Radio Free Europe

Steven Clemons on Paul Wolfowitz, World Bank on Radio Free Europe

Communications — Tue, 15 May 2007 09:21:00 -0400

New America in the News:

May 15, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Because of his central role in U.S. war plans in Iraq, Paul Wolfowitz has always stirred passions.

Today, he faces what may be a make-or-break meeting on his future before the World Bank's 24-nation board of shareholder governments.

That comes after the bank's ethics panel concluded on May 14 that Wolfowitz violated his contract, and called on the board to determine today whether he is able to "provide the leadership needed" for the bank to fulfill its mission...

There have been periodic protests outside the bank's headquarters in Washington, including one last week. They follow revelations last month that Wolfowitz arranged for a lucrative pay raise in the reassignment of his longtime companion, Shaha Riza, who remained on the bank's payroll...

Steve Clemons, an analyst with the New America Foundation, says a lot of the opposition to Wolfowitz is based as much on his past role at the Pentagon as it is on his present one at the World Bank.

"I think that for many people, this battle is a proxy war for Paul Wolfowitz's blind spots and judgment errors in a host of other areas," Clemons says...

For the complete article, please visit the Radio Free Europe website.

Flynt Leverett Interviewed by Radio Free Europe on Iran

Communications — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 23:01:00 -0400

New America in the News:

PRAGUE, October 25, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- U.S. energy-security expert Flynt Leverett is an experienced voice on Middle East affairs, having formerly served as a U.S. National Security Council adviser on that region. Leverett, who is now director of the New America Foundation's Geopolitics and Energy Security Project, spoke on October 24 with Radio Farda about U.S. efforts to discourage Iran's nuclear ambitions. Leverett said on the sidelines of the Prague Energy Forum -- organized by RFE/RL in partnership with the Warsaw-based Institute for Eastern Studies -- that he thinks Washington's current approach has not "been fruitful."

RFE/RL: Iran says it is in favor of negotiations, but [that] there should be no preconditions. Do you feel that this would be acceptable to the United States under any circumstances?

Flynt Leverett: At this moment, U.S. policy is that the Iranians should suspend all of their enrichment-related activities as a precondition for negotiations. Apparently, in the last few weeks, Mr. [Javier] Solana of the European Union has been trying to work out a formula whereby perhaps the Iranians would agree to a suspension for a certain period of time, but maybe the day after talks started, so it wouldn't formally be a precondition. But those efforts proved unsuccessful. I think it will be very difficult for the Bush administration to enter talks with Iran without some kind of prior understanding about suspension [regarding] what kinds of activities Iran would be allowed to carry out or not carry out while negotiations were moving forward. I think the administration attaches a high priority to that, and it would be a difficult hurdle to get over in order to get the United States into some kind of negotiating process...

For the complete interview, please visit the Radio Free Europe website.

Anatol Lieven Discusses the Georgia-Russia Crisis on Radio Free Europe

Communications — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 01:05:00 -0400

New America in the News:

PRAGUE, October 6, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Some commentators see the latest confrontation between Georgia and Russia as another test of wills between Russia and the United States for influence in what Moscow considers its backyard. RFE/RL correspondent Jeremy Bransten asks Anatol Lieven, a well-known journalist, author and historian of the region currently with the New America Foundation in Washington, for his take on a crisis that has broad regional implications.

RFE/RL: Many Russian analysts portray Mikheil Saakashvili as a U.S. puppet. They note that he has been receiving U.S. military equipment as well as encouragement to take his country out of Russia's sphere of influence. Their conclusion is that Saakashvili wouldn't have started this very public row with Russia without coordinating with Washington. What's your sense? Who is calling the shots? Is Saakashvili being used as a proxy by Washington, or did he initiate this latest skirmish with Moscow?

Anatol Lieven: I think Saakashvili almost certainly did this on his own. I find it very hard to believe that the Bush administration would have encouraged him to do this. So from that point of view the Russians are simply engaging in conspiracy-minded paranoia, as unfortunately they very often do. There is, however, a wider issue, which is the fact that America is [indeed] arming, equipping, and training the Georgian armed forces. And giving such strong diplomatic and economic support to Georgia naturally encourages the administration in Tbilisi to take a harder line than it would otherwise do vis-a-vis Russia and also, perhaps, vis-a-vis the two unsolved separatist conflicts in Georgia: Abkhazia and South Ossetia...

For the complete interview, please visit the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website.