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Strategic Survey 2007: The Annual Review of World Affairs

The chaos in Iraq since the 2003 American-led invasion has undermined the stature and credibility of the United States in world affairs. Strategic Survey 2007: The Annual Review of World Affairs examines the effects of this loss of authority, finding that other countries are either seeking to take advantage of perceived weakness, or to reconsider their security arrangements. The book’s essays consider new evidence that al-Qaeda retains the ability to instigate global terrorism, and investigate the implications of climate change for international security. In region-by-region analysis of the events of the past year, Strategic Survey 2007 examines the latest moves in confrontations over Iranian and North Korean nuclear programmes, as well as in Iraq and the Middle East. Developments in Latin America, Africa, Russia and Asia are given full coverage, as well as the emergence of new leadership in Europe. The events of the past year are listed in a chronology, and the book is fully indexed.
Volume: 2007
ISBN: 978-1857434385
Date: 12 September 2007

The chaos in Iraq since the 2003 American-led invasion has undermined the stature and credibility of the United States in world affairs. Strategic Survey 2007: The Annual Review of World Affairs examines the effects of this loss of authority, finding that other countries are either seeking to take advantage of perceived weakness, or to reconsider their security arrangements. The book’s essays consider new evidence that al-Qaeda retains the ability to instigate global terrorism, and investigate the implications of climate change for international security. In region-by-region analysis of the events of the past year, Strategic Survey 2007 examines the latest moves in confrontations over Iranian and North Korean nuclear programmes, as well as in Iraq and the Middle East. Developments in Latin America, Africa, Russia and Asia are given full coverage, as well as the emergence of new leadership in Europe. The events of the past year are listed in a chronology, and the book is fully indexed.

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  • Events at a Glance

    May 2006–June 2007 May 2006 25 Timor Leste: Australian and other foreign troops deployed to quell violence. 27 Indonesia: Earthquake in central Java kills 5,700 people. 28 Colombia: Alvaro Uribe easily wins second four-year term in presidential election. 29 Afghanistan: Accident involving US military truck sparks riots and looting in Kabul, leaving eight dead. 29 Sri Lanka: European Union places Tamil Tigers on list of banned organisations. 31 Iran: US says it is willing to...

  • Chapter 1: Perspectives

    The effects of the profound loss of authority suffered by the United States since its invasion of Iraq were felt throughout the world over the past year. The weak pillar in the world’s security architecture was plain to see, and leaders across the globe sought to take advantage, or to protect themselves from the consequences. This was despite the efforts of the administration of President George W. Bush to present, through...

  • Chapter 2: Strategic Policy Issues

    Islamist Terrorism: al-Qaeda Resurgent The threat from Islamist terrorism remains as high as ever, and looks set to get worse. This is evident from several developments that have become apparent over the past year. Firstly, there is increasing evidence that ‘core’ al-Qaeda is proving adaptable and resilient, and has retained an ability to plan and coordinate large-scale attacks in the Western world despite the attrition it has suffered. Secondly, a...

  • Chapter 3: The Americas

    The United States: Facing Reality? President George W. Bush has been many times accused of living in a state of denial, but his press conference on 8 November 2006 was a forthright display of lucid reckoning. In midterm elections the opposition Democrats had just won easy control of the House of Representatives, and in the Senate (though at press-conference time votes were still being counted), a one-seat advantage. ‘It was...

  • Chapter 4: Europe

    Europe has over the past year begun to pull itself out of a period of internal discord and institutional atrophy. The divisions caused by the 2003 Iraq War had been followed by a setback in 2005 to the long-term project of European integration. The rejection by French and Dutch voters – British voters, if asked, would have done the same – of an EU ‘constitution’ had shown how disconnected from...

  • Chapter 5: Russia/Eurasia

    Russia’s relations with the United States and some European countries deteriorated throughout 2006 and the first half of 2007, in the midst of increasingly assertive, even hostile, rhetoric from the Russian leadership, including President Vladimir Putin. Traditional sources of tension, including Russia’s retreat from democracy and Russian–US rivalry in the countries of the former Soviet bloc, were reinforced by US plans to deploy elements of missile defence in central Europe...

  • Chapter 6: Middle East/Gulf

    It was a year of unmitigated gloom in the Middle East and Persian Gulf region. The conflict in Iraq continued unabated, with a high death toll. The Bush administration, under growing pressure to bring American troops home, wrestled with options for the future. Iran’s confrontation with the West over its nuclear programme brought a series of condemnatory United Nations Security Council resolutions and no progress in negotiations, although the first...

  • Chapter 7: Africa

    While a more buoyant mood prevailed in much of Africa, the past year was uneven for political developments on the continent. The most dramatic turn of events came with Ethiopia’s US-supported intervention in Somalia in December 2006. After six months during which the Union of Islamic Courts had given Somalia its closest approximation to effective rule for more than 15 years, the intervention achieved an unexpectedly swift victory for Somalia’s...

  • Chapter 8: Asia

    The economic rise of China and India dominated developments in Asia over the past year. While trade and investment ties between China and the United States became ever closer, the relationship between the two capitals was characterised simultaneously by closer engagement and verbal fencing. India developed its relations with China and the United States, but the slow steps towards the hoped-for India–US civil nuclear agreement suggested that long-standing mutual suspicions...

  • Chapter 9: Prospectives

    Moving towards 2008, there is a sense that the world is approaching key turning points in a number of international crises, but that at the same time, the shifts in the global balance of power do not herald decisive and effective action to deal with these crises. The Iraq conflict will enter its sixth year during a US presidential election campaign, and decisions on deployments, withdrawals and the redefinition of the...

  • Strategic Geography

    Global Issues Europe Middle East/Gulf Asia-Pacific Africa Americas
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