The Week in Review
Middle East
The United States has accepted Iran’s offer of unconditional talks on its nuclear program, the Obama administration announced September 11, allowing Iran to dodge yet another deadline for curbing its nuclear ambitions. Washington, along with the UK, France, Russia, China and Germany, agreed to the negotiations despite the fact that Tehran is adamant that it will not even discuss the freezing of its uranium enrichment, which Iranian nuclear chief Ali Akhbar Salehi called “our sovereign right.” Just a few days before the September 25 deadline, Stratfor reports, “Iran ceremoniously presented a proposal that made a mockery of Western demands” (September 14). After making clear that the proposal was unsatisfactory, Washington did an about-face and accepted the offer. “On the surface, it appears that Iran has danced around yet another nuclear deadline. [T]he sanctions deadline has effectively been defused” (ibid.). Talks between the six world powers and Iran will begin October 1, using the carrot-and-stick formula of trade, aid and sanctions, according to European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana. Iran is already under three sets of UN sanctions that have failed to produce results. It appears Iran has yet again bought more time to progress its nuclear program.
Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri announced September 10 that he would step down, saying he had given up on forming a unity government that would include Hezbollah and its allies after more than 10 weeks of trying following parliamentary elections in June. Hariri said that the opposition had set impossible conditions for him, adding that “if we do not comply with the conditions that they set, there won’t be a government.” He said that the March 14 alliance, which has the majority in the parliament, had already made many concessions. On Wednesday, however, Hariri was renominated for a second attempt to form a government. The current political deadlock in Lebanon reflects the crucial role Hezbollah plays in that country and the amount of leverage it possesses.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday reaffirmed his position on settlements in remarks to a legislative panel. Netanyahu said Israel would not freeze all building in West Bank settlements as demanded by Washington but would consider reducing the scope of construction for a limited time in an effort to restart peace talks with the Palestinians. This, however, falls short of Palestinian demands that Israel halt all settlement activities, including “natural growth.” The settlements issue, however, is simply being used by the Palestinians as a convenient distraction to avert attention from the fact that they don’t even recognize the right of Israel to exist. U.S. envoy George Mitchell arrives in Israel Saturday for talks.
Europe
High-ranking EU diplomats meet weekly with Hamas, despite its status as a terrorist group, Hamas told the EUobserver in an interview on September 12. “We meet a lot of them from France, from Spain, from Germany, from Italy, from England, from Luxembourg. When they listen to us and we spend a couple of hours with them, they understand what is the real image of Hamas,” said the group’s spokesman, Ghazi Hamad. “None of them are ministers in their governments … some of them are ambassadors. Some are assistants to ambassadors. … Some of them are very close to the president of their country, or to the foreign minister.” The EUobserver notes, “Any high-level European visits would go against the spirit of a 2006 EU decision to halt talks with the militant organization.” Watch for Europe to take on a more active role in the Middle East peace process. As they work behind the scenes with Hamas, Germany and other EU states are preparing to get more involved in the Middle East. For information on where this will lead, see our August 2001 Trumpet article “The Counterfeit Peacemaker.”
America officially abandoned plans to build a ballistic missile defense (bmd) system in the Czech Republic and Poland on Thursday. This shield would have put U.S. troops on Polish soil. It called for the construction of 10 missile interceptors, and would have been, most significantly, a confidence-building gesture on the part of the U.S. toward Warsaw and the rest of Central and Eastern Europe. Two weeks ago, we wrote, “In essence, the bmd program is a measure of the strength and commitment of U.S. foreign policy, and especially America’s willingness to invest time and resources into amplifying its voice in European affairs, confronting Russian ambitions on its periphery, and checking Iran’s nuclear ambitions” (“The World Shakes, America Slumbers,” September 3). The canceling of the bmd program is a major symptom of America’s lack of will, and it will cause Europe to rely less on the U.S., and become more fearful of Russia.
Asia
Russian geopolitical clout was bolstered September 10 when Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez recognized two pro-Russian rebel regions of Georgia as independent. Venezuela is the second country after Nicaragua to follow Russia’s lead in recognizing the sovereignty of the two breakaway provinces within Georgia’s internationally acknowledged borders. The rest of the world views South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which rejected Georgian rule in the early 1990s, as integral regions of Georgia. The issue has become a point of contention in Russia’s relations with the West, with many Western nations accusing Russia of a de facto annexation of the two provinces. Chávez’s decision is a diplomatic success for Russia. Caracas and Moscow also forged several agreements on energy, trade and defense. President Medvedev said, “We will supply Venezuela the weapons that Venezuela asks for …if our friends want our tanks, we will deliver them.” Venezuela wants to bolster its military to resist what Chávez calls U.S. imperialism in Latin America. By assisting it, Russia furthers its campaign to oppose and undermine perceptions of U.S. global hegemony.
Latin America/Africa
According to Bloomberg, “Venezuela[n] President Hugo Chávez said the South American country plans to develop a nuclear energy program with Russia ….” Chávez discussed his nuclear ambitions with Vladimir Putin during his visit to Russia last week. But apparently there’s no reason to be worried about South America’s preeminent anti-American, terrorist-sponsoring nation acquiring nuclear technology: “We’re not going to make an atomic bomb,” Chávez said on state television. “We’re going to develop nuclear energy with peaceful purposes.” Others are a little more skeptical, and rightly so. The Hudson Institute’s David Satter wrote September 4 that “by facilitating contact between Russian and Venezuelan officials in the area of nuclear energy, the stage is set for black-market operations involving technology that can be used in nuclear weapons.” He continued: “Russian help for Venezuela can provide a cover for the development of nuclear weapons. Perhaps more important, it opens up a new channel for the transfer of Russian nuclear know-how—this time by way of Venezuela—to the enemies of the U.S.” As the Trumpethas explained, Hugo Chávez has put Venezuela at the vanguard of the growing anti-American movement in Latin America. And now Chávez is pursuing nuclear technology.
Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe met a high-level delegation from the EU for the first time in seven years on September 12. European Commissioner for Development Karel De Gucht and Swedish Development Minister Gunilla Carlsson traveled to Zimbabwe as part of the first delegation since the EU began putting targeted sanctions on Mugabe’s government in 2002. They also met with Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. As nations around the world compete for precious resources, watch for them to make deals with dictatorial regimes, like Mugabe’s.
Anglo-America
Canada spent last weekend smothering its own history. Canadians planned to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec with a reenactment celebration, but were intimidated by Quebec French sovereigntists who said they would disrupt the reenactment with real violence. Organizers canceled the reenactment of British troops defeating the French and ultimately gaining control of Canada and replaced it with an evening of readings of historic documents.
Americans continue to split over the issue of the president’s proposed health-care reform. President Obama said this week that his health-care plan does not cover illegal immigrants but that was all the more reason to legalize them to ensure they eventually do get coverage, the Washington Times reported. America’s disparate ideologies were also apparent in a Virginia gubernatorial debate Thursday as Creigh Deeds attacked his embattled Republican opponent, Robert McDonnell, for his 1989 thesis paper in which McDonnell criticized women working outside the home, abortion and homosexuality.