Bronwen De Sena

Articles

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Corruption Concerns Plague Kazakstan's Rise

DEVELOPMENTS On January 1, 2010, Kazakhstan assumed the chairmanship of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), amid unusual controversy. Kazakhstan succeeded Greece in the rotating chairmanship of the 56-country body, which is the world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Formed in the Cold War to diffuse East-West tensions, the forum focuses on arms control, free and fair elections, and human rights issues. The OSCE is one of the preeminent forums for Western governments to engage with Russia and former Soviet republics, such as Kazakhstan on the issues of human rights, democracy and clean government. Many observers therefore find Kazakhstan's leadership problematic given its well-documented history of corruption and human rights abuses.

February 28, 2010
Bronwen De Sena
Corruption - February 2010

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Colombia: U.S. Base Sparks Suspicions

The United States and Colombia have finalized a deal that will allow U.S. military access to seven Colombian bases for the next ten years. Both parties have insisted that the agreement reinforces an existing partnership fighting regional narco-trafficking; however, very few of the terms have been released, garnering policy-makers’ suspicions and regional accusations. At stake may be U.S. aid standards founded on humanitarian and legal bases, as well as U.S. legitimacy in a pocket of the world growing increasingly resentful of historical U.S. hemispheric hegemony. After the announcement of the deal’s conclusion, Latin American leaders and policy-makers officially condemned the move; and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dramatically declared at a meeting of the Union of South American nations that “winds of warfare” were blowing across the continent.

December 1, 2009
Bronwen De Sena
Longstanding Conflict - December 2009