A crisis is too good to waste
The downturn provides invaluable opportunities for the UK, especially in the context of the recent G20 summit, to drive action on three fronts - social protection, IMF reform and tax…
Articles, Briefings and Essays
The views expressed in the articles are those of each respective author and do not necessarily reflect the views or position of the Foreign Policy Centre.
The coup in Honduras points to a new scenario for Latin America
Analysis 1: The Coup in Honduras can be explained by divergences among the local elite After many years, Latin America again experiences an institutional rupture. Such is the case in…
Can Syria be internationally rehabilitated without negotiations with Israel?
The view from Damascus has improved recently. The twilight years of the Bush administration saw European and American politicians gradually end the White House's diplomatic boycott to court President al-Asad.…
The Chinese invasion in Latin America
Historically, as an extension of Europe in the New World, Latin America became commercially (and several times politically) tied to the USA and Europe. Also in an important scale, countries…
Will Netanyahu negotiate with Syria?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's eagerly anticipated first meeting with Barack Obama in mid-May proved less dramatic than expected. Whilst many analysts thought the encounter would give greater definition to…
The end of Asia’s longest war
All this aside however, the last few months of the war have become the most deadly for those trapped between the government forces and rebel fighters. Now the most immediate…
Obama: The first hundred days and a new stance with Latin America
Regarding Latin America, Obama seems to have elected an efficient strategy, different from that practiced by his predecessor. The natural choice of Lula as Obama’s “partner” in the continent, widely…
Invest in Iraq, if you dare
Having been in Iraq a few days before it all kicked off, I witnessed at first hand the logistical and security nightmare it caused for the British Department for International…
Why Syria’s bridge to Iran won’t be on the table in any bargaining with the West.
Three false analyses dominate Washington's view of the Syria-Iran relationship. Firstly, Israeli scholar Eyal Zisser's claim that during the Bush years the Ba'ath regime has, 'essentially made itself a client…
Lebanon beyond sectarianism
Although the Taif accord of 1989, which ended the Lebanese civil war, stated that "abolishing political sectarianism is a fundamental national objective", a confessional electoral system remains in place. Parliamentary…