Newspapers in both the United States and Europe are considering seeking public support as their print editions struggle with plummeting revenues, rising costs and declining circulations. Closures and lay-offs have gone much farther in the United States than in Europe. But European journalists, aware that it may be their …
On Sunday, the Afghan Supreme Court ruled in favor of extending the legality of Hamid Karzi’s term as president all the way until new elections, which are set to occur in late August. This is obviously a delicate matter as the country’s young constitution states that Karzai’s …
Australian approval for Valin-Fortescue deal
Australian authorities approved $438 million Chinese investment in Fortescue Metals Group, Australia’s third-largest iron ore miner. China’s state-owned Hunan Valin Iron and Steel Group received approval to take up to 17.55 percent of Fortescue. The Australian decision was relatively unexpected as a similar …
Overview
Last week, the Russian Security Council released details of how it will conduct its Arctic policy through 2020 and beyond in a document entitled, “The fundamentals of Russian state policy in the Arctic up to 2020 and beyond.” (original document here, in Russian). Developing the Arctic …
The latest op-ed from left-wing journalist Amira Hass describes the need to dismiss democracy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in order to secure the future of the peace process. She claims that the Palestinian Authority must first establish a sovereign state, accomplished partially by a strong government not …
Even before the next government officially takes over, the ideologically divided Likud-led cabinet appears fragile and faces the threat of withdrawal of one coalition partner. Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu supposedly promised his greatest inter-party challenger, Silvan Shalom, the post of Foreign Minister in the event that Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor …
The terrorist attack on Police Academy in Lahore must have been a wake up call for those who have been arguing that ‘war on terror’ is America’s war. On the contrary, it is a war that is being fought in Pakistan and for a majority of Pakistan, it is heart …
President Obama announces his Af-Pak Initiative. Source: CNN
Portrait of Prince Metternich Source: Wikipedia
Keeping nuclear-armed Pakistan out of the hands of radicals should be a central goal of U.S. foreign policy. Like a nuclear-armed Iran, control of the Pakistani government by believers in a radical ideology would …
The New York-based website Eurasianet.org, part of the Open Society Institute, issued 2 reports today on happenings in the Caucasus.
First, Stephen Blank, a professor at the US Army War College, writes an article on Friday’s agreement in the form of a memorandum of understanding between Russia’s …
The tribunal for the administrator of the notorious Cambodian S21 prison facility, Kaing Guek Eav, or Duch, began Monday following years of delays.
The court outlined its charges before Duch Monday, saying the prison chief supervised the execution of some 15,000 people during a …
Eurasian Daily Moniter reports that the recent meeting between the leaders of Russia and Turkmenistan is part of Russia’s broader policy of exploiting disagreements over energy within the EU states. There are large discrepancies in the amount of gas recieved from Russia within the EU and a …
I told you earlier that I would keep you up to date on all Shanghai Cooperation Organization issues and happenings here, but I went on vacation and David Kampf at FPA’s Rising Powers beat me too it. Here’s his blog piece about a Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit on Afghanistan. …
This report in The New York Times demonstrates why President Obama’s trip this week to the G20 Summit in London, the NATO Summit in Strasbourg, and the EU Summit in Prague will be fraught with difficulties …
This post can also be seen on FPA’s Latin America Blog.
This month marked a historic change for El Salvador and popular movements in Latin America as a whole. Central America in the late 70’s and early 1980’s was one of the warfronts of the Cold War between the …
Fareed Zakaria GPS this past Sunday brought one of the most popular leaders in Latin America to English speaking viewers with an interview with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva. With questions of the economic crisis, oil, relations with Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia as well …
