In the Issue

• The Real Implications of Obama's Missile Shield Decision
• NGO Experts Evaluate Implementation of Key UN Resolution
• The US and the Changing Global Order
• The G-20: It's Official!
• African Union Takes Unified Stance Heading Toward Copenhagen

Features

The Real Implications of Obama's Missile Shield Decision. On September 17, President Obama scrapped the proposed long-range antiballistic missile shield in Eastern Europe. Analysts and pundits alike have generally evaluated this decision from two separate perspectives. Stanley Foundation senior fellow Michael Kraig argues that these two dominant positions miss a third and equally important aspect—the treatment of Russia as a rising power in a new multipolar world made up of nations who are neither all-out enemies nor all-out friends. Read more about what Kraig says are the real implications of Obama’s missile shield decision.

NGO Experts Evaluate Implementation of Key UN Resolution. UN Security Council Resolution 1540, passed in 2004, requires all nations to adopt and enforce laws to prohibit nonstate actors to manufacture; acquire; possess; develop; transport; transfer; or use nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons and delivery means, in particular for terrorist purposes. Last week it underwent a comprehensive review at the United Nations. The Stanley Foundation hosted a parallel NGO summit where new analysis was offered from dozens of experts.

The US and the Changing Global Order. Across politics, economics, culture, military strength, and more, a new group of countries has growing influence over the future of the world. "Today, everyone agrees that China, India, even Russia, are regaining power across many dimensions. What this means for America, though, is the subject of intense debate." Learn more about what all of this means for the United States. This article is part of a series related to the Stanley Foundation effort "Rising Powers: The New Global Reality."

Beyond the Headlines

The G-20: It's Official! The G-20's final meeting in 2009 unfolded in Pittsburgh with leaders trying to nurture the economic recovery and lock in new financial safeguards. But leaders were also thinking about the future of these global summits. The Stanley Foundation’s David Shorr and Sean Harder found themselves in the midst of the media frenzy offering the foundation's take on the summits. "Whether the G-8, G-20, or some other arrangement, these summits are vitally important to global order and global security," says Shorr. "Basically, it's a test of leadership. How will leading nations lead?"

African Union Takes Unified Stance Heading Toward Copenhagen. Recently African officials met in Addis Ababa to forge a unified stance on climate change policies in preparation for December’s Copenhagen summit. “Africa’s development aspirations are at stake unless urgent steps are taken to address the problems of climate change,” African Union Commission chair Jean Ping said to the assembly. Africa is home to15 of the 20 states most vulnerable to the effects of global warming. Yet it is often least represented at key international summits where important actions on curbing climate change are discussed, such as the G-8 and G-20. "Unlike the G-8 outreach programs and the G-20 summits, we will participate in the upcoming climate negotiations not as invitees—but as full-blooded negotiators," said Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Zenawi will chair the African negotiating team in Copenhagen and lead Africa’s strong push for legally binding reparations from G-8 countries to Africa. "I do not want to be misunderstood," said Zenawi. "Africa will not be there to express its participation by merely warming the chairs or making perfunctory statements. We want to be and deserve to be in the thick of it."

Many say Africa’s ability to negotiate at climate change summits in the past has been severely compromised due to a lack of a unified stance on the part of African leaders. Zenawi and others insist that the Copenhagen summit will be different.