All Blog Posts from World Watch

Turkey's president has sought to allay Western fears that his country — NATO's only majority-Muslim member — is shifting its affinity from Washington and Europe toward Iran.

Increasing closeness between Turkish leaders and Iran, and Turkey's quest for better ties in the broader Muslim world, have fueled concerns in the West that this key U.S. ally is moving gradually to the East.

But Turkey's president used a speech Monday at the opening of an Islamic nations' summit in Istanbul to try and ease worried Western minds.

President Abdullah Gul told the Organization for the Islamic Conference's Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) that Turkey's foreign policy maneuvers in the West and in the East are "complementary to each other, not contradictory."

Read full post…

Just for the record, the British and American governments would like you all to know that President Obama and Prime Minister Brown get along just fine. They are good pals and have nothing but respect and admiration for each other, both in their personal and professional capacities.

Both governments are going out of their way to make that point Thursday morning after the latest eruption of indignation by the British press about Mr. Obama "snubbing" the U.K. leader on their simultaneous visit to New York.

"Angry Barack Obama rebuffs Gordon Brown," reads the headline in the conservative-leaning Telegraph. "Brown snubbed by Obama over private talks," was the more liberal Guardian's take.

According to British media, the White House rejected at least five requests for a bilateral meeting between Brown and Mr. Obama on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly. An ominous sign, the reports scare Britons into thinking, for the long-touted "special relationship" between the two allies.

Read full post…

The ground under U.S. policy toward Cuba took a significant shift today.

Mauricio Funes was inaugurated as President of El Salvador and, as announced previously, he immediately restored diplomatic relations with Havana. That left Washington as the odd man out, the only country in the Americas without normal relations with its Caribbean neighbor and long-time thorn in its side.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in San Salvador for Funes' assumption of power, was nevertheless very upbeat in remarks to the press. She described the Obama administration's May 22 offer to resume bilateral migration talks with Cuba as "part of our effort to forge a new way forward on Cuba that advances the interests of the United States, the Cuban people and our entire hemisphere," adding that the Administration was "very pleased" with the Cuba's acceptance of the offer.

Read full post…

On March 23, 2009, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez described President Obama as "ignorant," saying that he needs some schooling on Latin America. What a difference a few weeks makes. At the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad today, Chavez and Obama shook hands but didn't come out fighting.

According to CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller, Mr. Obama walked across the room and introduced himself to Mr. Chavez. Photos made available by the Venezuelan government show the two presidents smiling, and Obama touching Chavez's shoulder during their brief encounter. The Venezuelan press office said that Chavez told Obama, "With this same hand I greeted Bush eight years ago. I want to be your friend." The White House isn't commenting on the encounter.

The AP reported that Chavez characterized the meeting as follows: "We shook each other's hands like gentlemen, and it was predictable this would happen."

The recent changes in U.S. policy toward Cuba, such as lifting curbs on travel and money transfers, is contributing to a thawing effect, but don’t expect Chavez’s trash-talking to abate as he goes about resetting relations with the U.S. He gets a lot of mileage in his region from his anti-American stance and accusation that the U.S. is out to steal Venezuela’s ample oil reserves.

Earlier this week, President Obama announced that he was lifting curbs on travel and money transfers, and he challenged Cuba to make improvements in the areas of human rights and freedoms.

Thursday, from a summit in Venezuela, Cuban President Raul Castro made a bold response: "We have sent word to the U.S. government in private and in public that we are willing to discuss everything — human rights, freedom of the press, political prisoners, everything."

The dialogue-in-soundbites was an unusually direct exchange between an American president and a Castro. It's a poker game between a young, popular president and an old fox; President Obama called out Raul Castro with an offer to negotiate, and Castro upped the ante by putting everything on the table.

Read full post…

A Lebanese flag flew over Beirut Monday, hoisted atop the first-ever Lebanese Embassy in Damascus.

There were no festivities to accompany the final, long-awaited step in the establishment of full diplomatic relations between the two countries for the first time in their 60 year history.

Read full post…

Although Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has not met with two senior U.S. envoys, Damascus and Washington sounded upbeat on Saturday that their first high-level talks in the Syrian capital in four years would result in better ties between the two countries after years of tension.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem sat with Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and Daniel Shapiro, a senior staffer on the National Security Council, for four hours as both sides tested the waters to see what concrete offers will emerge as the countries seek a closer rapprochement.

Read full post…

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shook hands with her Syrian counterpart Monday as the two attended a conference in Egypt on rebuilding the Gaza Strip.

The simple handshake before lunch was the highest-level contact between the two countries in years.

Read full post…

They’re off and running.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s high-profile diplomatic shock troops have now been named and are in place, flying hither and yon, chairing meetings and doing whatever else is necessary to start solving the biggest foreign policy headaches the Obama administration faces.

Read full post…

Two U.S. lawmakers came out of talks with Syrian leaders on Saturday more hopeful Damascus would engage in dialogue with the new administration as Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad denounced what he called Washington's “dictation policy” of recent years.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, D-Calif., both agreed they see prospects for better relations with Syria, a country shunned under Bush.

Read full post…