Pakistan’s Changing Strategic Environment

During an event at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced Interantional Studies, Mushahid Hussain explained Pakistan’s changing strategic environment. Hussain is the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Pakistani Senate and the secretary general of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League.(Summary in German)

Civil War in Iraq

Containment Options for the United States

In case President Bush’s new Iraq plan should fail and Iraq cannot be saved, the United States has to prepare for the question how to „manage“ the consequences of an Iraqi civil war. A Washington think tank with close ties to the Democratic Party just released a study proposing a containment policy for a potential civil war in Iraq. But President Bush is also facing criticism from his own party as well as calls for a more reality-based Iraq policy. (Report in German)

State of the Union 2007

President Bush Faces a New Congress

The panel discussion organized by the Brookings Institution analyzed the President’s State of the Union Address, which he had delivered the previous day. Various experts of the Brookings Institution discussed and evaluated the President’s statements. Of most interest were the topics foreign policy, energy, global warming, health care and immigration. (Summary in German)

Burundi at Peace: What does it mean?

The Great Lakes Policy Forum, a coalition of governmental, nongovernmental and multilateral organizations, discussed the current situation in the state of Burundi. The intention was to inform about the developments in the country since the peace agreement was reached. (Summary in German)

Expanding the Eastern Frontier

Bulgaria, Romania and the EU

The event of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars informed the participants about the new member states of the European Union - Bulgaria and Romania – and the implications for both the two countries and the European Union. In their lectures, Margarita Assenova and Dr. Vladimir Tismaneanu concentrated on the situation in their respective countries, while Dr. Esther Brimmer discussed the future development of the European Union as a whole. (Summary in German)

The Rise of the Shiites

Implications for the Middle East

In his lecture, Yitzhak Nakash, Middle East expert at the Brandeis University and author of the book "Reaching for Power: The Shi`a in the Modern Arab World", discussed the changing position of the Shiites in the Middle East. He focused especially on the situation in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon. (Summary in German)

U.S. Policy toward Iraq under Scrutiny

White House under Pressure

In a recently published study, Dr. Flynt Leverett, Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation and former insider of the Bush administration in the NSC, CIA and State Department, promotes a comprehensive engagement of the United States with Iran. The criticism of the “Republican dissident” of the White House stirred a controversy in Washington. (Summary in German)

New Way Forward in Iraq

Immediately following its announcement, President Bush’s new strategy in Iraq encountered wide-ranging rejection and skeptical reactions in his own country. A prestigious Democratic think tank hosted a panel discussion with renowned foreign policy experts to present a first analysis of the new Iraq policy, particularly of its echo among the Democrats in Congress.(Summary of event in German)

Turning Point in Iraq: U.S. Senators Call for Troop Surge

On the eve of President Bush’s much anticipated announcement of his new policy on the war in Iraq and one day after the convening of the newly elected Congress, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), one of the leading conservative think tanks in Washington, hosted a podium discussion on the future progress of the United States in Iraq. Two of the most influential Members of Congress, Senator John McCain, in line for his party’s nomination as the Republican presidential candidate, and Senator Joseph Lieberman, former Democratic Vice Presidential candidate, shared their assessments of America’s future Iraq policy after their return from a recent trip to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israel.(Attached summary is in German.)

U.S. Iraq Policy in the Balance

ISG Report - "Bush's last chance for success"

Barely a week after the release fo the ISG report, most Americans believe that the United States is losing the war in Iraq and support the main elements of the Baker-Hamilton Commission for a new strategy in Iraq, according to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll. Politically, however, the commission’s report remains a political orphan with little support from the Bush administration and Congress.(Attached summary is in German.)