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The Election Issue:

This month we explore the candidates' policies in each region of the world.

AFRICA: How Obama and McCain Would Respond to Darfur
by Michael Kleinman

 

During the second Presidential Debate, moderator Tom Brokaw asked both candidates under what circumstances they would use  “United States combat forces in situations where there's a humanitarian crisis, but it does not affect our national security.”  The responses by Barack Obama and John McCain shed light on how each of them would respond to a conflict like Darfur...

AMERICAS: Can Latin America Weather a Global Recession?
by Adam Benz

 

 

ASIA: Nukes in North Korea
by Jung Hwa Song

On October 12th, 2008, South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said although US and Korean intelligence services estimate that although North Korea’s president, Kim Jong Il, exercises control over his administration, Kim's health has "significant implications for the security of the Korean peninsula." Kim's health issues make strikingly clear the urgent need for a clear timeline for denuclearization on the Korean peninsula and restoration of the US-North Korea relationship.  Kim's demise may result in an unpredictable leadership running a significantly destabilized North Korea, which currently possesses enough plutonium for 8 to 12 nuclear weapons...

EUROPE/RUSSIA: Rebuilding Alliances and Managing Expectations in a Post-Bush World
by Annie Verderosa

The next U.S. President will inherit a complex and dangerous set of foreign policy challenges: wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a global financial crisis, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, instability in Pakistan, and competition from emerging powers like China, India, and a resurgent Russia.  In its special coverage of the U.S. presidential election, The Economist describes the foreign policy environment as “the most difficult international situation since 1968.”  Moreover, the next President will have to manage these issues at a time when America's economic power is in decline, its military resources are overstretched, and its ability to win sympathy or support from allies has been severely diminished.  The American public is also likely to be preoccupied with the economic crisis and related troubles at home, making it even more difficult for the next President to pursue an internationalist agenda. 

MIDDLE EAST: Iran and the Next Administration
by Victor McFarland

Over the course of the Presidential campaign, John McCain and Barack Obama have clashed repeatedly over US policy toward Iran.  McCain has staked out a hawkish position in contrast to Obama's willingness to negotiate directly with the Iranian regime.  In practice, though, the two candidates' policies would likely be more similar to each other, and to the approach of the Bush administration, than campaign rhetoric would suggest.  A variety of factors will limit the next President's freedom of action and will make either a U.S.-Iranian military confrontation or a dramatic diplomatic breakthrough unlikely over the next four years...

 

Courtesy of the BBC News, Europe:

Russian and Georgian troops have been fighting over the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia.

The separatist administration in South Ossetia has been trying to gain formal independence since breaking away in a civil war in the 1990s.

Russia already had troops in the region, on a peacekeeping mandate, before the outbreak of fighting. But Moscow also supports the separatists.

What is the status of South Ossetia?

South Ossetia has run its own affairs since fighting for independence from Georgia in 1991-92, in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

It has declared independence, though this has not been recognised by any other country.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has vowed to bring South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, back under full Georgian control.

Why do Ossetians want to break away?

The Ossetians are a distinct ethnic group originally from the Russian plains just south of the Don river. In the 13th Century, they were pushed southwards by Mongol invasions into the Caucasus mountains, settling along the border with Georgia.

South Ossetians want to join up with their ethnic brethren in North Ossetia, which is an autonomous republic within the Russian Federation.

Ethnic Georgians are a minority in South Ossetia, accounting for less than one-third of the population.

But Georgia rejects even the name South Ossetia, preferring to call it by the ancient name of Samachablo, or Tskhinvali, after its main city.

What triggered the latest crisis?

Tension has risen since the election of President Saakashvili in 2004. He offered South Ossetia dialogue and autonomy within a single Georgian state - but in 2006 South Ossetians voted in an unofficial referendum to press their demands for complete independence.