As Colombia prepares for peace talks with the nation’s oldest guerrilla group, the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) set to begin next week, a new report sheds light on the immense challenges to land restitution in Colombia, where conflict has displaced nearly five million people. ¨Still a Dream: Land Restitution on Colombia´s Caribbean Coast, ¨ […]
Back in the swing of things. “Iraq could overtake Russia as the world’s second-largest oil supplier behind Saudi Arabia by the 2030s, nearly tripling its current output, according to a report from the International Energy Agency.” (h/t The LA Times) “Iraq has signed contracts to buy Russian arms worth $4.2bn (£2.6bn; 3.2bn euros) this year, […]
This documentary is excellent. It documents the after effects of war on three young women who were abducted as children and forced to serve in the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). That rebel Ugandan force, led by Joseph Kony, is notorious for kidnapping and forcing those captured to fight. For more than 20 years his group has abducted […]
News over the weekend that platinum-producing giant Anglo American Platinum (Amplat) had fired 12,000 workers from its mining operations in Rustenberg, South Africa, just north of Johannesburg, added fueling to an already highly combustible situation. The workers are striking in hopes of obtaining higher wages and improved working conditions from the world’s largest platinum producer. This comes shortly […]
That perfect moment of the triumph of the people happened again in Syria. The rebels captured another border crossing between Syria and Turkey, lowering the Syrian flag and raising their own banner. It is a symbolic moment of victory – and in a bloody civil war abundant with various factions and no real positive […]
Source: Google Images A controversial figure since taking office in 2005, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad instigates outrage through speech and actions. The president’s rhetoric targets the United States for meddling and “bullying,” but he ignores international spotlight on Iran’s domestic issues and the country’s interference in others’ affairs. While some call him a madman, it […]
Iceland sits right on the divide between the North American and Eurasian continental plates. A little hotspot of volcanic activity in the North Atlantic, it has tried to rediscover its geopolitical identity several times over the past century. I recently read Klaus Dodds and Valur Ingimundarson’s article in the Polar Journal, “Territorial nationalism and Arctic […]
Wednesday’s mishap by Syrian forces, which saw a mortar shell land in the Turkish town of Akcakale, killing five, has put international attention firmly on the Syrian crisis. For months analysts and diplomats have warned […]
Over the past weeks and months, in the shadows of other, more prominent global events, and with the world’s attention focused on other places, Cambodia has ceased being a democracy. If that statement sounds exaggerated, allow me to recap some of the more infamous shenanigans which have turned this former war torn nation into a […]
Russia has just launched a drifting ice station in the Arctic with 16 people on board. The researchers will be carrying out all sorts of studies as they drift through the Arctic, working in oceanography, meteorology, and glaciology. The flag was raised on North Pole-40 (NP-40), aptly (and a bit oddly) named “Russia,” at 85°12′ […]
While the civil war in Syria continues to grab headlines, prompting some in the international community to call for immediate intervention, another major conflict, displacing thousands of civilians, rages in Central Africa. Despite the rising number of refugees and internally displaced persons, as well as the reports of massive human rights violations being committed against the local […]
A recent article in one of Russia’s liberal newspapers described the tragedy of Putinism as the President’s fear for the worst when it comes to change, and an expectation of the worst when it comes to people. I thought about this for a while and had to agree. But then I thought about Russia and […]
Identifying “strategic partners,” argued Christian Leffler, has become the main priority of the EU in order to remain relevant on the international stage. This strategic assessment was part of a presentation by Christian Leffler, Managing Director for the Americas (North, Central and South America and the Caribbean) at the European External Action Service (EEAS) entitled: […]
U.S President Barack Obama made no mention of the Asia-Pacific in his address to the UN General Assembly on September 25, rather the focus centered on the continuing turmoil within the Middle East, including serious concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the humanitarian crisis in Syria. U.S. foreign policy remains global, and it has to. […]
Perhaps the biggest underlying tension among Cuba watchers is on the issue of whether things (policies) on the island are changing for the better, or whether they remain upsettingly the same as they have for half of a century. A comprehensive view, of course, would acknowledge that both phenomena exist. And a realistic observer would […]