APSNet 16 November 2009

1. G2 a new world order
2. Summit set to fail on climate deal
3. [Afghanistan] Combat support essential, Rudd tells Dutch
4. Nato taskforce to form ‘Afghan FBI’ and root out high-level corruption
5. Strong statement starts effort to mend Indian relationship
6. Australian boat used in asylum seeker shooting
7. CIA bankroll of Pakistan spies revealed

1. G2 a new world order, Goeff Kitney, AFR*, 2009-11-14

How the US and China interact in this period of challenge and change will be the relationship that shapes the 21st century. Analysts are already predicting that the only architecture that will really matter will be the G2 – the bilateral relationship between the US and China. Government officials say that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s Asia-Pacific Community proposal is a response to these dramatic changes now taking place and his strong belief that there needs to be a new regional structure that helps manage the risks of future rivalry between China and the US by creating common interests and obligations.
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• Kevin Rudd seeks security pact at APEC, Matthew Franklin, Australian, 2009-11-14

2. Summit set to fail on climate deal, Katharine Murphy, Age, 2009-11-16

The APEC regional forum has ended hopes for a new global treaty on climate change in December, with leaders conceding Copenhagen will deliver only a political framework for future action. The APEC summit also failed to reach an internal consensus on specific targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions. A plan to include a 50 per cent cut in 1990-level carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 was dropped from the official communiqué because of China’s objections.

• Copenhagen summit: Change we can’t yet believe in, Editorial, Guardian, 2009-11-16

3. Combat support essential, Rudd tells Dutch, Phillip Coorey, SMH, 2009-11-13

Kevin Rudd has issued a personal plea to the Dutch Prime Minister, asking him to reconsider withdrawing his nation’s troops from Afghanistan. Mr Rudd rang Jan Peter Balkenende after spending 24 hours with Australian troops in the southern Afghan province of Oruzgan. Australia has about 1550 troops in the area and relies heavily on the Dutch for combat support. But the Dutch Parliament is debating a full withdrawal of its troops next year.

• Gordon Brown seeks 5,000 allied troops for Afghanistan, Andrew Porter, Telegraph, 2009-11-13

4. Nato taskforce to form ‘Afghan FBI’ and root out high-level corruption, Jon Boone, Guardian, 2009-11-15

Western soldiers are to begin investigating high-profile Afghans suspected of involvement in what one American official describes as a “criminal mafia state” in a sign of the growing international exasperation with Hamid Karzai’s failure to crack down on corruption. A taskforce being established by Nato in Kabul will consist of a small team of anti-corruption officers, as well as a criminal investigator and prosecutor who hope senior generals will be able to stop cases being derailed by opposition from the Afghan government.

• Is Karzai losing US support?, Nick Spicer, Aljazeera, 2009-11-15

5. Strong statement starts effort to mend Indian relationship, Phillip Coorey, SMH, 2009-11-13

Mr Rudd told the Indian Council for World Affairs that India was emerging as a significant global power which, alongside China, would ”shape the pattern of history in the 21st century”. In a series of overtures to New Delhi, Mr Rudd endorsed India’s push to become a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum and made assurances that his Government was doing all it could to stop attacks on Indian students. Mr Rudd, however, did not budge on the other major irritant between the countries – Australia’s refusal to sell India uranium because it has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

• Problems to partnership: a plan for Australia-India strategic ties, Rory Medcalf, Lowy Institute, 2009-11 [PDF, 430KB]

6. Australian boat used in asylum seeker shooting, Geoff Thompson, ABC, 2009-11-16

Indonesian police have confirmed an Australian-supplied fast boat was involved in the interception of Afghan asylum seekers, which led to two men being shot. But they deny an allegation from one of the survivors of the incident, suggesting the shootings took place after police solicited a bribe of more than $50,000 from the 61 Afghans who were headed for Australia.

• Indonesia moves to deport 130 asylum seekers, Tom Allard, Age, 2009-11-16
• Malaysia’s people-smuggling crime move a win for Rudd, Matthew Franklin, Australian, 2009-11-16

7. CIA bankroll of Pakistan spies revealed, Greg Miller, Age, 2009-11-16

The CIA has funnelled hundreds of millions of dollars to Pakistan’s intelligence service since the September 11, 2001, attacks, accounting for one-third of the foreign spy agency’s annual budget, according to current and former US officials. Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency had also collected tens of millions of dollars through a classified CIA program that paid for the capture or killing of wanted militants, a clandestine counterpart to the rewards publicly offered by the State Department, officials said.

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