The Libyan dilemma around the question of intervention versus non-intervention to provide protection of civilians should remain at the heart of the political debate and should not disappear in Libya’s ruins. The approval of the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1973 on March 17, 2011 was an important step for the international community to […]
The Japanese government decided this week not to renew its eco-points subsidy program, which ended Thursday. The ostensible purpose of the program was to encourage consumers to upgrade to energy-saving appliances and electronics. Consumer demand fell sharply following the Mar. 11 earthquake and tsunami, which crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, leading to power […]
Police in Azerbaijan have arrested “several youth and opposition activists” ahead of a protest rally scheduled for 2 April in Baku, RFE/RL reports. Three of those arrested have been released, but at least three others have apparently been given “administrative sentences” of between five and ten days. However, an Azeri source tells me that more […]
A judge ruled today that the trial of controversial Dutch minister Geert Wilders trail can resume in two weeks. Wilders has compared the Koran to Hitler’s Mein Kampf. “I’ve had enough of Islam in the Netherlands – ban that fascist book,” he said. In fact he was wrung up on both comments individually; the judge […]
Turkish-American relations have always been defined as a ‘strategic partnership’. Almost without exception, decision-makers and diplomats at the highest levels point to a particular ‘importance of the strategic partnership’ or ‘relationship’ whenever they try to define bilateral relations between Turkey and the United States. Surprisingly at the public level, we take this definition for far […]
About the Stock Market crash and the lurking housing bubble in Bangladesh. Part 1 of a series of articles on the subject.
Japan was struck by a massive earthquake on March 11, followed by a devastating tsunami that deluged many parts of Japan. Not only was the disaster colossal in terms of the human casualties (more than 10000 at last count), but it also damaged Japan’s nuclear reactors causing radiation leakage. As of this writing, the Fukushima […]
South Korea protested the Japanese government’s approval of a textbook claiming the South Korean-administrated Liancourt Rocks Wednesday. South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Cho Byung Jae said his government remains firm in its response to Japan’s attempts to undermine South Korea’s territorial sovereignty over the islets. “We express a strong protest and demand an immediate retraction […]
The widely read Indian newspaper The Hindu reports that the Indian delegation to the 2005 South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC ) Summit refused to attend the affair hosted in Dhaka because of long-standing tension about a series of terrorist events throughout Bangladesh in 2004 and in early 2005. This revealing bit of information […]
The world’s shock at the loss of life and destruction to property in NE Japan was soon eclipsed by the worry associated with the possibility of an impending nuclear disaster. While the global community feels for the double whammy that struck Japan and is rallying around the nation, concerns about the short and long-term effects […]
This post can also be seen in FPA’s Latin America Blog. An idea was floated by LEX at the FT.com by author Edward Hadas to have BRIC economies help with the European debt crisis by absorbing them into their own countries, namely Brazil could absorb its former colonial master, Portugal, and easily handle their debt […]
A Tokyo ordinance starting April 1 will require publishers to impose self-restrictions on sexual depictions in manga comic books. Authorities will be able to ban books they judge have extreme sexual content to children. The ordinance was proposed by Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara (regular readers of my blog already know my opinion on him). The […]
It’s a long way off, sure. But Jimmy Carter seems to be the guy for it. The former US President began a visit to Cuba yesterday at the invitation of the Cuban government. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, in fact, was there to meet Carter on the runway when his plane arrived. Carter is the only […]
The U.S. Navy is conducting naval exercises in the Arctic as part of Ice Exercise 2011 (ICE-X 2011). The USS New Hampshire and the USS Connecticut are the two submarines participating in the exercises, which have been planned and are being overseen by the Arctic Submarine Laboratory located in San Diego, about as far away […]
The euro’s chance of survival has since the onset of the debt crisis been up for debate. The impossible seemed an alarmingly realistic alternative: The abandonment of the euro in the face of unpopular austerity measures and bailouts. This led to questions regarding the viability of the EU as a whole. The March 25 […]