The World Today

January 2011: January 2011

The Euro Sculpture in front of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt.

A new year always presents many risks and uncertainties - this is not unusual. However, the challenges that the global economy faces in 2011 include not only the normal threats posed by volatile background conditions, but also the possibility of a major structural break-up that might have far-reaching, possibly devastating, repercussions.

Articles

A Nigerian official checks the ballot box in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, 2007.

If you had visited Nigeria twelve months ago and came back now, you would feel the difference. The upcoming 2011 elections are one big reason why.

It is still early in a long story, and the impact of the release of the cache of classified governments documents by WikiLeaks is not yet clear. There will be local effects, some serious, but so far repercussions have not fundamentally changed the diplomacy game and there will bemore continuity than change in the long term.

British Prime Minister David Cameron at the Peking University in Beijing China

Former Foreign Secretary Lord Howe’s personal reflections on the Anglo-Chinese relationship.

With all eyes on southern Sudan, those interested in the stability of the wider region would be well advised not to overlook current and future events occupying Sudan’s western neighbours.

Russian policymakers have often viewed the historical narrative of their country in ways contrary to actors in the west-nowhere is this more prevalent than in the erroneous line of thinking that describes the 1990s as a decade of purposeful humiliation by the United States and European Union.

Afghanistan has been a major opiate producer for decades, but instead of the anticipated improvements since the invasion by the United States in 2001 under international watch, drug production has reached record levels.

Also in this issue

President Barack Obama boards Air Force One

Like White House victims of midterm shellackings before him, President Barack Obama spent much of November seeking respite on the world stage, from Lisbon to Jakarta, from Seoul to Delhi. On each occasion he returned to a Washington basking in an Indian summer that contrasted with a distinctly frosty domestic political climate.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama visit Istiqlal Mosque with Grand Imam Yaqub in Jakarta

When United States President Barack Obama came to office in January 2009, he set out his ambition for partnership between America and the Muslim world. His efforts may turn out to be just another episode in the long history of Washington’s uneasy attempts to promote good US-Muslim relations.

The head of United States African Command (AFRICOM), General Carter Ham speaks at the Sahel security conference in Algiers.

Throughout the past year Africa has experienced a range of highs and lows; from crowds thronging newly-built football stadiums in support of the World Cup to expanding militant activity, terrorist incidents and governmental corruption.