Dear Sirs…. The fall out from the infamous “Radia Tapes” continued this week, though in a somewhat quaint manner as a heated letter-writing contest between two billionaires. Member of Parliament and erstwhile telecom entrepreneur, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, fired the first volley with an open letter to Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Groups. Chandrasekhar alleged that contrary […]
Football is the world’s favorite sport. Nowhere is it held in higher esteem than Africa. The Mail & Guardian has a fantastic photo slideshow inspired at least in part by South Africa hosting the World Cup. Photographers traveled across to capture the continent’s love of the game. Here is the Mail & Guardian’s introduction to […]
Last week began with a bang as Wikileaks snuck out its latest offering of classified government cables and documents causing a stir in diplomatic circles. The leaked documents provide a glimpse into the U.S. State Department’s dealings with and impressions of various countries and global leaders. While the veracity of these documents will continue to […]
As the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is celebrating its 50 anniversary, it is coming under renewed threat. Newly-elected Alaskan governor Sean Parnell is a staunch supporter of the oil and gas industry, which could spell bad news for conservationists. On December 3, he wrote a letter to President Obama telling him to not turn ANWR […]
Earlier today the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) cleared Grameen Bank’s moves to supply its private arm with development funds targeted for its non-profit works. The Minister of the Environment and International Development, Erik Solheim, the official who commisioned a Norad report on this affair offered this assessment: “There is no indication that Norwegian funds […]
To borrow from William Butler Yeats’s poem, things fall apart; the centre cannot hold, this time in the Ivory Coast despite the recent election designed to reunify the country. A standoff between the incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo and the opposition leader Alassane Quattara is sliding the country back into another civil war. Stubbornly both men […]
Yeonpyeong Island After North Korean Attack Previously, this blog has examined the complex dysfunctional relationship , known as Sino-North Korean relations. Here is a quick recap: China is the top investor and subsidizer of North Korea, but the relationship is indirectly reciprocal. The Kim family mafia, rulers of North Korea, with Kim Jong Il as […]
The WikiLeaks cables so far contain no bomb-shell revelations but are valuable in providing greater texture to Washington’s policy in South Asia and in illuminating the unsolvable conundrums that bear on U.S. and Indian relations with Pakistan.
If it weren’t already enough that the Norwegian government is trying to investigate Grameen Bank’s books from some fifteen years ago, now the local government, just down the street, sitting in Parliament is out for some explanations from Grameen Bank’s founder Dr. Mohammad Yunus. Sheikh Hasina has chastised Dr. Yunus for the micro-credit business model […]
Things are not good as the Ivory Coast post-election standoff continues. Both incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and opposition leader Alassane Ouattara have claimed victory after the 28 November poll but virtually every legitimate outside observer recognizes Ouattara as the legitimate winner. Hundreds have fled as food security and shortages of basic goods are becoming a legitimate […]
A new poll covering all of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces was released today by The Washington Post, ABC News, the British Broadcasting Corp. and ARD television. Let’s go over some of the polls main findings: Afghans are more pessimistic about the direction of their country, less confident in the ability of the United States and its […]
It might be one of the most dramatic changes in Africa in the last decade or so, and it’s crept in so quickly that it is hard to identify when it all happened. Go to Gabarone or Lusaka or Windhoek and you see a new construction project. Look closely. The odds are pretty good that […]
Last Saturday, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri flew to Tehran to meet with President Ahmedinejad and other Iranian politicians. The purpose of the visit was to secure support for his country at a particularly tense time in Lebanese history, or at least in Hariri’s tenure as Prime Minister. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which […]
Wikileaks may be to espionage as the internet is to newspapers. Why should governments pay good money and risk agents’ lives when they can get dirt on their enemies with the click of a finger? Think about it: Russia allegedly paid thousands of dollars (and a fair amount of risk to its international reputation) in […]
One of the latest Wikileaks that might cause a serious rift between friendly nations is the assumption by officials that Russia and Mr. Putin have a stronger relationship with organised crime within Russia and abroad that realised and that this relationship is often used to promote national goals. These accusations focus mostly on the sale […]