Ever since the failure of their reform agenda and their subsequent marginalization by the coming to power of Ahmadinejad, Iran’s reformists have been in near constant search of a well-articulated stance on their role in the country’s political future. The reform agenda by Iranian reformists was crystallized in the two-term presidency of Mohammad Khatami, a […]
American Vice President Joe Biden, near the end of his Asian tour, met with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan for an hour Tuesday. Biden is the highest ranking U.S. official to visit Japan since the March 11 quake and tsunami. “I am honored and truly humbled to have an opportunity to visit this place, to […]
Author’s Note: Ruchir Sharma, head of emerging markets at Morgan Stanley, recently penned a piece in TIME asserting that Brazil is “the un-China.” That comparison inspired this post. Mexico Today, a public-private enterprise of which I am a paid contributor, provided some data. Mexico’s technocrats have been seething at comparisons with Brazil for years. Who […]
What does the Euro crisis mean for Europe? Will the Euro crisis lead to the end of Europe as we know it? Is Europe on the edge of being reduced to a simple historical moment only existing in history books? These questions were fostered during an excellent conversation on NPR led by Tom Ashbrook with […]
“One of the biggest problems in growing the Haitian economy is that there is really no facility that grants small business loans on reasonable terms,” said former U.S. President Bill Clinton at the launch of a new business loan program in Haiti. The entrepreneurial communities applauded the initiative that will not only help strengthen the […]
First the bad news: Russia is officially the Unhappiest Nation in Europe. Only 37% of Russians are happy despite the economic downturn, according to a German study publicized in the Moscow Times. This compares to a whopping 80% of Greeks, who are happy despite not even having an economy. (Denmark, with 96%, came out tops). […]
The fireworks celebrating India’s Independence Day on August 15 illuminated shifting political terrain. Appropriating the motifs of the anti-colonial struggle against the British Raj, the anti-corruption movement that has been gathering momentum for months erupted in full force, staging the most widespread popular demonstrations in decades. The protests presented Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s seven-year-old government […]
Badri Bitsadze, the husband of opposition leader Nino Burjanadze, was sentenced by a Tbilisi court on Friday to five years and six months in prison on charges stemming from violent demonstrations in late May. Bitsadze—whose whereabouts have been unknown for months—was sentenced in absentia by the court. Rumors have persisted since early June that he […]
The recent outbreak of violence along the Egyptian-Israeli border has momentarily diverted the Israeli public’s attention from the “tent” protests sweeping the country over the last few months. However, it appears that the protest movement will sustain its inertia. Although student-union led protests scheduled to occur over the weekend were cancelled, sizable protests took place […]
Historian Brett Walker, in his disturbingly important new book, Toxic Archipelago: A History of Industrial Disease in Japan, draws important historical linkages between economic development, industrial pollution, pain, and the body in service of the nation-state. Though singularly focused on the toxic ramifications of Japan’s modern developmental state, his treatment holds important lessons for societies […]
In light of President Obama’s recent call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, The Foreign Policy Initiative Executive Director Jamie M. Fly and 32 other signatories have signed a letter urging President Obama to take additional, common-sense steps to further pressure the Assad regime and thus make clear that the United States stands […]
Last night I attended the New York premier of Amigo (trailer above), the independent film and brainchild of John Sayles about the Philippine-American War. The film supplements Sayles’ novel A Moment in the Sun (McSweeney’s Books, 2011), which details a small chapter in American history but also one of utmost significance as a comparison to […]
Given the recent developments, it was difficult to avoid commenting on the India Against Corruption (IAC) campaign led by Anna Hazare. Let me clarify at the onset that I don’t support Anna’s version of the Jan Lokpal Bill and the intransigent campaign through which he seeks to get the proposal implemented. However, I support the […]
Washington officials thought no one in the Japanese government took charge during the early stages of the nuclear crisis in Fukushima, former envoy Kevin Maher said Thursday. Maher said that Naoto Kan’s administration treated the crisis as the plant operator’s problem, not the government’s. “There was nobody in charge. Nobody in the Japanese political system […]
The report of the deadly twinned attack against the British Council in Kabul this morning serve to confirm the hypothesis that militants associated with the Taliban are ramping up their strategy to target civilians as well as military assets. The Taliban have claimed direct responsibility for the attack in which at least 8 people, nearly […]