, tension in the American-Brazilian relations centered on economic questions. Retaliation for unfair trade practices loomed on the horizon and threatened Brazilian exports of steel, orange juice, commuter aircraft, shoes and textiles. When President Sarney took office in 1985, political issues, such as Brazil's arms exports to Libya and Iran, again surfaced. Brazil's foreign debt moratorium and its refusal to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty caused the United States to put Brazil on its mandated blacklist, thereby restricting Brazil's access to certain U.S. technologies.
On taking office in March, 1990 President Collor sought a quick reapproachment with the United States in order to begin an aggressive policy of inserting Brazil into the world economy and placing it at the negotiating table of world powers. The Franco administration maintained an independent stance and reacted coolly to proposals by the Clinton administration for a Latin American free-trade zone.
Relations with the Cardoso government in (1995–2003) were good. Cardoso made a very successful trip to Washington and New York in 1995 and the Clinton administration was very enthusiastic regarding the passage of constitutional amendments that opened the Brazilian economy to increasing international participation.
Presidents Lula and Bush in Brasília, Nov 6 2005
The Bush administration came to view Brazil as a strong partner whose cooperation must be sought in order to solve regional and global problems. Issues of concern to both Brazil and the United States included counter-narcotics and terrorism, energy security, trade, environmental issues, human rights and HIV/AIDS.
The bilateral relations were considered fairly close, despite the differing political approaches of President Lula and President Bush on some issues. On June 20, 2003, President Lula made an official visit to the United States, and he and President Bush resolved "to create a closer and qualitatively stronger [bilateral] relationship." On November 6, 2005, President Bush visited Brasilia and the two leaders reaffirmed the good relations between the countries and pledged to work together to advance peace, democracy, and a successful conclusion of the Doha round of global trade talks. President Bush thanked Brazil for exercising leadership in the world and in the hemisphere, including Brazil's role in the peacekeeping force in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and worldwide efforts to control HIV/AIDS.
Brazilian and American officials signed an agreement to promote greater ethanol production and use throughout the world. The agreement was reached after President Bush's visit to Brazil on March 9, 2007 and by a visit from President Lula to Camp David on March 31, 2007.
Current issues
Presidents Lula and Obama in Washington, March 14 2009
During their first meeting in Washington on March 14, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva discussed the economy, energy, the environment, and the custody case of a US boy taken to Brazil. "I have been a great admirer of Brazil and a great admirer of the progressive, forward-looking leadership that President Lula has shown throughout Latin America and throughout the world," Obama said after the meeting. "We have a very strong friendship between the two countries but we can always make it stronger," he added.
The issue of the abduction of children from the US to Brazil has been raised by US President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the United States House of Representatives and other US officials and major media. As of December 2009, there are 66 American children that have been taken by one of their parents to live in Brazil. While Brazil should have returned every child to the US, under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, it has not. Under the treaty, one parent cannot flee the legal jurisdiction where the child resides – "his habitual residence" – to shop for a more favorable court venue in another country to contest for custody.
Brazil has recently voiced its discontent over the U.S. position of recognizing the results of Honduran presidential election. The Brazilian position has been to not accept the election in Honduras.
Diplomatic missions
Of United States
Brasília (Embassy)
Rio de Janeiro (Consulate General)
São Paulo (Consulate General)
Recife (Consulate)
Belém (Consular Agency)
Fortaleza (Consular Agency)
Manaus (Consular Agency)
Porto Alegre (Consular Agency)
Salvador (Consular Agency)
Of Brazil
Washington, D.C. (Embassy)
Los Angeles (Consulate-General)
Boston (Consulate-General)
Chicago (Consulate-General)
Hartford (Consulate-General)
Houston (Consulate-General)
Miami (Consulate-General)
New York City (Consulate-General)
San Francisco (Consulate-General)
Atlanta (Consulate)
(source:wikipedia)
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