Would President Obama’s new security strategy, a plan for a “leaner” U.S. military, unveiled earlier this month, have prevented the Iraq War were it adopted a decade sooner? Sarwar Kashmeri, a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and the Foreign Policy Association, makes just this point in his analysis of …
by Robert Latin and Tim LaRocco
The National Hockey League tragically lost three members of its family this past off-season. The untimely deaths of three “enforcers” — Derek Boogard, Rick Rypien, and Wade Belak — as well as the NHL’s continuing problem with concussions has rejuvenated criticism …
Luke Somers has been documenting Yemen’s revolution since late February. Below is a selection of images highlighting the role women have played in the protests, along with the twists and turns that Yemen has experienced throughout 2011.
To the Western eye, it may be difficult to apprehend the significance of Yemeni …
Guest post by Anouar Boukhars
On Friday, Morocco will hold highly anticipated parliamentary elections. The contest is widely seen as a test of royal reforms. Mohammed VI has clearly placed his bet on measured reforms to reduce social tensions and lift the country’s political malaise. By organizing early elections, the palace …
Guest Post: Dominik P. Jankowski
The last year has revealed to the Europeans three important truths about the American defense posture. First, spending on the military in the United States has reached such heights—almost $700 billion—that it has become too large for deficit-cutters to ignore. Therefore, reductions …
Guest Post by John Paluszek
It’s now apparent that Tunis and the many newly-“Occupied” cities are virtual neighbors – not geographically, of course, but in the newly-aroused global Vox Populi Community. These “neighbors”, although in vastly different societies, have common fundamental demands: “justice”, “fairness” and “voice”.
In this historic year of 2011 …
Guest Post: Leila Hanafi
As the Arab Spring turns to fall across the Middle East and North Africa, the region is unquestionably in the midst of transformational change. The cascade of events over the past few months have varied from country to country, but in each case there has been a …
The world has become less peaceful in 2011, according to the latest Global Peace Index (GPI). This is the third consecutive year that the GPI, produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), has shown a decline in the levels of world peace.
The 2011 Index dramatically reflects the impact …
The Following piece is written by a Yemeni-based journalist who writes for the Foreign Policy Blogs network and, due to serious security concerns, remains anonymous.
In a Friday speech, just ahead of Yemen National Day, President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced that he was in support of early Presidential elections. He also …
The Following piece is written by a Yemeni-based journalist who writes for the Foreign Policy Blogs network and, due to serious security concerns, remains anonymous.
HOOD (National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms) is the most prominent and most quoted human rights organization in Yemen.
HOOD has been …
Even before the onset of hostilities in Libya it was obvious to insiders on both sides of the Atlantic that NATO was increasingly dysfunctional. Libya has now shown the wider public that the emperor has no clothes.
Cohesion used to be NATO’s trademark, but there is little of that …
Bringing war and conflict back to those watching in far away homes and offices is vital task. It is also a very dangerous one, and the deaths of Restrepo (my review) co-director Tim Hetherington and his fellow journalist Chris Hondros in Libya yesterday show why. The work of …
By Christina Lamb
AMONG the many dictators who must be watching the uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa with dismay is Robert Mugabe. The Zimbabwean President has been in power 31 years and despite recently turning 87 is pushing for another five year term.
While other despots have responded …
I urge all our Afghanistan readers to check out Sean Patrick Murphy’s review of the film ‘Talibanistan’ over at his FPA Global Film Review blog. I have not seen the film, but from Murphy’s description it sounds worthwhile. Here is his intro:
Hearts and minds.
That’s what narrator Peter Coyote …
Though the piece is now over a month old, I really would like to recommend this incredible story by Greg Jaffe of the Washington Post on Lt. Gen. John Kelly’s family. Kelly lost one of his two sons to a land mine in Afghanistan and is now a …
