For a majority of President Obama’s 2nd State of the Union address foreign affairs were only brought up in relation to domestic economic or social issues. For instance, the US was ‘falling behind’ South Korea in education and Europe in infrastructure… The focus on domestic issues should not be a surprise as Obama has already […]
State of the Union speeches are first and foremost aimed at a domestic audience. This year’s SOTU was certainly no exception. With the US economy being Obama’s number one concern, this year’s SOTU was perhaps particularly domestically orientated. Nevertheless, there are some points that have a particular interest for a European. Of direct consequence, of […]
President Barack Obama delivered his second State of the Union Address on Tuesday. Foreign policy did not top the agenda. Instead, as expected, the speech was heavy on domestic policy–even as an important election has swung past American politics, there’s one just around the corner. Indeed, foreign policy seemed to have sprung up in President […]
Well, all seems to have returned to normal in Lebanon as the shebab have vacated the streets of Tripoli after setting a bunch of stuff on fire. For post-mortems on the recent spat of violence check out these links–Qifa Nabki calls out both March 8th and March 14th for being hypocritical and I can’t help […]
In his State of the Union address, President Obama rightly pointed to American achievements in building new alliances and facilitating transition to newly found freedoms such as in South Sudan. With regard to the Afpak theater, the President is also right on the immense pressure on terrorist groups and on Al-Qaeda’s leadership in particular. However, […]
Last night President Obama gave his State of the Union Address. It was a fine speech as far as such things go. It came as no surprise that domestic affairs dominated the speech given the nature of the economy in the United States and the general stalemate over a range of domestic politics that has […]
A sad story recently published in the scientific journal Polar Biology bears testament to the consequences of the Arctic’s shrinking ice cap. Scientists from the USGS tracked a radio-collared polar bear, who swam for nine days straight in search of ice. In August 2008, when the extent of the ice cap was at its second-lowest […]
Asia’s two most prominent regional bodies, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), were formed with similar objectives that include accelerating economic growth, social progress and cultural development among their members. Despite being around for decades, both have been far from successful, while simultaneously proving unhelpful […]
Dear Readers, The South East Asian blog is back online! I am taking over from Faheem and Collin and am excited about the opportunity to blog about a very fascinating region of the world. You can learn more about me in the About the Author page to the right and especially note that I welcome […]
A few points from events on the ground in Cairo as protest continue here: 1-Some government media figures appear to be joining ranks with the protestors. Mahmoud Saad, a talk show host in the Egyptian state-run TV, has announced that he will no longer appear on TV starting tonight after he came under pressure from […]
Well, a country’s gotta have role models, right? It appears that the opposition leader in Gabon, Andre Mba Obame, decided that Ivory Coast’s Laurent Gbagbo provides a model for all aspiring leaders and declared himself president today. This despite the fact that (admittedly disputed) official election results in August 2009 went to Ali Bongo, son […]
Allegations are flying that Ebrahim Rasool, former Premier of the Western Cape, lost his post because the ANC is concerned about Muslims having too much interest in politics. The allegation, from Rasool himself, was uncovered through Wikileaks. This one does not pass the smell test. For one thing, Rasool is now the South African Ambassador […]
Egyptian police started beating up journalists protesting outside the Press Syndicate in downtown Cairo. They beat up women journalists too who were screaming and crying for help. “Do not club women. Do not attack women,” some of the men rushed to the police asking them not to target women. “You’ll make things worse if you […]
Arzhang Davoodi is an Iranian author, poet, and former Director of a cultural center in Tehran. On November 9, 2003 Mr. Davoodi was arrested without a warrant for his involvement in the production of a TV documentary called “Forbidden Iran” in which he spoke out about human rights violations in Iran. After a trial behind […]
The University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs has released a report entitled, “Rethinking the Top of the World: Arctic Security Public Opinion Survey” (PDF). Based on the results from a survey of 9,000 people in eight Arctic countries, the report gives an in-depth analysis of Canadian perceptions of the Arctic, along with a […]