Friday, January 31

Diplomacy

The GER covers diplomacy, international organizations, and meetings. Looking beyond our individual political systems we find people and organizations working to make life better for people in both conflict-ridden places as well as secure, developed countries. It is not enough to focus on the end results of international relations. It’s worth focusing on the day-to-day work of diplomacy. Often, that’s where breakthroughs occur.

Millions Syrian Refugees At Risk of Losing Access to Humanitarian Aid
5Jun By Spencer HayesNo Comments
Foreign Aid, International Development, Middle East, Types of News: Brief, UN Security Council

Millions Syrian Refugees At Risk of Losing Access to Humanitarian Aid

By Spencer Brooke Hayes June 5, 2021--More than 3 million Syrian refugees may lose access to food, medical supplies and humanitarian aide next month when a UN Security Council resolution expires. “It’s going to be a disaster if the Security Council resolution is not extended. We know that people are really going to suffer,” Mark Cutts, U.N. deputy regional humanitarian coordinator, told Reuters in a recent news report. "In northwest Syria you have some of the most vulnerable people anywhere in the world." UN Security Council mandate 2533 gives humanitarian agencies the right to cross the Syrian-Turkish border to deliver aid. The resolution comes up for review in July. According to reporting by Reuters Tuvan Gumrukcu, Russia and China reduced humanitarian access to border crossing...
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Is the Sky Turning Red Over EU-Member Hungary?
4May By Patti MohrNo Comments
Democracy, Diplomacy, Geopolitics, Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Types of News: Analysis

Is the Sky Turning Red Over EU-Member Hungary?

Hungary And China Strengthen Ties, Will Build Chinese University In Budapest May 4, 2021--As tensions rise between China and the West, one European Union-member country is drawing ever closer to Asia's Red Dragon: Hungary. Situated between seven countries in Central Europe, Hungary is a key outpost of the 27-member European Union. Lately, however, the country appears to be falling out with its European allies and drawing closer to communist China. Hungary Leaning East In March, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban broke with the rest of the EU consensus on COVID-19 by ordering China's Sinopharm and Russia's Sputnik V vaccines. Later that month, Hungary's President Janos Ader met with his Chinese leaders in Budapest and promised to strengthen relations with China on trade, econ...
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US Government Gives Notice: No More Business With State-Owned Entreprises in Belarus
19Apr By Patti MohrNo Comments
Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Sanctions, Types of News: Brief

US Government Gives Notice: No More Business With State-Owned Entreprises in Belarus

April 19, 2021-The U.S. government today announced it is taking action in response to "sharply deteriorating human rights situation in Belarus" since the widely disputed August 2020 election. Since the election, hundreds of thousands of people have protested in the streets to protest the presidential rule of Alexander Lukashenko. The government responded with a violent crackdown. Today the government holds at least 340 people captive as political prisoners, according to the U.S. State Department. The 2020 Elections Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognized Lukashenko as the president of Belarus while the European Union and the United States consider the election to be illegitimate. The EU has said the election was "neither free nor fair" and has issued multiple rounds of san...
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Climate Change Driving a Global ‘Race to the New Technology,’ US Envoy Says
25Mar By Patti MohrNo Comments
Climate Action, ESG, Sustainable Finance, Diplomacy, Types of News: Brief

Climate Change Driving a Global ‘Race to the New Technology,’ US Envoy Says

March 25, 2021--Climate change is driving a massive shift in investment and industry in the United States and around the world, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said today. 'Massive Transformation' "We are on the cusp of a massive transformation and ultimately the market is going to make the moves, not the government," Kerry said, during a virtural conference held by the Washington-based Institute of International Finance. In a conversation with IIE President and CEO Tim Adams, Kerry said climate change is driving widespread changes in industries and opening up markets in the future. "This is not something for people to be scared of. This is the biggest economic opportunity we have seen," Kerry said. White House Priority To emphasize the importance he p...
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Kid Gloves Come Off At US-China Meeting
22Mar By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, Global Trade, Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Sanctions, Types of News: Analysis

Kid Gloves Come Off At US-China Meeting

March 22, 2021--The kid-gloves came off at the first in-person meeting between the United States and China under the new U.S. administration. In a sign that tensions between the world's two largest economies are rising, the diplomats exchanged political punches from the beginning. They met first in front of cameras at the beginning of two-day strategic dialogue in Anchorage, Alaska. Typically, televised remarks might be a brief exchange of niceties. But , this exchange was anything but typical. It wasn't brief. And it wasn't polite. In fact, the opening remarks turned into an extended exchange of insults and condemnations between the countries' top diplomats. The United States launched the first blows. U.S. Cites Concerns on Hong Kong, Human Rights and Coercion U.S. Secr...
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Biden Hosts ‘Quad’ Virtual Conference with India, Japan, Australia
12Mar By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, Geopolitics, Global Trade, Globalization, Global Disintegration, Types of News: Brief

Biden Hosts ‘Quad’ Virtual Conference with India, Japan, Australia

Quad Meeting Comes a Week After China Strengthens Ties with ASEAN March 12, 2021--In his first multilateral summit since taking office in January, U.S. President Joe Biden hosted a virtual conference today with the leaders of Japan, India and Australia. "The Quad is going to be a vital arena for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific," Biden said. "The United States is committed to working with you our partners and all our allies in the region to achieve stability." The talks, known formally as the “Quadrilateral Security Dialogue” since their start in 2007, are designed to strengthen diplomatic, military and economic ties among the members. While not an alliance, the informal dialogue provides a structure for the leaders to work together. During the opening statements, the leaders e...
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U.S. Raises ‘Deep Concerns’ About Conclusions of WHO Investigation
16Feb By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Diplomacy, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, Types of News: Brief

U.S. Raises ‘Deep Concerns’ About Conclusions of WHO Investigation

Feb. 16, 2021-As the United States reengages with the World Health Organization under the new administration, its top national security officers are raising "deep concerns" about the credibility of the organization. The criticism comes as the WHO completed a controversial mission to Wuhan, China to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 virus. The WHO team, which included 17 participants representing China, ignored key information that scientists from the lab in Wuhan collected bats and virus samples from caves in China and brought them back to the lab. In the end, the WHO ceded the mission of scientific discovery to that of collaborating with China. U.S. Membership On his first day of office January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden informed UN Secretary General António Guterres...
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Central America Leaders Advance Regional Development Plans As Area Slides Into Poverty
12Dec By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, Geopolitics, Global Economics, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, Types of News: Brief

Central America Leaders Advance Regional Development Plans As Area Slides Into Poverty

Dec. 12, 2020-The global pandemic and a double-dose of hurricane damage is sending Central American populations and governments into a crisis. Poverty rates are increasing. And governments are facing protests at home. This week leaders from Central American countries met to discuss the structural roots of migration and an ambitious development plan for the region. Poverty Rising, Economies Shrinking About 12 million people in Central America fell into poverty this year, according to Alicia Bárcena, executive secretary for the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). "The fiscal standing of these countries has been affected by expenditures made to confront the pandemic," Bárcena said, according to the press release. "In addition, the ETA and IOTA hurricanes ...
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Leaders at Digital G20 Summit Pledge Global Cooperation
24Nov By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, Globalization, Global Disintegration, Types of News: Analysis

Leaders at Digital G20 Summit Pledge Global Cooperation

Nov. 24, 2020--The overriding theme at this year's G20 Summit was cooperation, not only on controlling the global pandemic but also a vast array of economic and social issues. Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga promised to "lead international society in realizing a decarbonized world" to address climate change, while Chinese President Xi Jinping called for cooperation on trade, low tariffs and a global governance system for the digital economy. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the host, praised the governments for injecting over $11 trillion into the global economy and providing debt relief to the most vulnerable countries. Lengthy List of Goals Overall, the final Leaders Declaration addresses the following: the digital economy, trade and investme...
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China Aims to Upend And Amend World Order, U.S. State Dept Says
20Nov By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Diplomacy, Geopolitics, Globalization, Global Disintegration, Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Types of News: Brief

China Aims to Upend And Amend World Order, U.S. State Dept Says

Nov. 20, 2020--The Chinese Communist Party intends to create a new world order serving authoritarian goals and nationalistic ambitions, according to a newly released report by the U.S. State Department. 'New Great Power Competition' The 74-page report asserted that China's ambition of revising the world order is triggering "a new era of great-power competition." Specifically, the State Department said that China plans to influence every region of the world with its economic power and reform international organizations from the inside out. As it does, it is increasingly reshaping the world with its authoritarian model, the report said. That puts that current world order -- one founded on free and sovereign nation-states -- that advances U.S. national interests, according to the...
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