BEIJING — President Obama and President Hu Jintao of China met in private off Tiananmen Square here on a frigid Tuesday morning to discuss issues like trade, climate change and the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea, in a session that signaled the central role of China on the world stage.
The leaders told reporters afterward that the United States and China were in agreement on a range of issues, but they spoke only in general terms.
At a news conference where both presidents appeared, neither took questions from reporters, staying in line with the minutely stage-managed atmosphere of Mr. Obama’s first visit to China. They said in separate speeches that the two nations would work together to stabilize the teetering world economy, contain the dangers of climate change and prevent nuclear proliferation.
The public pronouncements were full of familiar rhetoric. At the start of their first meeting, Mr. Obama told Mr. Hu: “We believe strong dialogue is important not only for the U.S. and China, but for the rest of the world.”
On October 28th President Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. OK, so more people are needed. Now, let’s talk money. How much money is provided in the 2010 Defense Authorization Act for Cyber Defense? A lot.
SINGAPORE — President Obama and President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia expressed dissatisfaction Sunday with Iran’s response to a nuclear offer made by world powers, raising the prospect that sanctions may be the next step in the West’s ongoing efforts to rein in Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
The two men, meeting during an Asia-Pacific summit conference in Singapore before Mr. Obama traveled to Shanghai, also made progress in efforts to negotiate a replacement for a key arms control treaty between the United States and Russia that is set to expire in December, American administration officials said.
While White House officials acknowledged on Sunday that a new pact to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, will not be ratified soon, they said they expect to reach a “bridge” agreement that will preserve the status quo until a new treaty is approved.
The Sunday afternoon discussion with Mr. Medvedev was the fifth such meeting for Mr. Obama since he took office vowing to repair America’s relationship with Russia, and American officials expressed satisfaction Sunday with their progress so far. “I have found, as always, President Medvedev frank, constructive and thoughtful,” Mr. Obama said after the meeting. “The reset button has worked,” he added, alluding to the administration’s early promise to “reset” the bilateral relationship after several years of bickering over a variety of issues from missile defense to Kosovo.
With the START treaty set to expire soon, the Obama administration is searching for ways to have weapons inspectors remain in Russia to keep American eyes on the world’s second most formidable nuclear arsenal. In the absence of a treaty or a legally binding “bridge” authority, American inspectors would be forced to leave Russia when the treaty expires. Likewise, Russian inspectors would have to leave the United States.
Under START provisions, both nations are allowed a maximum of 30 inspectors to monitor each other’s compliance with the treaty.
On Iran, administration officials said, Mr. Obama and Mr. Medvedev discussed a timetable for imposing sanctions if Tehran and the West do not soon agree on a proposal in which Iran would send its enriched uranium out of the country, either for either temporary safekeeping or reprocessing into fuel rods.
“Unfortunately, so far at least, Iran appears to have been unable to say yes to what everyone acknowledges is a creative and constructive approach,” said Mr. Obama, sitting next to Mr. Medvedev. “We are running out of time with respect to that approach.” Mr. Medvedev also alluded to running out of patience. He said that while a dialogue with Iran was continuing, “we are not completely happy about its pace. If something does not work there are other means to move the process further.”
"Pingpong diplomacy" thawed relations between the United States and China in 1971. Can "baseball diplomacy" help do the same for the U.S. and Cuba?
Americans ranging from 12-year-old ballplayers to softballing senior citizens are visiting the communist island to engage in their own kind of field work, and there's talk of another trip by a major league team.
These bat-and-ball initiatives come as the Obama administration takes steps toward improving relations with the Cold War rival, such as loosening financial and travel restrictions on Americans with relatives on the island.
Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who staged exhibition games with the Cuban national team in Havana and Baltimore a decade ago, told The Associated Press that he hopes to so again next spring. Two groups of baseball youngsters from Florida are planning to visit next year as well.
Baseball enthusiasts feel the time is right for this type of outreach. In September, the U.S. sent a senior diplomat to Havana for unannounced meetings with Cuban officials — believed to be the highest-level talks between the two nations in decades. And last month, Cuba's foreign minister said his country is willing to hold talks with the United States "on any level."
If Angelos gets his way, next spring his Orioles will play in Cuba, as well as host the Cuban national team, in a repeat of the exhibition games staged in 1999 during the Clinton administration. He said he decided to do so now because of the Obama administration's overtures toward Cuba.
More @ link"Pingpong diplomacy" thawed relations between the United States and China in 1971. Can... more
TOKYO — The United States is not threatened by a rising China, President Obama said Saturday, but will seek to strengthen its ties with Beijing even as it maintains close ties with traditional allies like Japan.
In a wide-ranging speech on his inaugural trip to Asia, Mr. Obama, as he often does, drew on his own personal background to reassure people on the fast-growing continent that even as the United States seems pre-occupied with conflicts in the Middle East and other regions, it is increasingly “a nation of the Pacific.”
“I know there are many who question how the United States perceives China’s emergence,” Mr. Obama told an audience in Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. But, he added, “in an inter-connected world, power does not need to be a zero-sum game, and nations need not fear the success of another.”
As he has on many of his trips abroad, Mr. Obama struck a conciliatory note, painting a picture of an America that is willing to learn from its mistakes.
Mr. Obama’s speech came near the end of his inaugural trip to Japan, where he spent two days mending fences with America’s most important Asian ally. On Friday, Mr. Obama announced that he would establish a high-level working group on the contentious issue of the continuing presence of a Marine base in Okinawa.
The decision, announced at a news conference with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, appears to represent a concession by the Obama administration to at least consider Japan’s concerns about the base, which is deeply unpopular in Okinawa and which the newly elected Japanese government had promised to relocate.
There are four pillars to the cyber war realm: intelligence, technology, logistics, and command. By understanding these factors IT security practitioners can gauge the threat to their own organization from cyber war and perhaps take steps to prepare for either direct attacks or the fallout from an outbreak of cyber hostilities between nations.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinians should give up seeking an independent state and pursue a single country in which they would enjoy equal rights with Israelis, the chief Palestinian negotiator in Mideast peace talks said Wednesday.
The remark by Saeb Erekat was not a novel idea — prominent Palestinians, including past negotiators, have floated it before, usually when efforts to achieve a negotiated solution to the decades old-conflict with Israel are faltering as they are now.
Barack Obama's push to restart the peace talks has faltered, largely due to disagreements over further construction of Israeli settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, lands the Palestinians want for their hoped-for state.
Some 500,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in settlements built by Israel since capturing the territories in 1967. Israel promised to halt all settlement activity in a 2003 peace plan, but construction has never stopped.
Israel has rebuffed calls from the Obama administration to freeze all settlement construction, instead offering to limit it in the West Bank while retaining the right to continue building in Jerusalem.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he will not resume negotiations until all settlement construction stops.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has spent much of this week seeking to clarify the American position.The Associated Press-By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinians... more
With the threat of aftershocks in the US Stock market, continued bank closings and takeovers by the FDIC, serious consideration needs to be given to changing the current reporting, auditing and oversight regulations, and the public needs to pressure elected officials into action before our entire country is taken off financial life support.
This is the first cogent look at the efficacy of waging strategic cyber war and I hope will serve to slow the rhetoric coming from the US Defense community about acquiring cyber offensive capability: “Can cyberattacks disarm cyberattackers? In a world of cheap computing, ubiquitous networking, and hackers who could be anywhere, the answer is no.”
The Gameshelf Players tackle Diplomacy, the classic board game of international intrigue. And, optionally, cool hats.
Will Germany and England maintain their fragile alliance? Will Italy convince France to turn on her allies? And what exactly is Austria wearing, anyway?
This is episode 7 of The Gameshelf, a half-hour TV show about game history and culture.The Gameshelf Players tackle Diplomacy, the classic board game of international... more
Tomorrow the U.S. will meet with Iran to seal the deal that could take the country's uranium away. Michael Adler on why the moment is the ultimate test of Obama's engagement policy.Tomorrow the U.S. will meet with Iran to seal the deal that could take the country's... more
Yesterday morning, while rubbing my sleepy eyes and trying to fully wake, an exclamation came from the other side of the house, “Now that’s political! OBAMA GOT THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE!”Yesterday morning, while rubbing my sleepy eyes and trying to fully wake, an... more
t is time to clarify the debate over Iran and its nuclear program. It's easy to criticize the current course adopted by the United States and its allies, to huff and puff about Iranian mendacity, to point out that Russia and China won't agree to tougher measures against Tehran, and to detail the leaks in the sanctions already in place. But what, then, should the United States do? The critics are eager to denounce the administration from the sidelines for being weak but rarely detail what they would do to be "tough." Would they attack Iran today? If not, then what should we do? It is time to put up or shut up on Iran.
There are three basic options that the United States and its allies have regarding Iran's nuclear program. We can bomb Iran, engage it diplomatically, or contain and deter the threat it poses. Let me outline what each would entail and then explain why I favor containment and deterrenct is time to clarify the debate over Iran and its nuclear program. It's easy to... more
Is the best way to counter the rise of bike gangs in Canada for the government to create a rival bike gang? No. Is the best way to counter Somali pirates to develop piratical abilities? No. Is the best way to fight biologic weapons to develop more virulent pathogens? No.
Federal Agencies and the Defense Department have inadequate cyber defenses, but the course of action should be to beef those defenses up, not to resort to cyber attacks as some sort of deterrent. The best way to counter cyber attacks is with cyber defense.Is the best way to counter the rise of bike gangs in Canada for the government to... more
(The U.S. Mission in Geneva is festooned with solar panels, and it now uses a high-efficiency air-conditioning system.)
Until four years ago, the United States Mission in Geneva was another unassuming concrete office block in the city’s diplomatic district.
Now staff members can boast the building is a showcase for green technologies.
The transformation began when the exterior of the building began to crumble earlier this decade. Instead of carrying out a straightforward restoration, however, diplomats asked the State Department to install a solar electric system.
Douglas M. Griffiths, the deputy permanent representative at the mission and an economic officer there when the idea for the solar system arose, said the panels protected the facade from sun and water and reduced the need for cooling by shading the windows.
But Mr. Griffiths said the project also had political benefits at a time when the United States was seen by many governments as turning up its nose at global efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
**********
More at link.
This seems to be the only US building abroad using so much renewable, clean energy - a show for the UN and for the very environment-conscious Swiss people...(The U.S. Mission in Geneva is festooned with solar panels, and it now uses a... more
Senior Pakistani sources have accused Britain of failing to do enough to tackle home-grown terrorists and maintain they are falsely being blamed for harbouring extremists plotting to attack the UK. A senior Pakistan diplomat told the Guardian that his country was being treated as a "whipping boy" by Britain. The terrorists, including those convicted on Monday for the airlines plot, were "born and brought up" in Britain, not Pakistan, he said.Senior Pakistani sources have accused Britain of failing to do enough to tackle... more
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - When billionaire Steve Bing heard his friend Bill Clinton was embarking on a mission to free U.S. journalists in North Korea, Bing offered his jet -- a personal favor that could cost $200,000.
Avjet Corp, the charter company that operates and manages Bing's Boeing business jet, was alerted on Friday to prepare to fly to North Korea, said Andrew Bradley, senior vice president of the Burbank, Calif.-based company.
"He's a personal friend and supporter of Mr. Clinton and when the need arose, he graciously offered his aircraft to be part of this historic event," Bradley told Reuters on Wednesday.
Former President Clinton returned with the American journalists Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, on Wednesday. They arrived at Burbank's airport at dawn to an emotional homecoming after being freed from custody in Communist North Korea where they faced possibly serving 12 years of hard labor.
The trip required extensive coordination with the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Air Force because U.S. aircraft are restricted from flying into North Korea, Bradley said.
By early Saturday morning, the charter company had obtained a letter of authorization from the State Department. Before landing in North Korea, the jet had to stop at U.S. Air Force bases in Alaska and Japan.
Bing will pick up the tab of the round-trip, 25-hour flight -- which at $6,000 per hour will cost at least $150,000, Bradley said. The cost could easily reach $200,000 with incidentals like food, satellite phones and landing fees, he added.
A real estate scion and movie producer billionaire, Bing pitched in more than $40 million in support of a California referendum turned back by voters in 2006 that would have placed a tax on oil production to fund green energy projects.See? It all comes back to Movie News...
--
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - When... more
President Clinton did more than free two unjustly jailed journalists. He jump-started the successful diplomacy he had begun 15 years earlier.
In October 2000, then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Pyongyang. During Bill Clinton's presidency, the administration had locked down North Korea's plutonium production program, which had created enough deadly material for two bombs during the Reagan years. They had stopped all missile tests. They were a few details away from concluding a deal to end these programs completely.
But Clinton ran out of time. Enmeshed in Middle East peace talks, Clinton could not get assurances that a presidential visit to North Korea would seal the deal. He passed off the almost completed process to the incoming George W. Bush administration.
On March 6, 2001, new Secretary of State Colin Powell said, "We do plan to engage with North Korea to pick up where President Clinton and his administration left off." But Bush had different ideas. On March 7, Bush kneecapped Powell.
Serious options for diplomacy with North Korea were set aside. Negotiations were appeasement, the new administration believed, not a tool to advance American security. Then-Undersecretary of State John Bolton said in 2002 and repeats to this day, "We're not going to reward their bad behavior."
The strategy backfired. North Korea expanded plutonium production, exploded nuclear bombs, tested new missiles and traded nuclear technology to Syria and possibly Burma. North Korea's nuclear and missile programs advanced more in the George W. Bush administration then they had in the Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations combined.
Whether by accident or design, the Obama administration reset the diplomatic stage. Administration officials largely ignored North Korea for their first eight months in office. Kim Jong Il responded with provocative statements and actions. It almost spiraled out of control. But the Obama administration's patience -- or just policy drift, we may never know -- paid off.
Kim Jong Il's regime got weaker and more isolated. North Korea's main partners, China and Russia, turned against it, the U.N. Security Council imposed tough new sanctions, and Kim's own health deteriorated.
Now in a weaker position than at any time in his regime, Kim Jong Il has been on his best behavior for the past few months. This was the time for a power play, and Obama executed perfectly. He chose as his special envoy the most prestigious political figure in America outside the administration. It is a move that was sure to please the North Koreans, showing them the respect they crave, without costing America anything.
To capitalize on this breakthrough, the Obama administration must now continue to play large. It should show North Korea what good relations with the United States can lead to. Clinton's 20 hours in Pyongyang could pave the way for renewed diplomatic efforts, including direct dialogue between the United States and North Korea, the re-freezing of North Korea's nuclear program and even North Korea's return to the six-party talks.
However, in dealing with the North, actions are more important than words. The Obama administration must seize this moment as an opportunity not only to articulate a plan for North Korean nuclear disarmament but to take concrete steps towards a secure and stable Korean Peninsula. The president should use the momentum Clinton's trip has generated to unfold a comprehensive, consistent regional security strategy.
With this success, Bill Clinton has demonstrated what effective diplomacy looks like. He has shown the former Bush officials what they should have done years ago. He may have convinced senior White House strategists that diplomacy is a political winner, paying dividends across issue areas.
Two power players, Obama and Clinton, have together taken a giant step forward, advancing the agenda Clinton began 15 years ago. America is the better for it.
More @ Link.President Clinton did more than free two unjustly jailed journalists. He jump-started... more
Top leaders of the US and China are meeting in Washington to discuss key economic and political differences.
President Obama said the relationship between the US and China would shape the 21st century and said the two shared a "mutual interest".
China has sent Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councillor Dai Bingguo.
The meeting, called the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, is the first formal negotiation between the US and China since Mr Obama took office.
The talks will cover a range of issues, including halting the spread of nuclear weapons in North Korea and Iran, and creating clean and secure energy sources.
But the main focus will be on working towards economic recovery.
"The current crisis has made it clear that the choices made within our borders reverberate across the global economy - and this is true not just of New York and Seattle, but Shanghai and Shenzhen as well," President Obama said at the start of the meeting.
"That is why we must remain committed to strong bilateral and multilateral coordination."
Vice Premier Wang also said it was a "critical moment" for the world economy as it moves out of crisis and towards recovery.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton co-host the talks.Top leaders of the US and China are meeting in Washington to discuss key economic and... more
