Russia: Strategic Interests

With the recent declaration of independence of Kosovo, Russia still seems to have its own tensions at a high level. The government has changed its focus to that of Georgian interests, namely Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Both are break away regions of Georgia and Russian has expressed many times an interest in gaining their territory. Here's an excerpt from an article:

Ex-Soviet Georgia urged the international community on Thursday to take steps to prevent Russia's "de facto annexation" of its rebel regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia."The Russian Federation has made yet another extremely dangerous step towards the de facto annexation of integral parts of Georgia's internationally recognised territory," Georgia's foreign ministry said in a statement. The statement appealed to the United Nations, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, NATO, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the "entire international community" to "use all means at their disposal to stop this process of violation of Georgia's state integrity launched by Russia."

The move by Russia is significant because it may lead to a slow shift in power within the region. By slowly regaining strategic pieces of territory Russia would also gain all the economic benefits that go with them. Looking at this politically there is going to most likely be a continuing clash between western ideals and that of Russia's. I think this will most likely be a long term problem that may lead into a crisis down the road. For now Georgia is working with the international community, which is a good idea, to try and curve Russia's interest. Eventually though in the future Georgia will need to gain the help of bigger international actors if it wishes to buck heads with a re-emerging power.

Pakistan: Terrorism

An article highlights a recent terrorist act:

Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan, who was abducted in Pakistan two months ago, has appeared on a video that was shown on Pakistani television on Saturday saying he was being held by Pakistani Taliban militants and calling on his government to meet their demands. The ambassador, Tariq Azizuddin, was shown in the video sitting in a rugged mountain setting beside his driver and his personal guard, both of whom had been abducted with him. Three masked gunmen stood behind them. Mr. Azizuddin called on Pakistan’s foreign secretary, two friends who are Pakistan’s ambassadors to Iran and China, and his brother, Tahir Azizuddin, to do all they could to meet the demands of the Taliban.

I think this development is pretty interesting when looking into Pakistan's security. The capture of this individual illustrates a significant weakness in internal security protocol. This capture is a large setback for the Pakistani government. What will be important to watch now is exactly how the government will deal with the terrorist demands. With a much more key figure in the terrorist's possession the government may be forced to concede in some manner. It is unfortunate that the individual was captured however this may lead to a much needed security boost in Pakistan. Several terrorist groups seem to be able to operate efficiently and find easy ways to bomb various targets in the region. This may be a key signal to the Pakistani government that some type of hard action must be taken to finally quell the ever expanding reach of various terrorist cells.

Kofi Annan: Calling for Prosecution

Kofi Annan helped to work a deal with the Kenyan government as it fell into disarray earlier this year. An article covers the situation:

Kenyan authorities should prosecute militias implicated in the country's devastating postelection violence, but also address any "genuine grievances" they may have, former U.N. leader Kofi Annan said Saturday. Annan, speaking in an interview with The Associated Press, also said he was confident the power-sharing deal he brokered between President Mwai Kibaki and new Prime Minister Raila Odinga would hold. The deal includes a commitment to disband and demobilize Kenya's militias, many of which were blamed for the weeks of violence following December's disputed elections.

I think Mr. Annan is completely right for calling out these various militias that cause significant problems to the internal security of Kenya. These groups do need to be rounded up so the civilian workforce can return to normalcy. I think Kenya faces a large internal security situation in regards to the armed groups that run rampant through the territory. Kofi Annan makes a point that this government will hopefully listen to. Without controlling the groups that cause significant problems to the infrastructure of Kenya the country will never be able to handle an internal security problem and will once again need help from the international community when a crisis develops.

Hamas: Peace talks

Very recently former President Jimmy Carter went to meet with various Hamas leaders. His idea was to try to create peace talks between Hamas and Israel. Hamas has been declared by many countries as a terrorist organization and has orchestrated many attacks within Israel. An article discusses his visit:

"Defying U.S. and Israeli warnings, former President Carter met again on Saturday with the exiled leader of the militant Hamas group and his deputy. The two Palestinians are considered terrorists by the U.S. government and Israel
accuses them of masterminding attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians. Both governments have sharply criticized Carter's overtures to the militant group.Carter met Mashaal and his deputy, Moussa Abu Marzouk, for about an hour Saturday morning, after more than four hours of talks the night before.Carter, on what he has called a personal peace mission, is the most prominent American to hold talks with Mashaal, whose group claimed new legitimacy from the meetings with the Nobel laureate."

While Carter may contribute to the overall peace efforts to ease tensions between Israel and Hamas, I don't think his visit caused any positive results. With his presence with Hamas leaders we do see that he is trying to garner some kind of peace between them. However I think he is more than anything making himself a significant security risk. If Hamas was able to threaten Carter in any way that could work to heavily undermine his whole visit. I think the situation is most likely under control but I think the trip was unnecessary and worked more towards media attention rather than finding actually peace. While his trip was abmirable, the leaders of Israel and Hamas need to work together rather than through ex-presidents of other countries.

Zimbabwe: Crisis Looms

Recently elections that occured in Zimbabwe have turned out to be the cause for a possible crisis. An article highlights the situation:

"Zimbabwe’s election officials, at the government’s behest, began a partial recount on Saturday of disputed election results, while a human rights group accused members of the ruling party of running “torture camps” to punish opposition supporters."

While the international community has been watching this situation for quite sometime tensions are now actually beginning to cause violence on a wider scale. The article also highlights some history of the president that had run the country for two decades.

"Zimbabwe has been swallowed by fear and uncertainty since the election. The leading opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, appeared to get
the better of Robert Mugabe, 84, the liberation hero who has ruled this country since independence in 1980. Mr. Mugabe has presided over the collapse of the economy, which is racked by corruption, shortages and a yearly inflation rate of more than 150,000 percent."

With a change in leadership we can see how this is causing such a significant stir in the populace. While a change may be needed I think this change may lead to further violence within the populace and may spread to other surrounding nations. We can see some heightened tensions pointed out by the article:

"Also on Saturday, a cabinet minister in Mozambique said a Chinese ship carrying arms to Zimbabwe was heading to Angola in hopes of docking there after being turned way from South Africa, according to Reuters. The ship left South African waters on riday after a court refused to allow the weapons to be transported across the country; an Anglican archbishop had appealed to the court to bar the arms shipment for fear the weapons would be used against Zimbabweans."

The best way to help the situation is to allow some international actors to work with the Zimbabwe government. This situation may potentially lead to worse problems for the people of Zimbabwe as they continue to struggle with internal issues.

Russia: Putin's Chess Match

For quite some time the world has been interested in what President Putin of Russia will do to continue a grasp of power within Russia. Several theories have been construed mostly linking Mr. Putin to hold some control of politics behind the curtain. Recently the president announced he would accept a political position and as many thought, the position of course may lead to the control of many internal moves for the country. An article highlights the situation:

"Putin agreed Tuesday to lead United Russia after a party congress elected him as its chairman, three weeks before he hands over the presidency to his successor, Dmitry Medvedev. As leader of United Russia, which controls the State Duma (the lower house of parliament), Putin will be able to determine the main parameters of Russia's development, said Martin Shakkum, chairman of the Committee on Construction and Land Relations in the State Duma. With his new role, Putin "becomes de jure national leader of the country," he said. Yevgeny Fedorov, chairman of the Committee on Economic Policy and Business Activities in the State Duma, said Putin's party leadership will ensure the stability of Russia's political system and the enforcement of the country's strategic national plans. "

Through his most recent move by Putin we see can see how the political leader will be able to continue and implement various political moves throughout Russia and have the ability to construe relations with other state actors. Another article significantly highlights the critical parts of his new role:

"Putin is planning on moving into the position of Russian prime minister May 8, the day after he leaves the presidency. As head of the party that controls the majority of parliament...Putin will keep his hold over the government and its many functions. It also will allow Putin to keep Medvedev in check, since legally parliament can override any presidential decision with a two-thirds majority, the same number of seats United Russia holds."

Also recently news broke internationally about energy deals that Mr. Putin is trying to secure with the country Libya. Here is an excerpt from an article:

"Russian President Vladimir Putin begins a 24-hour visit to Tripoli Wednesday for high-priority talks with Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi on energy contracts and arms sales. Moscow intends to make Tripoli its 'strategic ally' in North Africa...Moscow seeks a future stake in Libya's highly promising oil sector and aims to revive lucrative Soviet-era arms sales."

The interesting aspect of this is that Putin is obviously setting up ties with international actors which may contribute to helping his positions later down the road. While making new deals with leaders he garners further support in the future. I don't think anyone is surprised in the position Putin has taken but we can now see how this will effect international relations abroad. Opinions and decisions by the new president will most likely have a heavy influence from Putin. The world can expect to see movement by the new president to be in reflection of how Putin smartly moves his political pieces.

Afghanistan: France steps up to the plate

France has declared that they will send several hundred troops to Afghanistan to support various missions. The Taliban have voiced their objection to the deployment of course claiming the French have broken a deal. An article covers the situation:

"The Taliban's leadership council has accused French President Nicolas Sarkozy of breaking a campaign promise by pledging this week to send 700 more French troops to Afghanistan.In a statement Saturday, the Taliban said it freed two kidnapped French nationals based on Mr. Sarkozy's earlier promise to withdraw French troops from Afghanistan."

First off I wonder of course why France would be listening to the Taliban when they are in fact the enemy. The international community cannot step down when we face an enemy like this. There are always going to be prisoners of war and that is a difficult aspect of life but if we can't work together as a international team what do we hope to accomplish. I think this has been a good development by the French to put themselves back into the fight. The world needs to learn to work as a global team and finish the battles that they become involved in. Terrorism is in a fact something the world must work to defeat and the international community has recognized that Afghanistan is a critical location that must be dealt with. I think the global community should learn from these wars so that in the future we can work as a fully integrated international group. It's time that the world began to look at the community they live in and belong to.