Tag: Ukraine

C+ is not a good grade

President Vucic, like Putin, tells you what you need to know. It really is not veiled.

C+ is what I would give as a grade for implementation of the year-old “Agreement on the path to normalisation between Kosovo and Serbia.” Koha asked for an interview on this subject but then did not call at the appointed time. So I wrote this piece instead. It’s a B or B+ for Pristina and a C for Belgrade.

Let’s break it down article by article:

Good neighborly relations:

Certainly not in general, but there has been some limited progress on mutual recognition of their respective documents and national symbols, including passports, diplomas, license plates, and customs stamps. Pristina was never the problem. Belgrade has moved on this. B or B+ I guess.

Respect for the UN Charter:

Serbia fails (that’s an F) miserably on respect for “the sovereign equality of all States, respect for their independence, autonomy and territorial integrity.” Kosovo gets a B+, marked down due to continued shortcomings in protection of human rights and non-discrimination. Things are improving in those departments, but problems remain.

Peaceful settlement of disputes:

Serbia fails (F) on settlement of disputes exclusively by peaceful means and refraining from the threat or use of force. Belgrade sponsored the September 24 attempted uprising intended to create a pretext for the use of force, which it threatened by mobilizing its forces on Kosovo’s borders. Belgrade had also already kidnapped two Kosovo police from Kosovo territory and organized a mob that attacked NATO-led peacekeepers. Kosovo has no real option for use of force, but nevertheless gets an A for the police handling of the September 24 incident.

International representation:

Serbia (D) continues to oppose Kosovo’s membership in international organizations. Kosovo (A) has not to my knowledge objected to Serbia’s membership in them.

EU path:

Serbia (D) is no longer in transition to democracy and does not align with EU foreign policy, especially but not only on Ukraine and Russia. Kosovo (B+) is moving in the right direction on democracy and does respect EU foreign policy.

Dialogue process:

Neither Belgrade nor Pristina is much engaged, the former because it objects to the basic premises and the latter because it has gotten little benefit. C+ for both.

Treatment of the Serbian community in Kosovo:

Kosovo has conceded little on “self-management” but is resolving one important issue concerning Serbian Orthodox Church property at Decan/i. Pristina has muddied the waters on financial support from Belgrade by insisting on use of the euro but there is really no bar to direct communication for the Serbian community with the Kosovo government. B for Pristina, but no better than a C+ for Belgrade, which insists on violating Kosovo law in transferring finances opaquely and in dinars.

EU and others’ support package:

I really don’t know. Has it been created? Is anything happening on this front?

Joint Committee on implementation:

Is this just the Dialogue writ small, or has such a thing been created?

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Stevenson’s army, February 18

– WaPo book review tells how anti-tax movement captured GOP

– WaPo columnist sees value in Washington books

– CRS has new background paper on the budget process

– Brookings has a debate about Ukraine policy

– I like DARPA and wish DOD would do more OTA. Here’s background on the approach.

– Pakistani official admits election rigging

– Fred Kaplan skewers Tucker Carlson

My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here, with occasional videos of my choice. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).

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Stevenson’s army, February 17

– NYT says Israel was behind attacks on Iranian pipelines

– WaPo says Russia has been running disinformation campaign against  Zelensky

– Politico says UAE limits US attacks in region

– Ukraine withdraws from Avdiivka

– Brookings tracks Ukraine data

– Oscar-winning Navalny documentary is available on HBO MAX

Survey shows Republican parents are raising Democratic daughters.

More on Gen Z views

My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here, with occasional videos of my choice. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).

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Stevenson’s army, February 16

– CBO says interest on the debt will cost more than defense this year.

– CBO also says immigration will add $7 trillion to GDP

– RAND analyst says DOD needs reform, not more money

WH briefing on Russian ASAT and Ukraine

– Vox summarizes US space capabilities

– US has new satellite system

– Politico says Sullivan worked with Van Hollen on military aid conditions

IG report on Ukraine aid

Ecuador sets referendum

– NYT investigates how Iran evades sanctions  and how Russia mitigated them

– Politico says nobody knows which political ads work

From Punchbowl: Ten House members (five from each party) have drafted a compromise Ukraine-Taiwan-Israel-border security bill. You can read the text here, and the summary here.

My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here, with occasional videos of my choice. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).

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Stevenson’s army, February 14

Trump sees a protection racket because he is a mob boss.

– FT say 18 of 31 NATO members will hit 2% target this year

Trump advisor explains his NATO plan

– WaPo tries to explain Sen.Graham’s policy shifts

– J Street endorses 2 state solution [DPS comment: J Street has long endorsed two states. The news here is openness to recogntion before a final settlement]

– WH has new critical technologies list

Happy Valentine’s Day!

My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here, with occasional videos of my choice. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).

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Stevenson’s army, February 13

– IISS released its annual military posture report, covered here.

– Here’s the background report for the Munich Security Conference, beginning this weekend.

UN report says North Korea has made over $3 billion in cyber attacks.

– USAF will keep B52s for decades more

– Just before dawn today, the Senate approved the $95 billion foreign aid package.

-The FY2025 budget won’t be released until March 11.

– Dan Drezner updates his Ideas Industry [part assigned for week 12]

History lesson: this is the 100th anniversary of a highly restrictive immigration law, anti-Catholic nativism at the Democratic National Convention, and Rhapsody in Blue.

My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here, with occasional videos of my choice. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).

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