In case you missed it posted elsewhere, here is my brief, audio synopsis on the Thai elections. This is part of the “Expert Minute,” a new feature at the Foreign Policy Association in which bloggers such as myself have an opportunity to orally explain a relevant event in our region or area of focus over […]
At least 13 people have been killed and 86 injured in a 6.2-magnitude earthquake in the Fergana Valley region on the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake struck at 1:35 am (1935 GMT Tuesday) with the epicenter just inside Kyrgyzstan, but 42 km (25 miles) southwest of Fergana, Uzbekistan. The quake […]
By way of wiping off the dust that has collected on this blog I would like to draw attention to a thoughtful piece of analysis by APARC’s Daniel Sneider, published recently by the National Bureau of Asian Research. The thrust of his argument: “In 2009 the DPJ came to power in Japan, ending a half-century […]
South Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang-Sik criticized the Japanese government’s boycott of Korean Air Tuesday, calling it a breach of international rules. Tokyo ordered civil servants not to fly on Korean Air after the private company held a demonstration flight of its new Airbus A380 over the disputed Liancourt Rocks. Kim was quoted by a […]
“Every day along the world’s busiest border, an expensive and time-consuming pantomime is acted out.” So begins the Economist’s coverage of the trucking agreement recently announced between Mexico and the United States. From that smart opening line the paper slips into an uncharacteristic fit of naïveté, arguing that Mexico stands to chalk major gains from […]
Though the Arctic may be rich in natural resources, that doesn’t mean it’s easy for corporations to make money there. BP’s attempt to join up with Rosneft in Russia’s Arctic was officially denied by the Russian courts, as they found that TNK had an exclusive right to work with BP in Russia as part of […]
The crisis in Syria is deepening and the Assad regime is fighting for its life. The rhythm of the revolution is familiar: the state cracks down on demonstrators throughout the week, inevitably committing some new outrage on its citizens; rage builds and explodes on Friday after prayers; repeat as necessary. The state’s crackdown seems more […]
More and more, Brazil seems to be caught between–and battling against–the greenback and the yuan. One result: the real is now among the “most overvalued” currencies in the world. Part of the problem is the whop-jawed global economy. The world’s largest economy has been slow to recover from the 2008 global financial crisis, causing the […]
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled today that both Thailand and Cambodia should pull their troops out from the site of an ancient Hindu temple and establish a demilitarized zone around its ruins in order to facilitate negotiations to finally end the long-standing spat between the two countries. The 11-5 ruling from the judges […]
Dear Comrade Readers, FPA Russia Blog will be back shortly, once its author returns/recovers from his Wedding! (Who said unpaid blogging about Kremlin machinations and Western hypocrisy isn’t the surest way to a girl’s heart?) If Mr Nikitin manages to successfully avoid detention at various border posts, he will return on the week of the […]
The international community has been involved in Afghanistan since 2001 as a consequence of the 9/11 attacks on U.S. soil. By 2003, NATO took control of the ISAF and expanded its operations across all Afghanistan. Likewise, the Europeans have been involved in Afghanistan through several types of missions. On one side, Europeans have contributed to […]
One way to spot a dictatorship is by its leader’s personality cult. Central Asia is a region of more than 4 million square kilometers and a population of 62 million inhabitants rife with authoritarianism, despotism, and the cult of personality reminiscent of the Soviet times. Not too long ago, I wrote about Central Asian dictators, […]
State minister in charge of handling the nuclear accident, Goshi Hosono, said that the first phase to bring the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant under control was completed as scheduled on Sunday. Hosono said, “We believe Step 1 of stably cooling (the reactors) and eliminating risks of a hydrogen explosion has been achieved.” According […]
Japan and other pro-whaling nations walked out of the International Whaling Commission’s annual talks in Jersey Thursday in protest of a proposal to create a symbolic whale sanctuary in the South Atlantic. Delegates from Japan and Iceland, as well as a number of Caribbean and African nations that totally allegedly receive payoffs to vote in […]
While researching my last post about the record-high poverty rate in Japan, I came across a title for a 2008 BBC documentary entitled Japan: A Story of Love and Hate. The film follows a 58-year-old postal worker living on the poverty line. The film asks how the quality of life could be so miserable in […]