Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
81 to 90 of about 245
The signing of the New START in April 2010 was a major step forward in building a legally binding, verifiable strategic arms reduction framework, but more action is necessary to overcome persistent mutual mistrust and bureaucratic obstacles hampering further force reductions.
While Russia’s short-term economy will largely depend on oil prices and the country’s demographic challenges, its medium-to-long-term outlook will be influenced by the lessons that leaders take from the crisis, which will affect Russia’s economic structure and policies for many years to come.
While the United States and China—the world’s two largest economies—are becoming increasingly interdependent, there is a growing risk of misunderstanding or even clashes. The two powers need a dialogue to provide strategic vision to their relationship.
China’s commitment to provide Pakistan with two additional civilian nuclear reactors has created great unease in the international nonproliferation community. While some compare this assurance to the U.S.- India nuclear cooperation agreement, the differences between the two are significant.
Pakistan’s police force has historically been constrained by the military and intelligence agencies and often politicized as an instrument of repression. Reforming civilian security forces will diminish Islamabad’s dependence on the military and increase the legitimacy of the regime.
The central bank of China has cautiously begun to tighten monetary policy in response to a massive residential property bubble, demonstrating Beijing’s belief that it has both the policy tools and the political will to control the bubble and avoid a burst.
Developing countries already play a substantial role in world trade, and their significance is only expected to rise. As they diversify and grow as export markets, emerging economies will come to dominate international trade.
The world’s economic balance of power is shifting, as emerging countries rapidly overtake traditional Western powers as the predominant world economies. The recent global recession has only accelerated this trend.
President Obama should assess whether any other leaders of major countries are seriously prepared to pursue a nuclear-weapon-free world. If some are, he should invite them to join him in detailing a ten-year action plan to minimize the dangers posed by fissile materials and maximize the potential of peaceful nuclear energy.
Recent arrests of high-profile Afghan Taliban leadership by Pakistan do not indicate a strategic change in Pakistan’s counterterrorism strategy.