Recently, the economic front of US–China major-power rivalry has deepened and expanded beyond the legalistic confines of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Many in Australia, which has the US as its security ally and main source and destination of investment and China as its main trading partner, are rightly concerned by this evolution.
Purchasing a fleet of fighter aircraft is a complex process with many variables and the Canadian government has a duty to ensure the billions of procurement dollars required are properly spent. The interplay between the four dimensions involved in military procurement (military, technological, economic, and political) defies simple analysis. The government has directed the Canadian Armed Forces to ensure Canadian sovereignty, defend North America, and engage in extraterritorial missions. The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) has responded to its responsibilities to support these commitments with a thorough, capability-based Statement of Requirements for the future fighter, taking critical functionalities of operating in the future battlespace and emerging technologies into consideration.
The federal government has pledged to update Canada’s official development assistance (ODA) policy and this paper examines the potential important role of remittances in the development program. Remittances can serve as a significant form of cross-border capital flows and can have sizable effects on both the sending and receiving countries. This policy piece provides an overview of trends in global remittances and gives a context for the policy discussion on the relationship between remittances and ODA. The paper discusses the primary reasons behind global remittances and their impacts on sending and receiving countries, with a particular emphasis on Canada, the United States and Mexico. Past findings provide insight into the reasons and impacts of remittances on both developed and developing countries. Within the context of Canada, the paper also examines how remittances have been able to complement and possibly drive other development reform efforts domestically and abroad. The goal of the analysis is to help inform the policy discussion in Canada and concludes with a set of policy recommendations for the Canadian federal government.
In January-February of 2019, activity in foreign exchange markets has further escalated. According to the information provided by the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), during the corresponding period 951 million US dollars were sold, including 634.9 million in January and 316.2 million in February. This is 47.2% higher than the same period of the previous year.
Thank you for the opportunity to join this distinguished panel to discuss Armenia’s democratic transformation and steps the United States and other international partners can take to work with the government in Yerevan, along with Armenian citizens and the Armenian diaspora, to strengthen rule of law and transparency in Armenia. As you may be aware, the German Marshall Fund of the United States and our Black Sea Trust based in Bucharest continue to support democracy, civil society, and free media in Armenia and across Eastern Europe.
Topic:
International Relations, International Political Economy, and International Affairs
I
n prepared remarks delivered at the Hudson Institute May 29, the Director of the Defense Intelligence
Agency (DIA), Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, Jr., charged that “Russia probably is not adhering to its nuclear testing
moratorium in a manner consistent with the ‘zero-yield’ standard outlined in the 1996 Comprehensive Test
Ban Treaty (CTBT).”
Russia has vigorously denied the allegation. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the accusation “a crude
provocation” and pointed to the United States’ failure to ratify the CTBT.
On June 12, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, “we are acting in full and absolute accordance with the
treaty ratified by Moscow and in full accordance with our unilateral moratorium on nuclear tests.”
The DIA director’s remarks, and a subsequent June 13 statement on the subject, are quite clearly part of an
effort by Trump administration hardliners to suggest that Russia is conducting nuclear tests to improve its arsenal,
and that the United States must be free of any constraints on its own nuclear weapons development effort, and,
indirectly, to try to undermine the CTBT itself—a treaty the Trump administration has already said it will not ratify.
The challenges posed by the new U.S. allegations are significant and they demand a proactive plan of action by
“friends of the CTBT” governments for a number of reasons.
Topic:
International Relations, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Nuclear Weapons
Political Geography:
Russia, Eurasia, North America, and United States of America