Many things could be said about the past year, but at the very least it could not be considered boring. Within two weeks of the new year, protests over government corruption in Tunisia ousted its long standing dictator, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. That event, which took many observers …
Dancing for the cameras, bulldozed behind them
“Mayor Wilson Jeudi has just bulldozed the entire camp,” recounted Connie Watson, CBC Radio’s Correspondent in Haiti. “He showed up with the police at 6 o’clock this morning, stormed through with machetes and clubs, slicing all the tents and knocking down …
Thanks to Real Clear History, I found this fascinating story about how the United States used spy satellites to map Soviet Russia’s territory during the Cold War. It is from The Atlantic magazine and features an informative video that explains the 1950′s program in a very …
Japanese prosecutors indicted a Chinese fishing boat skipper for fishing illegally in Japanese waters, a local official said Friday. The arrest is the latest in a long series of events surrounding the tense Chinese-Japanese maritime relations.
Zhong Jinyin was arrested in Japanese waters Dec. 20, the second arrest in the area …
Part 3 – The Innate Stalemate
Also Read -
Part 1: Many Barrels of a Gun
Part 2: Mood on the Ground
Amid a general socio-political churning brought about by rising expectations of people in many South Asian nations, the 17th SAARC Summit in Maldives in November culminated with the …
Israel has recently been awash in controversy over nothing new in the country’s history — the intersection of policy, society, and religion.
The most recent tussle has centered around whether segregating buses based on gender should be permissible. Some in the ultra orthodox community argue that separate …
2011 has been a year filled with change, reform, progress and challenges across the Middle East and North Africa, Morocco included. As we anticipate what 2012 holds for the region, here’s a recap of key moments in 2011 for Morocco:
February 20 – Thousands demonstrated across Morocco in solidarity with protesters …
The past year in Israel has been anything but boring. The Palestinians were rejected for full-membership in the United Nations, Israeli Corporal Gilad Schalit was returned alive to Israel, Turkey downgraded its diplomatic relations with the Jewish state, the Israeli population took to the streets for social change, …
Things have gone from bad to worse for Egyptian civil society since I last blogged about the bleak short term outlook for the sector back in October. This week, the government shut down the Cairo offices of seventeen international human rights and pro-democracy NGOs, which the Supreme …
I have recently read an opinion piece by Fehim Tastekin, a Turkish Caucasus expert, who regularly writes for the Turkish daily Radikal. I found the article very important, so I translated it to the attention of FPA Blogs followers:
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http://www.radikal.com.tr/Radikal.aspx?aType=RadikalYazar&ArticleID=1073865&Yazar=FEHIM-TASTEKIN&Date=30.12.2011&CategoryID=100
Amidst its growing engagement in the Middle East and the Arab Spring, …
Part 2 – Mood on the Ground
Also Read: Part 1: Many Barrels of a Gun
“There’s this contagion of protest,” Richard Stengel, managing editor of TIME, told NBC television as he discussed the naming of “The protester” as Time magazine’s person of the year, 2011. “These are folks who …
At 101 years old, the National Autonomous University of Mexico is one of Latin America’s premier universities, and one of its largest, with over 300,000 students enrolled. Last month, UNAM started posting its archives and teaching materials on the Internet—for free. See www.unamenlinea.unam.mx.
In part, political pressure against the university …
As is the custom for all FPA Bloggers with the year drawing to a close, it’s time for me to give my thoughts on how events fared in 2011. All in all there were a number of defense policy successes, with the most spectacular being the death of Osama …
Just a couple of weeks ago, a Russian oil rig sank off the coast of Sakhalin Island, leaving at least 17 dead and 36 more missing. Only 14 people survived, and the search has been called off to ensure the safety of the rescuers in harsh conditions. Now, in the …
United States
For Russia’s Foreign Policy, 2011 started with a breakthrough signing of the START Treaty that fostered new hopes and brighter prospects for U.S. -Russia relations. Alas, the enthusiasm from the successful agreement was soon soured by less effective negotiations on the U.S. deployment of a ballistic missile shield in …
