The International Arctic Forum took place in Moscow, Russia last week. Hosted by the Russian Geographical Society at Moscow State University, the conference was initially supposed to take place in April until the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull disrupted air travel. Entitled “The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue,” the two-day conference was home to a number of discussions […]
The Israeli intelligence services and the IDF have suffered some set backs of late that many critics have suggested indicates Israeli clandestine operations are in a free fall. “What happened to the days where (future Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud) Barack snuck into PLO headquarters in drag to assassinate some of the world’s most […]
Iran has confirmed that 30,000 computers have been infected with the “Stuxnext” worm. The worm has affected the Bushehr nuclear facility. According to reports this sort of worm could only be created by a government sanctioned hacking effort. Of course the prime suspects are Israel, Europe and the U.S. What’s interesting is that the worm affected […]
Making African history accessible to students below the college level has sadly never been much of a priority in the US. The emergence of Africa Access Review should help.
Celia Dugger has a story in today’s New York Times revealing one of the most vexing difficulties confronting South Africa. On the one hand, minimum wage laws are intended to protect workers from starvation wages (and stand as testament to the strength of South Africa’s labour unions). But on the other hand, enforcement of those […]
PART II North Korea will never honestly negotiate a dismantling of its nuclear weapons; this is the only trump card that has ensured cash flow into the regime. In essence, N. Korea is black mailing the region (and the U.S.). This behavior is not surprising, as the North is a “mafia state” lead […]
One of the reasons I’m writing this blog is to try and give readers a better idea of what Syria is like. Sometimes that means things like discussions of foreign policy, my post on the IAEA for instance. Other times it means we talk about domestic issues like the banning of the Niqab. Well today […]
The Following piece was published in Tehran Bureau: www.tehranbureau.com by MEA CYRUS in London 25 SEPTEMBER, 2010 Taste for controversy increases president’s own risks. [ comment ] There is considerable confusion as to why President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said what he did in New York, clearly suggesting that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 were a devious […]
There is no dearth of reports, articles and analysis on India’s preparation or the lack of it for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2010. Apart from the Indian news channels inviting ‘experts’ of all hues to comment on what went wrong and the national mission to discover where the ‘buck stops’, criticism in the international media […]
Ever since I watched the Ridley Scott film “Gladiator” ten years ago, and winced at the public and private dissembling that was the meat of that film, I’ve always toed a somewhat cautionary line between freedom of expression–as something more than a principle– and responsible art-making. At issue: when does a plausible experience ring […]
Even for a country like India, long inured to the fiascos created by its bungling and corrupt politicians, the adjectives accompanying the Commonwealth Games (CWG) seem like a new low.
France is facing few hard choices regarding its Muslim population. Yesterday, Five French nationals were kidnapped off the shores of Nigeria by Al-Qaeda wing in North Africa. The group claimed responsibility and expressed its clear intention of targeting France’s interest and French nationals. The group made no specific demands as of yet. This, while officials […]
The issue of Syrian cooperation with the IAEA has returned to the headlines as the UN General Assembly convenes this week. While Barak Obama’s stance on the Israeli-Palestinian front, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s incendiary remarks have garnered the most attention, nuclear proliferation has also come to the fore with Syria right in the middle. In remarks […]
In the Pambazuka 2010-09-22, issue 497, Charles Abugre writes a beautiful piece about the Millennium Development Goals’ (MDGs) success and challenges ahead. His article comes at a time when world leaders are gathering in the Big Apple to review progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. What I like about Charles’ article is that it […]
It may have gone unnoticed and unremarked within politics and policy circles, but Pakistan is out again, renewed and replenished in odd ways that speak to a disjointed narrative about contemporary art and literature. Consider the new edition of Granta out in newsstands and haute stores that peddle in that version of mature sensibilities that […]