In an ideal world politicians who foment political violence in their countries should be brought to justice as swiftly as is feasible. But that last word, “feasible,” is a bit of a problem, at least in the real-life example of Kenya. The violence that wracked the country after the December 2007 elections left in its […]
Things in Cote d’Ivoire continue to get worse. Laurent Gbagbo is digging in and post-election violence has claimed dozens of lives with the toll continuing to climb. There are fears of another civil war breaking out in the country as sanctions appear to be accomplishing nothing. This one will not be resolved before the New […]
Overview 2010 was a year of ups and downs on the island, and in the US-Cuba relationship. Cuba watchers held their breath when US and Cuban officials met for discussions on migration and direct mail service, and when the two countries cooperated in the Haiti disaster relief effort. We began the year in a rush of optimistic […]
Because I’m feeling quote happy these days I’ll bludgeon you over the head again with a relatable quip– “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” The movie buffs amongst you will recognize those as the words of Andy Dufresne, the hopeful, wrongfully imprisoned banker in The Shawshank Redemption. It’s fair to say that Syria has […]
ISN Insights has published my latest piece, “A Tale of Two Elections,” which looks at the crisis averted in Guinea and the one broiling in Ivory Coast.
Rather than cast India’s super wealthy as this era’s robber barons or malefactors of great wealth, a more salutary response to renewed concerns about concentrated wealth and influence would be to enact deeper reforms of the Indian state.
For those of you interested in the Arctic-like conditions making the collective fingers and toes of Western Europe blue, there is an interesting blog post on the Wunder Blog. Some frozen individuals in London and New York decry global warming when they have to turn up their thermostats in early December, but the fact is […]
There is no doubt in my mind that the United States Embassy cables released by WikiLeaks are very embarrassing for the US, and could have serious consequences for diplomacy and international relations. But from an African perspective, the disclosure of diplomatic cables refocuses attention, and reinvigorates debate, on some of the critical issues affecting the […]
Over at the Council on Foreign Relations John Campbell has a new blog, Africa in Transition, that you should be reading (I have added it to the blogroll as well). Campbell is the Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for African Studies at CFR, is a former ambassador to Nigeria, and served as political counselor at the […]
There is really only one fitting word to describe Israel in 2010 – “stam.” When Israelis have buyer’s remorse and know they shouldn’t have invested in that useless gadget, they say “stam.” When Israelis see a soccer player kick the ball out of bounds instead of toward the net, they say “stam.” When Israelis see […]
Hear my cries, I’m hurting! Port-au-Prince, Haiti–The Nov. 28 Haitian elections helped gain real insights into the state of the country on various levels, all inside one weekend when democracy was supposed to shine and lift the country’s morale above the debris, cholera’s death grip and ineffective governance to help the battered nation paint some […]
How would Mr. Solana answer the following question: “NATO and Russia: How Can We Broaden Cooperation to Enhance Security?” The former NATO Secretary General and former High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, along with other very high ranked guest speakers tackled the pressing issue of Transatlantic relations vis-à-vis Russia during a day […]
Overview For the EU, 2010 has been a very eventful year. In particular, 2010 will be remembered as the year of the euro-meltdown. As this event undoubtedly will overshadow any evaluation of the EU anno 2010, it is worth remembering that the EU entered the year with some definite plusses. After much wrangling, the Treaty of Lisbon entered into […]
In case you missed it on the Latin America blog, Rich just posted on Mexico: International headlines focused on Mexico yesterday as an attempt at stealing oil from one of PEMEX’s pipelines resulted in 28 deaths and a town being covered in petrol and flames.According to sources, an organised gang made an attempt at stealing […]
In tandem with the last post assessing recent American relations with Syria from the US perspective, this post will evaluate the same relationship from the opposing viewpoint. Again, an important quote came to mind that, I feel, sheds light on the issue at hand. Recently, pop musician Ke$ha has enjoyed a tremendous amount of worldwide […]