Tag: diplomacy

Sechin: putting Chávez on the map

May 24, 2013 2:41pm by Isabel Gorst

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When Russia’s Communist party called for a Moscow street to be named after Hugo Chávez in March, the city authorities refused on grounds that the former Venezuelan leader had not been dead long enough to qualify for the honour. However, in a sign of the importance Russia attaches to Venezuelan relations, Igor Sechin, the powerful chief executive of Rosneft, wants Moscow to waive the rules. Visiting Caracas this week to finalize a big oil deal, Sechin said a Chávez street should indeed be added to the map of the Russian capital. Continue reading »

Tags: diplomacy, Hugo Chávez, oil & gas, PDVSA, Rosneft Posted in Europe, LatAm, Russia, Venezuela | Permalink

Pacific Alliance: the most exciting thing going on in LatAm these days

May 23, 2013 8:47pm by Andres Schipani

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On Latin America’s Pacific rim, deepening free trade appears to be the name of the game, as the region’s pro-markets countries of Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile – have agreed to drop most tariffs to speed the consolidation of the Pacific Alliance.

At least, that is what Colombia’s President, Juan Manuel Santos, told beyondbrics on the sidelines of the group’s latest summit in the Colombian city of Cali on Thursday. Continue reading »

Tags: diplomacy, free trade, Pacific Alliance, Pacific Pumas, trade Posted in Chile, Colombia, LatAm, Mexico, Peru | Permalink

China and the US: building bridges across Joe Biden’s “in-your-face racism”

May 23, 2013 12:22pm by Kathrin Hille

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When Barack Obama and Xi Jinping meet at the Annenberg Estate two weeks from now, the focus will be on how the American and Chinese presidents (pictured during a meeting in February 2012) can build a personal relationship able to bridge the many differences between the world’s two largest economies.

That may be a challenge. Politicians in both nations often struggle to hide their mutual dislike. Just now, Chinese netizens are working themselves up over Joe Biden’s dissing of their country in a recent speech. Continue reading »

Tags: diplomacy, politics Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

Guest post: lessons of Azevêdo’s victory at the WTO

May 9, 2013 2:14pm by beyondbrics

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By Paulo Sotero of the Woodrow Wilson Center

The process that culminated Tuesday with the selection of Roberto Azevêdo of Brazil (pictured) to lead the World Trade Organization is a precious opportunity for the international community to move away from the increasingly balkanized system of trade that gained ground in the past decade as the United States and the European Union lost political and economic capacity to dictate global rules. Continue reading »

Tags: diplomacy, FBfeed, WTO Posted in Brazil, LatAm | Permalink

Guest post: defending the IBSA model

Apr 29, 2013 6:56pm by beyondbrics

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By Daniel Kurtz-Phelan of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

In 2003, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva found himself with his counterparts from India and South Africa on the sidelines of a G-8 Summit in France. They had been invited to the summit as observers but the invitation served mostly to underscore a common frustration. “What is the use of being invited for dessert at the banquet of the powerful?” as Lula later put it. “We do not want to participate only to eat the dessert; we want to eat the main course, dessert and then coffee.” Continue reading »

Tags: diplomacy, guest post Posted in Global | Permalink

Guest post: pardon of political prisoners opens door to renewed Ukraine-EU dialogue

Apr 29, 2013 6:06pm by beyondbrics

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By Jamie Scudder of Maplecroft

The European Parliament’s decision on April 18 to extend its monitoring mission to Ukraine is a crucial step for the country in the context of its European aspirations. The mission, which has acted as an informal platform to promote dialogue between the European Union and Ukraine, was one factor behind the government’s decision a week earlier to pardon a number of former opposition politicians. They include former ministers for the interior and the environment, Yuri Lutsenko and HeorhyFilichuk, and four others convicted of corruption. The pardons create renewed hope for stronger trade relations between Ukraine and the EU and have already defused tensions between Kiev and the 27-member bloc. Continue reading »

Tags: diplomacy, EU, guest post, IMF, Ukraine-IMF Posted in Europe, Ukraine | Permalink

Turkey-Israel: the new Great Game

Apr 8, 2013 6:03pm by Daniel Dombey

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There is a new Great Game afoot and it is taking place beneath the sea floor of the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey and Israel’s tentative reconciliation is a process so fraught that US Secretary of State John Kerry appeared in Istanbul at the weekend to chivvy the two sides towards restoring full diplomatic ties. But if the steps he set out can be taken — agreeing compensation for nine Turks killed by Israeli forces in 2010, avoiding inflammatory talk, exchange of ambassadors — then a whole series of changes could be unleashed from Damascus to Brussels. Continue reading »

Tags: diplomacy, natural gas, oil & gas, trade Posted in Europe, Israel, MidEast, Turkey | Permalink

Guest post: Turkey’s peace dividend

Mar 29, 2013 9:46am by beyondbrics

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By Naz Masraff of Eurasia Group

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, has had a very good week. On March 21, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced a ceasefire; the next day, Israel apologized for an attack on a Turkish-led peace flotilla in 2010. The possibility of a solution to its Kurdish insurgency holds out the possibility of real benefits for Turkey through increased trade with Iraq, improved security and political calm. There is a less immediate payoff from the Israeli apology but it is a favorable signal, nonetheless, from a region where there has been little good news of late. Continue reading »

Tags: diplomacy, guest post, oil & gas, Turkey economy, Turkey politics Posted in Europe, Turkey | Permalink

Guest post: the Brics must act on Syria

Mar 22, 2013 3:01pm by beyondbrics

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By Martti Ahtisaari and Fernando Henrique Cardoso of The Elders

It is unconscionable that March 15 marked two years of a bloody and remorseless conflict in Syria that the international community has, until now, proved impotent to end. Next week’s Brics summit is a chance for the world’s rising powers to demonstrate their commitment to the people of Syria at their time of greatest need. Continue reading »

Tags: diplomacy Posted in Global, MidEast, Syria | Permalink

Peng Liyuan, aka Mrs Xi: the new force behind China’s soft power

Mar 14, 2013 10:19am by beyondbrics

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Xi Jinping, China’s incoming head of state, is set to deploy a new force as he seeks to develop Chinese soft power: his wife, Peng Liyuan, a folk singer famous in China, as Kathrin Hille reports for the FT, for her fiery performances of patriotic songs.

Well, see for yourselves. Here she is in 2011, helping to celebrate the 90th birthday of the founding of the Communist Party of China. More after the break.

Tags: culture & entertainment, diplomacy, politics Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

West on Kenyatta: bark and no bite?

Mar 12, 2013 3:49pm by Eleanor Whitehead

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Diplomatic relations between Kenya and the west took a pummelling over the course of the country’s presidential election, which saw Uhuru Kenyatta (left) – currently indicted by the International Criminal Court for inciting ethnic violence after the 2007 vote – edge his way to a first round win.

But with results in, will the diplomatic fallout be as bad as the rhetoric suggests? The answer is: probably not. Continue reading »

Tags: diplomacy, ICC, Kenya elections, Kenyatta Posted in Africa, Kenya | Permalink

S Korea investors shrug off N Korea’s atomic blast

Feb 12, 2013 10:22am by Song Jung-a

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Like the boy who cried “wolf”, it seems North Korea is not getting much attention – at least from investors – by setting off nuclear explosions. The world’s only hereditary Communist dictatorship carried out its third nuclear test on Tuesday to worldwide diplomatic outrage but also to blank stares of indifference from South Korea’s financial markets. Continue reading »

Tags: currencies, diplomacy, S Korea equities Posted in Asia, South Korea | Permalink

Chinese prepare to light up the sky with Tokyo Big Bang

Feb 6, 2013 10:00am by Kathrin Hille

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The escalating row over some uninhabited islands in the East China Sea has already deeply hurt economic ties between Japan and China. As military and political tensions have risen, Japanese automakers have seen China sales plummet, business at Japanese restaurants and Japanese-owned department stores in China has suffered and travel in both directions is down.

But at least one group is trying to benefit from the dispute: Chinese fireworks makers, who are peddling colourful explosives on an anti-Japanese theme. Continue reading »

Tags: China-Japan, diplomacy Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

Video: China’s Myanmar problem

Feb 4, 2013 6:38pm by beyondbrics

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As Beijing offers to broker a peace agreement between Myanmar and the Kachin rebels, the recent fighting is threatening to destabilise China’s rich and volatile border with Myanmar. The FT’s Ben Marino reports on the challenges Beijing faces as it tries to continue to extend its influence in Myanmar amid political reform and a recent wave anti-Chinese protests.

Tags: diplomacy, trade, video Posted in Asia, China, Myanmar | Permalink

Guest post: Time for Obama to put LatAm back on the agenda

Jan 23, 2013 9:23pm by beyondbrics

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By Peter Hakim and Sergio Muñoz Bata

Latin Americans still like and admire President Obama, yet they no longer expect much from him. He mostly ignored the region in his first term, and never mentioned it during his re-election campaign. Sure, immigration reform is on his agenda, but only because both Republicans and Democrats are now intimidated by Latino political clout. It may be that Latin America requires only sporadic attention – like when an earthquake devastates Haiti, or a political crisis undoes Honduras or Paraguay, or an economy collapses somewhere.

But at least two of the region’s 33 countries demand a more strategic approach. Continue reading »

Tags: diplomacy, Free trade areas, guest post, trade Posted in Brazil, LatAm, Mexico | Permalink

Older entries

beyondbrics

Tag: diplomacy

Sechin: putting Chávez on the map

Pacific Alliance: the most exciting thing going on in LatAm these days

China and the US: building bridges across Joe Biden’s “in-your-face racism”

Guest post: lessons of Azevêdo’s victory at the WTO

Guest post: defending the IBSA model

Guest post: pardon of political prisoners opens door to renewed Ukraine-EU dialogue

Turkey-Israel: the new Great Game

Guest post: Turkey’s peace dividend

Guest post: the Brics must act on Syria

Peng Liyuan, aka Mrs Xi: the new force behind China’s soft power

West on Kenyatta: bark and no bite?

S Korea investors shrug off N Korea’s atomic blast

Chinese prepare to light up the sky with Tokyo Big Bang

Video: China’s Myanmar problem

Guest post: Time for Obama to put LatAm back on the agenda

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