Geopolitics Weekly

Turkey has threatened to downgrade its strategic relationship with the US amid nationalist anger over a vote in the US Congress that defined the mass killings of Armenians during the first world war as genocide.

Modern grand strategy consists of four critical elements: a unifying, long-term vision of a country's global values and interests; an estimation of where that country is and wants to go in the world; an assessment of the country's potential and capacity to achieve those objectives; and a comprehensive plan to reach the destination set forth.

Maximizing the advantages and capably advocating the shared interests, policies and values of one Europe in a competitive and heteropolar world will require that priority attention and adequate resources be directed towards: Nurturing policy capacity (development, analysis and implementation) in order to improve performance on issues such as Afghanistan Burnishing core professional skills (negotiation, languages, cross-cultural communication) through improved training and professional development Sharpening operational agility, flexibility and adaptability (continuous learning, empowerment, enabling tools), for instance, through better use of new media Establishing a representational footprint in the field that is keyed to receiving as well as sending state needs and circumstances Creating and connecting with wider networks, and; Mainstreaming public diplomacy and European brand management.

eports of potential support for Greece are proving unpopular in Germany. Its economy minister said earlier that his government "does not intend to give a cent" to Greece in financial aid.

Many Germans do not support their taxes being used for bailouts.

There are also fears that rescuing one country could encourage others to expect the same. Meanwhile, Germany passed its budget for 2010, with borrowing set to soar this year. New borrowing is expected to reach 80.2bn euros ($109bn; £72.5bn) - double the previous highest debt record, set in 1996. However this is less than the 85.8bn euros initially proposed by the government.

Ukraine's new President, Viktor Yanukovych, says his visit to Moscow will mark the first step in a major improvement in relations with Russia.Mr Yanukovych has arrived in Moscow ahead of talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and PM Vladimir Putin.

He says he wants good relations with Russia and the West, and has already visited EU headquarters in Brussels.

Gas supplies may be a source of friction in the talks. Officials say the Ukrainian leader is expected to lobby for lower gas prices, as well as seek billions in loans from Russia to help cover the country's soaring budget deficit.

Turkey has reacted angrily to a US congressional panel's resolution describing as genocide the killings of Armenians in World War I.PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country had been accused of a crime it did not commit, adding the resolution would harm Turkish-US relations. Ankara has recalled its ambassador to Washington for consultations and says it is considering other responses.

The BBC's Jane O'Brien in Washington says Turkey must be hoping that, as with a similar resolution two years ago, the issue will not come to the floor of the House for a full vote. In 2007, it passed the committee stage, but was shelved after pressure from the George W Bush administration.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul responded angrily to the committee's vote, saying it was "an injustice to history" to take such a decision with "political concerns in mind". "Turkey will not be responsible for the negative results that this event may lead to," he said.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said the 2003 war was "right", as he gives evidence to the UK's Iraq inquiry.

Setting out his thinking on the rationale for war for the first time in public, Mr Brown said terrorists and "rogue states" were the "two risks to the post-Cold War world" and had to be tackled.

If the international community could not act together over Iraq, Mr Brown said he feared the "new world order we were trying to create would be put at risk".

According to a poll published on Thursday, 84% of Germans think that the EU should not help Greece out of its debt crisis.

China has said its military spending will increase by 7.5% in 2010, ending a long run of double-digit growth.It will spend 532.1bn yuan ($77.9bn:£51.7bn) over the year, the spokesman of the country's annual parliamentary session announced.

According to Chinese figures, this is the first time in more than 20 years that the military budget increase has dipped below 10%.

The spending spree began in the late 1980s, when China embarked on an ambitious programme to upgrade its armed forces. Since then it has bought and produced its own high-tech weapons, and reduced the number of personnel in an attempt to have fewer, but better trained, troops. Salaries and other benefits for officers and ordinary soldiers have also been improved.

Brazil will not bow to pressure from the US to support further sanctions against Iran over its nuclear work, the country's foreign minister has said.Celso Amorim told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Brazil wanted to see further negotiations on the issue before it would support sanctions.

"I think it's only after we pass sanctions in the Security Council that Iran will negotiate in good faith," Mrs Clinton said.

Even before talks with Mrs Clinton began, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva repeated his stance that isolating Iran's leaders is counter-productive. "It is not prudent to push Iran against a wall. The prudent thing is to establish negotiations," he said. "I want for Iran the same thing as I wish for Brazil: To use the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. If Iran is in agreement with that, Iran will have Brazil's support."

A US congressional panel has described the killing of Armenians by Turkish forces during World War I as genocide, despite White House objections.The resolution was narrowly approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Turkey, a key US ally, responded by recalling its ambassador in Washington for consultations. It has fiercely opposed the non-binding resolution.

In October last year, Turkey and Armenia signed a historic accord normalising relations between them after a century of hostility.

Dubai's police chief plans to seek the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of Israel's spy agency over the killing of a Hamas leader in the emirate, Al Jazeera television reported.

The mayor of Jerusalem has announced a plan to demolish an area of Arab East Jerusalem to make way for an upmarket district of hotels and gardens.But hours before Mayor Nir Barkat was due to announce his scheme - called the King's Garden - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said work should be delayed. The Israelis say the Palestinian houses to be demolished have been built without permits and have become a slum.

Mr Barkat called the plan a "bold move" and said it would be beneficial for both Palestinians and Israelis. "The plan is a win-win plan for the future of the city, taking into consideration the public and private interests, taking an area that has been neglected and turning it into an area that we can all be proud of," he said.

Nine people, including both Italians and Iranians, have been arrested or are being sought by Italian police on suspicion of trafficking arms to Iran.

Police said "some are believed to belong to the Iranian secret services".

Italy is Iran's biggest trading partner in the European Union. But it has been among the countries leading calls for tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

China says diplomacy should be given further time in the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme, as US officials press for new sanctions on Tehran.

China's latest statement came as a senior US diplomat, James Steinberg, arrived in Beijing on the highest level visit since a series of bilateral rows. On Monday, Moscow signalled it would consider new sanctions against Tehran. And Iran rejected a UN International Atomic Energy Agency claim it was not co-operating with its investigation.

Asked about Moscow's statement, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said: "We call for a resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic means.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy admitted Thursday at a joint press conference in Kigali with his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, that France had made “mistakes” at the time of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which 800,000 people, mainly from Kagame's Tutsi minority, were killed.

"What happened here is unacceptable, [and] compels the international community, including France, to reflect on the mistakes that stopped it from preventing and halting this abominable crime," the French president told reporters.

Sarkozy also acknowledged “mistakes in Operation Turquoise, which stepped in when it was too little, too late,” referring to a June 1994 French military operation launched two months after the genocide began with the intent of halting the massacres. The French president, however, stopped short of voicing an apology. Suggesting neither country should “remain hostage of the past”, Sarkozy said he wanted to “move past this very tragic chapter” and stressed the importance of “building a new partnership”.