Five Foreign Policy Stories to Watch

Steve Clemons' Washington Note recommends tracking five foreign policy stories selected by Charles J. Brown that aren't getting much press.

1. Bolivia. This Sunday, voters will go to the polls to decide whether to recall Bolivian President Evo Morales (an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez), the Vice President, and nine provincial governors — many of whom are Morales critics.

2. Rwanda-France. On Tuesday, Rwanda issued a report formally accusing French government officials of complicity in the 1994 genocide.

3. Mauritania. On Wednesday, a group of Army officers seized power from the first-ever democratically elected government in Mauritania.

4. Iraq. Think everything in Iraq is peachy? Think again. The Parliament recessed on Wednesday without passing an essential provincial elections bill, hampering further efforts at reconciliation dependent on the vote’s outcome.

5. Pakistan. Perhaps the biggest mess in the world today, Pakistan continues to find new ways to destabilize itself. As a result of the secret police’s (and perhaps the military’s) role in the bombing of India’s embassy in Kabul, U.S.-Pakistani relations are the worst they’ve ever been.