Foreign Policy Blogs

Archive | June, 2008

Rape as a Weapon of War

Rape as a Weapon of War

In war there are many weapons that may be employed and while the Kalashnikov or IED may be favored arms in modern warfare, there is one weapon all men carry and more often use. Men are choosing to use their bodies as weapons – in fact their manhood – to …

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New Hezbollah Music Video Celebrates July War of '06

New Hezbollah Music Video Celebrates July War of '06

The front page of Al-Akhbar's Tuesday edition features news of the upcoming release of a Hezbollah music video celebrating the second anniversary of the July War of 2006. Subsequently, the name of the of the video is tammuz, which translates simply as July. According to the pro-opposition Lebanese …

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Stellenbosch

Greetings from Stellenbosch, the historical intellectual center of Afrikanerdom. I am here for a conference on sport history at the University of Stellenbosch, and as I did with Melville, I have seen changes in this picturesque little university town.
Clearly the city parents here are no fools. No longer  can Stellenbosch be merely …

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Stellenbosch

Greetings from Stellenbosch, the historical intellectual center of Afrikanerdom. I am here for a conference on sport history at the University of Stellenbosch, and as I did with Melville, I have seen changes in this picturesque little university town.
Clearly the city parents here are no fools. No longer can Stellenbosch be merely the …

read more

Pentagon charges USS Cole suspect

The U.S. Defense Department announced Monday it formally charged a Saudi Arabian national held at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay with plotting the bombing of the USS Cole in October 200 in the Yemeni port of Aden.
The Pentagon said it charged …

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Time-Tested Strategies

Shawn Brimley at Democracy Arsenal argues that America is suffering from strategic myopia and strategic amnesia, afflictions that blind us to the time-tested tools and strategies we have successfully used in the past to chart a winning foreign policy. Is there a danger that Iraq and …

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Week in Review: Rice in China

Week in Review: Rice in China

SecState Condi Rice's visit to Beijing carried a number of items on Washington's agenda. She and China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi came to the table on a number of current events.
ZIM. With the recent swearing-in of Mugabe for his sixth term as President of Zimbabwe, …

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Time for Security Council Action on Zimbabwe

I noticed this morning that high ranking UN officials have joined the international chorus of voices encouraging the African Union to take the lead in ensuring that there is a negotiated settlement to the Zimbabwe crisis.
While negotiations at the AU level will be necessary, I would like to see the …

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Weekend Roundup

In a follow up to my fellow blogger Jennifer's piece on the lucrative oil wars in Iraq, the BBC has a piece entitled “Iraq seeking help to develop oil“. This discusses the official beginning of the opening up of the oil industry to foreign investment. The six …

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Media Darlings

Media Darlings

Weeks back we discussed the media rollback within the Central Asia states, emphasized in a report by Freedom House, and last week I quickly mentioned a World's Association of Newspapers report that also painted a bleak picture of media rights in CA. Today I …

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Despite Peace Sexual Violence Rages On in Sierra Leone

Despite Peace Sexual Violence Rages On in Sierra Leone

When wars end they do not just end full stop, the death and destruction do not suddenly turn to peace and prosperity over night. Peace talks and cease fires alone do not end wars, people end wars and when all of the people cannot find them selves distanced …

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The Roots of Obamanaia

Amid the many reports of foreign audiences going ga-ga for Obama, one foreign policy expert issues a strong warning against thinking that a President Obama will solve the US’ global image problem, or make public diplomacy any easier.

John Brown, a 20-year veteran of the US Foreign Service and currently a senior fellow at …

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Up for Discussion: The Foreign Policy of the Future

Up for Discussion: The Foreign Policy of the Future

If you are a member of Senator McCain or Senator Obama's cadre of campaign advisers, a former US Ambassador, or even a mere foreign policy expert, you are one busy guy/gal right now. Washington is brimming with events with titles like "US Foreign Policy in the Next Presidential Administration: What …

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Updates from the States

California , The Golden State has a population of 37 million folks or so. That's around Kenya's or Poland's population. According to which source you use, California, if it were an independent nation, would have the seventh, eighth, or tenth largest economy in the world. California is responsible for 13% …

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"Nearing the red lines… "

Mohammed Ali Jafari, commander of the Revolutionary Guards Corps said that Iran will block “oil shipments through the strategic Hormuz Straits if attacked and pledged that Hizbullah could also respond by rocketing Israel.” Hizballah fighting for Iran?! Didn't they claim they are a Lebanese …

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