Apparently, in the bank’s efforts to promote economic growth and regional integration within the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Development Bank has approved a U.S.$ 95.6 million loan for the Nacala Corridor Phase II Road project (NCRP) in Zambia. However, I am not sure about the assertion that “the work will enhance poverty […]
“We’re in the midst of an international currency war,” declared Brazil’s Finance Minister, Guido Mantega, this past Monday. Minister Mantega was referring to Brazil’s ongoing struggle to maintain a competitive exchange rate for its exports as other developing nations aim for the same. Although most analysts have recognized the “currency war” for some time, Minister Mantega’s […]
The Foreign Policy Association has published my latest “Viewpoints” article, “On Obama and Africa,” in which I give my take on the Dinesh D’Souza-Newt Gingrich idiocy in which they asserted that Obama is informed by a “Kenyan anti-colonialist world view.” [Cross-posted at dcat.]
One of the main issues on the redevelopment agenda for Syria is transportation infrastructure. Much of the country has no choice but to use outdated roads, bridges, and other forms of transportation. Many of the main transportation resources here are literally crumbling. Thats why the new Kefer Soussah square project is so important, and shows […]
Tomorrow I’ll be heading off to Austin for the Cold War Cultures: Transnational and Interdisciplinary Perspectives conference being held at UT Austin. I will give my paper, “Destructive Engagement: The United States, South Africa and the Cold War in the 1980s,” in one of the several Africa-themed panels. If you will be anywhere near Austin, […]
Namibia is bracing for a culture war as Kosie Pretorius, the chairperson and the leader of the Self-Help Trust of Namibia, pushes for Afrikaner traditional authority and a white only museum. Kosie Pretorius whose Monitor Action Group (MAG) political party failed to gain a seat in last year’s election, has been lobbying hard for the […]
According to the New York Times, Pakistan’s military is maneuvering to remove the current government. This, according to the paper, is because of corruption and lack of proper response to the flood. What is missing from the report is that once this government is gone, angels and superheroes are going to takeover and they will […]
I’ve written time after time about the irrelevancy of Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Leiberman. Yet, he still manages to suprise, not with an artful mastery of politics to gain clout, but with providing yet another excuse to his colleagues to dismiss him. Let’s review Leiberman’s history. Instead of examining events years ago, how about just […]
However disgracefully he was forced out, let’s get one thing straight: Luzhkov was a dirty crook. And so is the interim Mayor. Today’s New York Times grandly muses about the ‘two sides’ of Luzhkov – the top city manager who turned Moscow from a “trash-strewn” dump to a “humming megalopolis of skyscrapers, luxury boutiques and […]
Last April, amid the Scud missile kerfuffle, Blake Hounshell called Syria “The dumbest country in the Middle East” on the Foreign Policy magazine blog. (He didn’t even have the common decency to capitalize Dumbest and Country.) I’ll be curious to see if Blake repeats the claim after the Russian Foreign Minister confirmed this month that […]
Well, I just finished the 1st of Bob Woodward’s three-part series ‘Obama’s War’ in the Washington Post and came away keying a different aspect than Woodward and likely the Obama administration wanted to get across. Woodward’s main theme in this first section is that the high brass of the US military (Mullen, McChrystal, Petraeus) failed […]
It seems Bangladesh has now become involved in the Taliban’s game of threats and offensives. The Daily Star reports that Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan forwarded on a request to Foreign Minister Dipu Moni that the government of Bangladesh send troops to help secure Afghanistan against Taliban advances. The Taliban have […]
Here is an interesting take on the situation from Taiwan based blogger, Michael Turton. Warning: Michael is un-apologetically pro-Taiwan, but I believe his take on this issue is quite astute: Context: China kicked up a massive fuss in the world media and put a on a show for the home crowd. Yet in February Russia […]
Zainab Jeewanjee discusses Bob Woodwards book, Obama Wars and it’s reference to Pakistan. As President Obama goes head to head with the military establishment in trying to wind down the war in Afghanistan, he consistently calls for a shift in focus to Pakistan. However, Jeewanjee highlights that the Presidents National Security Strategy from May 2010, offers little, if any clearly spelled out approach to achieving our objectives in Pakistan. She concludes that a more practical, specific approach to Pakistan must exist should the President shift focus to Pakistan as the “epicenter of violence” as the National Security Strategy recommends.
On RIA Novosti’s talk show “Russian Angle,” host Andrei Zolotov recently interviewed Viktor Boyarski, Chairman of the Russian Geographic Society’s Polar Committee. The two discussed the International Arctic Forum on the Arctic, which took place in Moscow from September 22-23. The five-minute video can be seen online here. While Russian news in English is ostensibly […]