Podcast

CEJISS Weekly with Cillian O Donoghue: Evaluating Europe's Neighborhood Policy. 

Today CEJISS is joined by Sargis Gharzaryan (European Friends of Armenia) to discuss conflict in Europe's great neighborhood and Europe's policy towards the region. For Gharzaryan Europe needs to get involved in its Eastern neighborhood in order to reduce conflict in the region and has the potential to make a very positive impact through the use of its normative power. Also discussed will be the historical roots of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenia- Turkish relations, European' Eastern Partnership and whether he envisions that one day the countries of this region will become members of NATO and the EU. 

Electronic Contributions

North Korea's Perplexing Gambit

By Mitchell A. Belfer

The premeditated murder of 46 South Korean sailors aboard the Cheonan warship (26 March) has peaked tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Had the Cheonan sunk without a loss of life, perhaps the behavior of North Korea, its Machiavellian leadership and their Chinese crutch would have been shrugged off as another bizarre footnote in the history of an archaic reclusive state. However, since the sinking resulted in high casualties, it is important to explore possible motivations for the attack to gauge whether this crisis will continue escalating, and, if so, how far.

Afghanistan-Pakistan: Allies Wait Each Other Out As Militant Attacks Intensify

By Abubakar Siddique

Think of Pakistan and Afghanistan as a giant chessboard. General Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, head of the Pakistani Army, sit on its opposing ends. And both men are waiting for each other to make the next move. The two allies await each other's promised offensive against Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Washington has encouraged Pakistan to move its forces into North Waziristan, where powerful Afghan Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani and an assortment of Pakistani, Arab, and Central Asian militants wield tense control.

Pakistan's Displaced Pashtuns Face Choice Between Home, Security

By Abubakar Siddique

A group of men chant "we want peace" as they protest the Pakistani government's decision to send them to their native villages in western Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal district. The leafy oak-covered mountains of their homeland pose a sharp contrast to the heat and dust of the men's temporary accommodations in Dera Ismail Khan -- a sprawling, squalid river town in western Pakistan close to South Waziristan. Nevertheless, as the men made clear on a hot afternoon earlier this month, they want to stay right where they are.

Dancing in the Dark with Goldman Sachs

By Kevin Capuder

Watching Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman, squirm under the hot lights of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee's hearing last week must have brought back unpleasant memories for some of Goldman's investors in derivatives trades. The last time they remember squirming like that is likely when they themselves were watching their own investments disintegrate in the sub-prime meltdown.