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The World Next Week: President Obama Attends the North American Leaders Summit, Iran Nuclear Negotiations Resume, and Kosovo Marks the Sixth Anniversary of Its Independence

<p>U.S. president Barack Obama and his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto shake hands in Mexico City in May 2013. (Mexico Presidency Handout/Courtesy Reuters)</p>
U.S. president Barack Obama and his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto shake hands in Mexico City in May 2013. (Mexico Presidency Handout/Courtesy Reuters)

By experts and staff

Published
  • James M. LindsayCFR Expert
    Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy

The World Next Week podcast is up. Bob McMahon and I discussed President Obama’s trip to the North American Leaders’ Summit in Toluca, Mexico, the continuing negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, and the sixth anniversary of Kosovo’s independence.

[audio: https://www.cfr.org/content/publications/media/editorial/2014/20140213_T…]

The highlights:

For more on the topics we discussed in the podcast check out:

North American Leaders’ Summit: Reuters reports that Harper, Obama, and Pena-Nieto will discuss “economic competitiveness, trade and investment, and citizen security.” The Centre for Research and Globalization writes that Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and immigration issues will likely take the stage at the meeting. Joseph Parilla and Alan Berube argue that the economy and the future of trade relations amongst North American countries will be the focus of the trip. Forbes discusses the campaign by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim to save the Monarch butterfly, which the World Wildlife Fund hopes the summit will address

Iranian Nuclear Negotiations: Reuters reports on the negotiations process and the challenges involved in securing a deal. Al Jazeera writes that Iranian president Rouhani is serious about nuclear talks. Elliott Abrams discusses the problems with using a “Cold War analogy” in analyzing strategy toward Iran. Mitchell B. Reiss and Ray Takeyh suggest how to fix the problems in the interim accord with Iran. NPR reports on the skepticism on both sides of the negotiating table.

Kosovo’s Independence Anniversary: Reuters reports that the Serbian war crimes court has jailed nine members of the Serbian paramilitary group the “Jackals” and describes the EU-facilitated agreement between Kosovo and Serbia. WorldBulletin reports that Kosovo’s prime minister Hashim Thaci demands wider acceptance of Kosovo’s sovereignty. The United Nations News Centre says that Kosovo and Serbia have made “remarkable progress” over the past year.