International Relations

Afghanistan and Pakistan Regional Stabilization Strategy

The Department of State released a new report highlighting the need to elevate diplomacy and development alongside defense in disrupting and defeating al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The report (pdf and html) presents a number of key initiatives and milestones “supporting the Afghan and Pakistani governments’ efforts to defeat the extremist threat.”

In a press release, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that the political, economic, and diplomatic efforts outlined are “far from an exercise in ‘nation-building,’ the programs detailed here aim to achieve realistic progress in critical areas. They are aligned with our security objectives and have been developed in close consultation with the Afghan and Pakistani governments, as well as our international partners. When combined with U.S. combat operations and efforts to build Afghan and Pakistani security capacity, these programs constitute an innovative, whole-of-government strategy to protect our vital interests in this volatile region of the world.”

Today, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee released a report Al Qaeda in Yemen and Somalia: A Ticking Time Bomb which examines the role of Al Qaeda in international terrorism, specifically looking at Somalia and Yemen. Over the past few years, operations by U.S. and allied forces have pushed Al Qaeda out from areas in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan. Al Qaeda fighters have moved to join groups in "North Africa, Southeast Asia, and perhaps most importantly in Yemen and Somalia. These groups may have only an informal connection with Al Qaeda's leadership in Pakistan, but they often share common goals. Al Qaeda's recruitment tactics also have changed. The group seeks to recruit American citizens to carry out terrorist attacks in the United States. These Americans are not necessarily of Arab or South Asian descent; they include individuals who converted to Islam in prison or elsewhere and were radicalized."

On January 12, 2010, a catastrophic earthquake struck the nation of Haiti. Now, 8 days later, the capital city of Port-a-Prince and the rest of the small country are facing wide spread devastation. The United States has mobilized the U.S. Southern Command, which has personnel on the ground assisting U.S. Department of Defense efforts in Haiti.

President Obama issued a letter and Executive Order regarding U.S. response and the White House is providing daily updates, the latest from January 19, on U.S. efforts and information on how to get involved.

The State Department has established a website with information on their efforts in Haiti including the welfare and whereabouts of individuals, adoptions, and USAID relief efforts.

For more information on how to prepare for and respond to an earthquake visit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) earthquake emergency preparedness and response, Operation: Haiti Earthquake for information on logistics, and ReliefWeb and the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP) for lessons learned from previous earthquake relief and recovery operations.

Fixing Intel: A Blueprint for Making Intelligence Relevant in Afghanistan

“This paper, written by the senior intelligence officer in Afghanistan and by a company-grade officer and a senior executive with the Defense Intelligence Agency, critically examines the relevance of the U.S. intelligence community to the counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan. Based on discussions with hundreds of people inside and outside the intelligence community, it recommends sweeping changes to the way the intelligence community thinks about itself -- from a focus on the enemy to a focus on the people of Afghanistan.

Declaration of Principles Between the Department of Homeland Security of the United States of America and the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit of the United Mexican States

United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and Mexican Finance Secretary Agustin Carstens “today [December 7, 2009] signed an updated and enhanced Declaration of Principles (DOP)--accomplishing the goals they outlined in June to create a joint United States-Mexico framework to improve security along the Southwest border and facilitate the flow of legitimate travel and trade.[…].

Migration and the Global Recession: A Report Commissioned by the BBC World Service

The Migration Policy Institute (MPI), with funding from the BBC World Service, has recently produced this report on the ongoing global economic crisis and its effect on migration trends throughout the world. This report continues earlier research on the special relationship between Mexican migrants in the United States, perceptions of the economic situation in the U.S. by those in Mexico seeking employment opportunities in the north, and the dramatic decrease in remittances sent from Mexicans living in the U.S. to their families in Mexico. This recent NPR news story has touched on this situation.

Please also re-visit this MPI report from January:
Immigrants and the Current Economic Crisis: Research Evidence, Policy Challenges, and Implications

EU-U.S. Joint Statement on Enhancing Transatlantic Cooperation in the Area of Justice, Freedom, and Security

DHS and the European Union have just announced a major new agreement on data protection and data sharing between the United States and the European Union. This treaty creates a set of common principles guiding the approach to protecting personal information and sharing information for law enforcement, security, and counterterrorism purposes.

This agreement comes as the U.S. Senate is considering S.1490, which is a bill to prevent identity theft and security breaches, and prevent the misuse of personally identifiable information in the United States.

The Asia Foundation released its fifth survey of the Afghan people. Its purpose is to provide "the Afghan citizenry, policy makers and influential actors in government, civil society, and the international community with useful and actionable information." The report Afghanistan in 2009: A Survey of the Afghan People was released today and provides a "comprehensive assessment of national perception in key policy areas. These areas include: security, economy, governance, democratic values, and women and society. The 2009 fieldwork was conducted during June 17-July 6, prior to the August 20 elections, and builds upon previous surveys conducted in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008."

2009 Report on International Religious Freedom

The U.S. State Department produces this report annually, the goal of which is to assess the state of religious freedom in all countries of the world over the past year. The 2009 report is now available and is currently in html format for ease of navigation. The agency has produced this report since 2001 and the user can access previous reports here. These reports contain a sub-report for each country in the world, in addition to a summary of the project and global conclusions and trends.

Remarks by Secretary Clinton

Capability of the People's Republic of China to Conduct Cyber Warfare and Computer Network Exploitation

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission recently commissioned the Northrop Grumman Corporation to produce this document as an investigation into the capability of the People's Republic of China to conduct cyberwar and computer network exploitation on U.S. systems.

"The government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is a decade into a sweeping military modernization program that has fundamentally transformed its ability to fight high tech wars. The Chinese military, using increasingly networked forces capable of communicating across service arms and among all echelons of command, is pushing beyond its traditional missions focused on Taiwan and toward a more regional defense posture. This modernization effort, known as informationization, is guided by the doctrine of fighting 'Local War Under Informationized Conditions', which refers to the PLA’s ongoing effort to develop a fully networked architecture capable of coordinating military operations on land, in air, at sea, in space and across the electromagnetic spectrum."