Reforming the UN Security Council stands as a key barometer for assessing the international system`s transition from a post-Cold War US hegemony to a more multipolar distribution of economic and military power.

October 29th, 2010 (Geopoliticalmonitor.com) - The Franco-German axis is attempting to rewrite parts of the Lisbon Treaty in an effort to avoid another Greek-style sovereign debt crisis.

China’s embargo on rare earth mineral exports to Japan, instituted at the height of last month’s Sino-Japanese fishing boat spat, stands as an example of short-term domestic political considerations trumping long-term economic planning.

The recent passage of a US law that allows for the executive branch to enact trade sanctions on China for currency manipulation stands as a clear sign that the Obama administration is getting serious about the value of the yuan.

A wave of popular discontent over austerity governments implemented by EU governments is starting to make its presence felt across Europe.

If one thing is to be taken from the newly-passed package of Turkish constitutional reforms, it’s that the country is transitioning away from the military coups of the past and striving to join the EU.

Today, results of the financial ‘stress test’ performed on 91 banks across Europe will be made public.

A lack of progress on pressing global issues after the Toronto summit is calling the effectiveness of the G20 into question.

The future of the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE), the arms control agreement that has served as the foundation of military confidence and transparency on the European continent since the end of the Cold War, is in doubt due to a long-standing impasse among the States Parties to the Treaty.

The sovereign debt crisis in Europe, and soon America, will exert tremendous pressure on national defense budgets, resulting in a re-alignment of global military power from West to East.