A president’s second term is usually regarded as the one in which he has the potential to reinvent the world. On 13 June, a panel chaired by author and journalist Michael Goldfarb explored the foreign policy legacy of the Obama administration.
Michael Goldfarb, Kim Ghattas and Nick Schifrin.
Kim Ghattas, BBC State Department correspondent and author of The Secretary: A Journey with Hillary Clinton from Beirut to the Heart of American Power, opened the discussion by asking:
“How much power does the US really have to implement its decisions? There is still this image out there of an omnipotent superpower. ( . . . ) People often ask ‘Why doesn’t the US just intervene and end the conflict in Syria?’”
On Syria, Professor Michael Cox, founding co-director of LSE IDEAS and Professor of International Relations at LSE, said:
“I think the US strategy on Syria is entirely right. The idea of the US getting involved in another war without an end in sight, against whom and for what we don’t know, strikes me as the craziest thing the US could do.”
Nick Schifrin, foreign correspondent for ABC News, drew the attention to Obama’s speech on drones and Guantanamo on 23 May this year, at the National Defense University.
“He [Barack Obama] said ‘All wars must end,’ it seemed an attempt to define that legacy and say ‘We’re going to move beyond the post-9/11 world.”
Nick Schifrin, Professor Michael Cox and Dana Allin.
Ghattas remembered Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s reaction to the uprising in Libya: “Once the Arab league and the Golf Corporation Council had called for a No-Fly-Zone, Clinton was already convinced that something had to be done.”
Schifrin, who was reporting from Benghazi during this week, added:
“From the ground it was very simple: If the No-Fly-Zone hadn’t passed by the weekend, tens of thousands of people would have died. ( . . . ) There were a lot of mercenaries behind the other planes who would have been happy to flatten Benghazi.”
Dana Allin, Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy and Transatlantic Affairs and Editor of Survival: Global Politics and Strategy at The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), brought the Israel-Palestine peace process into the foreign policy evaluation:
“Focusing on the settlements clearly failed when [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu said ‘No’ [to build 3,000 new homes in the West Bank and Jerusalem for Palestinians] and Obama didn’t have a Plan B. This was the largest foreign policy defeat of the president. ( . . . ) Sometimes Obama seems overwhelmed by the power of his own eloquence.”
Obama has detoxified (not ended) the war on terror by officially repudiating #torture @frontlineclub
— Elisa Peter (@ElisaPeter) June 13, 2013
The panel identified that Afghanistan has become Obama’s war. Professor Cox explained:
“He detoxified the war on terror but continued it and increased the number of troops and drones in Afghanistan. ( . . . ) We get to the point where we can’t blame George W. Bush for everything anymore.”
A member of the audience is contributing to the debate.
The debate was then opened to the public. One member of the audience asked: “He’s pouring more and more money in Afghanistan, but the country seems to be a drain that absorbs troops and money. Pakistan is an unreliable ally, to say the least. What could he [Obama] have done differently?” Schifrin mentioned failed American attempts to support and strengthen Pakistan.
“For every Dollar he spent in Pakistan, he spent 30 in Afghanistan. ( . . . ) But people need to see more than ‘more troops and drones.’ They tried to open an American hospital in Islamabad but that wasn’t successful. Overall, there would have to be more effort.”
Moving on to the unpredictable and time-consuming problems with Assad in Syria, Ghattas concluded:
“The problem with US policy is that it’s often based on hope. And it doesn’t work like that in the Middle East.”
Watch and listen to the event here:
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A round up of world news in the week ahead from journalist resource ForesightNews.
Monday 28 January
The case against former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who stands accused of paying for sex with the then 17-year-old call girl Karima el Mahroug (aka Ruby) continues Monday with a hearing in Milan at which Mahroug’s mother is expected to testify. Last week, further hearings were scheduled for March, meaning the case will now not conclude before general elections scheduled for 24-25 February.
In Moscow, meanwhile, a hearing is due to take place in the case against whistleblowing lawyer Sergey Magnitsky for tax evasion. This despite the fact that Magnitsky died whilst incarcerated in November 2009. He had previously testified against a Russian Interior Ministry official while exposing an alleged $230m fraud. His name was subsequently attached to a bill in the US limiting the activities of those thought to be linked to his plight, which in turn led to Russian President Vladimir Putin signing a bill restricting US adoptions of Russian children.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, with plenty on his plate given the French intervention in Mali, will host a conference on Syria in Paris on Monday. Representatives from the Syrian National Council will be in attendance.
Finally, in neighbouring Spain, an IMF team is due to arrive for a week-long visit in advance of a second monitoring report of reforms to the country’s banking sector.
Tuesday 29 January
On Tuesday, Joint United Nations-Arab League Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi is due to brief the UN Security Council in New York on his efforts to bring the conflict in Syria to an end. It follows a January 11 Triple B meeting (with US Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov) in Geneva that failed to make any substantive breakthrough.
Despite large protests in Paris against a proposed same-sex marriage bill on 13 January, the country’s National Assembly on Tuesday will take up the controversial bill. Discussions on the bill are scheduled to last until at least 10 February.
In Geneva, Israel’s human rights record is due to be scrutinised by the UN Human Rights Council. Israel has repeatedly accused the body of bias and is likely to boycott the process. The report – known as the Universal Periodic Review, is scheduled to be adopted on Thursday.
Finally on Tuesday, a donors’ conference for Mali will take place at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Wednesday 30 January
A further donors’ conference, this time for victims of the Syrian conflict, will take place on Wednesday in Kuwait. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who will attend the conference, has said he hopes to raise $1.5bn.
Spain, meanwhile, will release its GDP data for the fourth quarter of 2012. It follows unemployment data released last week that showed the overall rate of unemployment has risen to 26%. Youth unemployment, staggeringly, rose to just a shade under 60%.
Finally, in the United States, the Senate Judiciary Committee is due to hold the first of a series of hearings on gun violence in America following the Newtown massacre. This follows yet another combative diatribe from the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre last week, in which he described proposed curbs on automatic rifles and high capacity magazines as an assault on ‘God-given freedoms’, adding, ‘They belong to us as our birthright. No government ever gave them to us and no government can ever take them away.’
Thursday 31 January
On Thursday, Human Rights Watch is scheduled to release its annual World Report – this, as noted, on the same day the UN Human Rights Council report on Israel is due to be adopted.
Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Brussels for their first meeting since British Prime Minister David Cameron promised to hold an in-out referendum on Britain’s membership.
In the US, former Nebraska Republican Senator Chuck Hagel is scheduled to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee in what is expected to be a tense hearing to consider his nomination to replace Leon Panetta as US Secretary of Defense. Hagel’s previous comments on Israel and Iran in particular are likely to be questioned. He will also be asked about operations in Africa, particularly the campaign in Mali. Depending on whether North Korea follows through with its threat to test another nuclear device, this may also feature heavily.
Finally, outgoing US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to deliver what may be her final big speech before stepping down from the post at the Council on Foreign Relations in DC. As with the Hagel nomination, Syria, Mali, Algeria, and North Korea will all likely feature.
Friday 1 February
On Friday, the IMF will at last take up the issue of the serious concerns raised over Argentina’s official inflation and growth data. Specifically, the Fund’s Executive Board is scheduled to consider a report submitted on 17 December by Managing Director Christine Lagarde on the progress made by Argentina in addressing these concerns. Lagarde has warned of ‘additional measures’ from the Fund should Argentina fail the test.
Key figures from the world of international security and diplomacy will convene for the prestigious Munich Security Conference from Friday. As usual, exactly who will be in attendance remains under wraps but if previous years are anything to go by, expect some seriously big-hitters to turn up.
Finally, highly-anticipated monthly unemployment data in the US will be released Friday.
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A round up of world news in the week ahead from journalist resource ForesightNews.
Monday 21 January
Barack Obama delivers his second inaugural address on Monday, the climax of a day of festivities in the US capital following his re-election in November. The need for further action to stem gun violence is all but certain to feature, as well as the ongoing economic challenges facing the United States.
In Brussels, meanwhile, eurozone finance ministers are scheduled to meet, with current president of the grouping Jean Claude-Juncker expected to pass leadership to the Dutch Finance Minister, Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
Finally, India’s Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling in the controversial Niyamgiri bauxite mine case. The bauxite extracted would be used in an aluminium refinery run by mining conglomerate Vedanta Resources but critics say it will cause untold damage to the Niyamgiri Hills, which are in Orissa state.
Tuesday 22 January
Israeli’s go to the polls in parliamentary elections in which Prime Minister Binyamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu and his Likud party is all but certain to secure enough seats in the Knesset to retain power. The campaign has been notable for the rise of Naftali Bennett and his hard-right Jewish Home party.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s François Hollande will lead celebrations of the 50th Anniversary of the Elysée Treaty. A joint cabinet meeting of the two countries will be held, as well as a joint session of France’s National Assembly and the Bundestag. Expect much focus on the future of the European project.
Japan’s Central Bank, which is under pressure from Shinzo Abe’s government, concludes a two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday. Observers anticipate an easing of policy and possibly a doubling of the inflation target to 2%.
Finally, Tuesday marks the 40th anniversary of one of the US Supreme Court’s most well-known, and controversial, decisions: Roe v Wade.
Wednesday 23 January
Some of the world’s most influential business figures will gather in Davos from Wednesday at the World Economic Forum. While health is formally the major theme of this year’s gathering, the US economic outlook and the future of the euro will no doubt be major topics of conversation among the attendees.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is due to address domestic and foreign journalists. Again, although ostensibly a reflection on Russian diplomacy in 2012, questions are more likely to focus on future affairs, especially in as regards the Syria conflict.
In the United States, outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to address the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees on the September attack on the US consulate in Benghazi in Libya, delayed from December. This will almost certainly be her final testimony before she leaves the post (her nominated successor, Senator John Kerry, is due to have his confirmation hearing on Thursday).
Lastly, Jordan holds elections which the country’s Muslim Brotherhood has vowed to boycott.
Thursday 24 January
As mentioned above, Senator John Kerry will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on his nomination to be US Secretary of State. He will be questioned on the full gambit of US foreign policy priorities, particularly Israel, Iran and Syria. North Africa also expected to be a significant area of questioning.
Also in US affairs, Senator Dianne Feinstein, author of a ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004, will introduce legislation to once more ban the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
In Addis Ababa, African Union Foreign Ministers are due to begin a two-day meeting, with the current conflict in Mali likely to be a key point of discussion, in addition to events in the DR Congo, relations between Sudan and South Sudan (a special meeting on this is scheduled for Friday), as well as unrest in the Central African Republic.
Finally, in Strasbourg, the European Court of Human Rights holds its annual briefing for the media.
Friday 25 January
The Czech Republic holds a run-off in its presidential election, with Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg squaring up against former Prime Minister Milos Zeman.
Egypt, meanwhile, marks two years since the protests began that ultimately led to the downfall of Hosni Mubarak.
Also, US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is scheduled to step down. His designated successor, Jacob Lew, has yet to be confirmed. Lew’s unusual signature has attracted much attention.
Saturday 26 January
The top US diplomat on North Korea, Glyn Davies, arrives in Tokyo for talks with counterparts. This is the final destination on a trip that also sees him travel to Seoul and Beijing to discuss the secretive communist state. His visit comes amid reports the DPRK is planning to test another nuclear device.
Saturday is also Australia Day and Republic Day in India.
Sunday 27 January
Leaders from the African Union begin their two-day summit. Again, Mali, the Sudans, DR Congo, Somalia and Algeria all likely to be discussed.
Finally, Bulgarians are due to take part in the country’s first referendum since 1989. The issue at stake: whether to approve the construction of a new nuclear power plant.
Images courtesy of
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A round up of world news in the week ahead from journalist resource ForesightNews.
Monday 14 January
Five men charged with the gang rape and murder last month of a 23-year-old medical student on a bus in New Delhi are due back in court on Monday, following a 10 January hearing. The horrific case has provoked unprecedented protests in India, where rape victims are frequently blamed for attacks.
Meanwhile, a law lifting restrictions stopping all but a few favoured Cubans from leaving the island takes effect. For many Cubans, the termination of the so-called exit visa, which was announced last October, is one of the most significant relaxations to be announced by President Raul Castro. Commentators speculate that Castro hopes that the measure will lead to the injection of much-needed capital to the Communist state from Cubans travelling abroad.
Finally, outgoing US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will kick off a four-nation European visit with a stop in Portugal. The week-long tour will see Panetta meet counterparts in Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom.
Tuesday 15 January
US Vice President Joe Biden has said he will present his highly-anticipated proposals on gun law reform in the wake of the Newtown massacre by Tuesday.
Four highly-anticipated rulings from the European Court of Human Rights will be handed down on Tuesday in cases relating to the rights of Christians in the UK. The cases concern a registrar who refused to conduct same-sex civil partnerships, a relationship counsellor who was dismissed after expressing concerns over his ability to provide advice to same-sex couples, and a British Airways employee who was not permitted to wear a visible crucifix necklace, and a nurse who was also barred from wearing a crucifix necklace.
The Philippines Supreme Court is due to hear arguments in challenges brought against a controversial new law regulating online activity, which came into effect last October but was subsequently suspended. Critics of The Cybercrime Prevention Act 0f 2012 argue that the law is unconstitutional and threatens freedom of expression. A further hearing is due 22 January.
Finally, Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar will chair an open debate at the UN Security Council in New York on a comprehensive approach to counter-terrorism’. The debate is expected to be one of the highlights of Pakistan’s presidency of the SC this month.
Wednesday 16 January
On Wednesday, a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency is due to hold talks in Tehran over Iran’s nuclear programme. The IAEA has long wanted to visit the Parchin facility, however this is not seen as likely this time around. The US has threatened to take action at the UN Security Council unless Iran shows ‘substantive cooperation’ with the IAEA by March.
Top US diplomat for Asia Kurt Campbell will arrive in Tokyo for talks with Japanese counterparts, following a visit on Tuesday to South Korea. The visit comes amid heightened regional tension, particularly between old foes Japan and China. He is joined on this trip by his counterparts from the Department of Defense and the National Security Council, an indication of the seriousness with which the Obama administration is treating the situation.
The IMF’s Executive Board, finally, is due to meet to review its loans to Greece and the country’s progress towards tackling its enormous economic challenges.
Thursday 17 January
Sticking with the IMF, on Thursday Managing Director Christine Lagarde will address media from the DC headquarters of the Fund, discussing her views on economic policy priorities for the year ahead. The latest self-made crisis facing the US economy, namely the brinkmanship over whether to raise the debt ceiling, is likely to feature in her remarks.
In Brussels, EU High Representative Catherine Ashton will host the latest round of EU-mediated talks between Serbia and Kosovo. Although Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic will be in attendance, the agenda for talks does not include the status of Kosovo, which Belgrade refuses to recognise.
Finally, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will be addressing an event organised by The Spectator. He may well be asked about the current conflict in Syria.
Friday 18 January
New Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will be in Washington on Friday to meet Hillary Clinton for the first time since Shinzo Abe and the LDP swept to power in December elections. The worrying escalation of tensions between Japan and China over the Senkaku/Diaoyu island chain is likely to be top of the agenda – it will be interesting to see whether Clinton sticks with the US policy of referring to the islands publicly as the Senkakus, thereby further irking Beijing.
As it happens, China will be releasing its GDP data for the final quarter of 2012 on Friday. Economists will be watching the data closely, since there is little growth elsewhere.
Saturday 19 January
The festivities surrounding Barack Obama’s second inauguration will kick off Saturday with a National Day of Service, where Americans are encouraged to engage in community service projects, a tradition started by the President in 2009. Defenders of Second Amendment rights are organising a ‘Gun Appreciation Day’ to coincide with the perceived onslaught on their right to bear arms. Their slogan is ‘Hands off our Guns’.
Sunday 20 January
A cease fire announced by leftist Colombian rebels on 19 November will expire today, unless it is extended. The extent to which progress is being made in talks between the FARC and Colombian government is unclear, but President Juan Manuel Santos has said a deal must be made by November.
Ahead of the national poll in September, elections will take place in the German state of Lower Saxony on Sunday. Half-Scottish Governor David McAllister, who represents Angela Merkel’s CDU, is seeking re-election in a vote being seen as a litmus test ahead of the September vote.
Finally, Barack Obama will be sworn-in as President by Chief Justice John Robert in a private ceremony ahead of the public inauguration ceremonies taking place Monday.
Images courtesy of spirit of america / Shutterstock.com
]]>By Nicole Hunt
UN-Arab League Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan is back in Moscow on Monday for a meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Despite a Russian-backed agreement signed in Geneva at the end of June, international action on Syria has been slow-moving ever since, despite the US and the UK taking a strong stance against Syria and China just a week later at the Friends of Syria meeting. Annan’s meeting with Lavrov comes on the heels of a reported massacre in Treimsa on 12 July, in which at least 200 Syrians were killed.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton begins a two-day trip to Israel, where she’ll discuss the Middle East peace process with Israeli and Palestinian officials. The visit is Clinton’s first in two years, and comes ahead of a trip by Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney next week; in addition to the diplomatic meetings, Clinton will surely be hoping to shore up some support for the Democrats from wealthy ex-pat Americans in Israel.
Monday also marks the 70th anniversary of the Vel d’Hiv roundup, which saw over 13,000 of France’s Jews deported to Germany, where most ended up at Auschwitz. Paris is marking the anniversary with a Day of Commemoration and the release and exhibition of meticulously kept records related to the roundup. The documents had previously been kept secret to hide the extent of the collaboration between French police and the Germans under the Vichy regime during World War II.
Abd al Rahim Hussayn Muhammad al Nashiri, the Guantanamo Bay detainee charged with the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, appears for a three-day motions hearing on Tuesday. Fifteen motions due to be heard, including one requesting that Judge James Pohl recuses himself or is disqualified from the case, one to dismiss the charges, and one requesting that the proceedings are broadcast via traditional media, rather than the military’s current closed circuit system.
Former US President George W. Bush is a contributor to a new book published Tuesday called The 4% Solution: Unleashing the Economic Growth America Needs. The idea of Bush Jr. sharing his thoughts on economic growth has raised some eyebrows among those who remember that the economy wasn’t exactly the strongpoint of his presidency.
The UN Security Council is due to adopt a resolution on the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) in New York on Wednesday, two days before the mission’s three-month mandate expires. Given that the mission has been suspended since 16 June, and in the wake of ongoing violence and the Houla and Treimsa massacres, any renewal is likely to be dependent on a change in the form the mission takes or tougher sanctions on the Syrian regime.
Indians go to the polls on Thursday to elect their president for a five-year term. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee resigned from his post last month in order to run for the UPA party, and now looks likely to win. Mukherjee has been campaigning hard to convince the electorate to follow tradition and vote for whichever candidate their party leaders back, and indeed to make sure he’s the one smaller parties are throwing their support behind.
The month-long Muslim festival of Ramadan is likely to officially start on Friday, though Muslims will begin to observe it from sundown on Thursday. The exact date for the festival’s beginning is still a bit up in the air, as the beginning of the lunar month is dependent on the sighting of the new moon.
Apple’s iPad goes on sale in China on Friday, the launch having been delayed due to a naming dispute with Chinese firm Proview. China is Apple’s second-strongest market (after its home ground in the US), but while the release of the iPhone 4s last year caused havoc, Chinese analysts are predicting the new iPad won’t fare as well, as cheaper, ‘gray market’ versions have been available from Hong Kong for months.
Francesco Schettino, the skipper of the Costa Concordia who has been nicknamed ‘Captain Coward’ after he allegedly fled the ship as it went down in January, is scheduled to be back in front of the court in Grosseto, Italy on Saturday. The court is expected to be presented with the results of the analysis of data from the ship’s Voyage Data Recorders (or ‘black boxes’). Schettino has recently appeared in several TV interviews, most recently apologising for the disaster and admitting to being ‘distracted’ at the time.
The 19th biennial International AIDS Conference kicks off in Washington on Sunday. Bill Clinton, Elton John, Bill Gates, Whoopi Goldberg and Aung San Suu Kyi (via videolink) are among those attending to discus
s the major challenges facing the global response to AIDS and to preview new scientific research. Norway marks the first anniversary of the 22 July attacks, which saw 77 people killed in a bombing in Oslo and a mass shooting at a Labour Party youth camp on the island of Utoya. Right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik , who has admitted carrying out the attacks but claimed they were justified, recently stood trial for the killings; the verdict in his case is expected on 24 August.
]]>By Nicole Hunt
Two persistently-delayed court hearings are scheduled to take place in Manama on Monday, though whether they’ll actually go ahead is never certain. 21 opposition activists, including hunger striker Abdulhadi al Khawaja, are due to hear the verdict in their appeal against life sentences for conspiring to overthrow the government. The decision was delayed from 23 April. Meanwhile, another appeal hearing is scheduled for 20 medical staff who were convicted in September of a variety of offences, including attempting to topple the monarchy and occupying the Salmaniya Hospital.
Libyan authorities have until Monday to submit information to the International Criminal Court on their case against Saif al Islam Gaddafi in a bid to convince the court that he should be tried in Libya. Gaddafi has been indicted by the ICC for crimes against humanity, but Libya has so far refused to hand him over for trial, preferring that he face the courts in Tripoli.
Tuesday is May Day, and as workers the world over take some time off to celebrate, France will be engaged in a bit of a popularity contest for right wingers. Front National leader Marine Le Pen – who won nearly 20 per cent of the vote in the first round elections – hosts her party’s traditional May Day rally, which also celebrates Joan of Arc. Incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, who is facing defeat at the hands of Francois Hollande in the second round if he can’t find a way to woo Le Pen’s supporters, has scheduled his own rally just down the Seine.
Speaking of right wingers, Dutch Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders takes a break from bringing down the Dutch government to launch his new book in New York on Tuesday. While launch details are still under wraps, it may be that Marked for Death: Islam’s War Against the West and Me is Wilders’ bid to dredge up support and make his mark in America.
And if patriotism is what Wilders is hoping to tap into, then he’s picked a good day to do it: Tuesday marks the one year anniversary of the death of Osama Bin Laden, who was killed by US special forces at his secret compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Hungary holds the first of eight elections taking place this week (more if you count the UK’s local and mayoral elections on 3 May), when MPs elect a new President on Wednesday following the 2 April resignation of Pal Schmitt over allegations of plagiarism. Janos Ader and Kristzina Morvai are the only two candidates that have been put forward, as smaller parliamentary groups know they don’t have the 78 votes required to push through their own choice.
Sarkozy is back in the news on Wednesday, this time up against Hollande rather than Le Pen. The two run-off candidates go head-to-head in the traditional debate held between the two electoral rounds. Sarkozy will be hoping that the power of TV has a Kennedy effect to help him overcome polling deficits that predict Hollande will win comfortably in Sunday’s vote.
Wednesday also marks the 30th anniversary of the sinking of the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano by the British submarine HMS Conqueror. 323 people were killed in the sinking, just over half of Argentina’s total losses during the Falklands War. Two days later, the HMS Sheffield was sunk by a missile fired from an Argentine navy plane, killing 21 people.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner are in Beijing on Thursday to take part in the fourth US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue with Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councillor Dai Bingguo. The talks follow Geithner’s remarks last week that the US is willing to further open its markets to China if China institutes its own reforms. Clinton travels on to Bangladesh and India after the two-day talks in China.
UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples James Anaya holds a press conference in Washington on Friday to discuss the findings of his 12-day mission to the United States to assess the situation of Native Americans in the country. During his visit, Anaya met with federal and state government officials, indigenous peoples and human rights groups in Washington, D.C., Arizona, Alaska, Oregon, South Dakota and Oklahoma.
Iranians are back at the polls for the second round of voting following the 2 March parliamentary elections. 65 of the 290 seats are still up for grabs after no candidate managed to gain 25% of the vote the first time around, but opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have already won 220 seats, meaning he could still be in trouble when parliament resumes sitting.
While the Kentucky Derby and the Berkshire Hathaway AGM both take place on Saturday, they’re likely to be overshadowed by the small matter of the arraignment hearing for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi – otherwise known as the 9/11 masterminds. The five men face a military commission in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, charged with planning and executing the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Have I mentioned the French election? It’s all finally over and done with on Sunday when the second round of voting takes place. While Francois Hollande has long been expected to win, the fact that he needs to garner support from far-right voters who cast their ballot for the Front National in the first round, and that France’s shares fell when he won the first round, means there’s still some room for Sarkozy to claw back support.
It’s not just France’s political future that will affect the stock market on Monday: Greeks, Italians and Germans are all set to vote on Sunday, too. The Greek election has been looming since George Papandreou resigned in November to make way for Lucas Papademos’ technocratic government to push through austerity measures. Former Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos leads Papandreou’s PASOK party.
Local elections are taking place in over 700 municipalities across Italy on Sunday and Monday, while regional elections are being held in Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein state. Both countries are due for full parliamentary elections next year, and the fortunes of the ruling parties in this weekend’s elections are being closely watched as a barometer for national support. Italy’s elections are the first since Mario Mon
ti took over from Silvio Berlusconi as Prime Minister.
Finally, Armenians and Serbians are also going to the polls. Parliamentary elections are taking place as scheduled in both countries, but Serbian President Boris Tadic has also called an early presidential vote, which hadn’t been due until 2013. Tadic resigned on 4 April to trigger the vote, saying Serbia needs strengthened institutions as it faces ‘sweeping reforms’.
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