Those Bolshevik posters depicting the Russian Orthodox Church as an integral pillar of dictatorship had to wait almost a century for vindication. Ironically, it may come from as surprising an ally as the European Court of Human Rights, to which the museum curators sentenced for hosting anti-religious art have applied to contest their convictions. For […]
The New York Times is reporting General Odierno said Tuesday that he anticipates an uptick in violence against US troops as they begin to depart the country. Intelligence reports have suggested that Iranian-backed Shi’a militias plan to turn up the heat against American soldiers to lay stake to claims that they’ve driven off occupying forces. […]
The New York Times just published a fascinating piece about a Iranian scientist named Shahram Amiri, who has sought refuge in the Pakistani Embassy’s Iran interest section in Washington D.C. The piece shows that there are at least two different versions of the story and clearly demonstrates the murky and cold waters that run over […]
By Sean Patrick Murphy http://globalfilm.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2010/07/12/the-stoning-of-soraya-m-2008/
Desmond Boylan/Reuters Negotiations at the end of July between Cuban President Raul Castro, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Havana Jaime Ortega, and Spain’s foreign minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, yielded unusual results: Havana decided to release 52 of the individuals currently identified internationally as political prisoners—a full third of those currently held under that status. The website […]
I’ve not attended to Bangladesh’s climate change derived water crisis in some time. Whether I’ve been right or wrong, I’ve principally attended only to the political bearings that have supported the two main opposing parties. Happily, Sebastian Strangio a journalist writing for Foreign Policy Magazine has written up an excellent piece about climate change in […]
Two news stories today offer a disheartening look at the future of Arctic wildlife. First, the Scientific American blog reports that work by biologist Andrew Derocher of the University of Alberta demonstrates that polar bears could disappear from Hudson Bay in as little as ten years. Some of his other work shows a relatively more […]
Writing day in and day out about the collapse of this and the fall-out from that, it can be difficult to step back and assess where we are in Afghanistan’s broader narrative. I promise you that today, the soldiering attempt to seek some clarity in Afghanistan’s historical trajectory will break your heart. The photographs that […]
It often goes unremarked but politics is nothing more than the show of armed, military might sublimated through votes and caucuses. So it is somewhat odd that the majority of the coverage of Pakistani politics related to the so-called ‘War on Terror’ is principally concerned with terrorism and the growing insurgency of the Tehrik e- […]
The World Cup is done. I am writing this the day after from the OR Tambo International Airport where my first flight is already delayed, and I am looking at the possibility of a few nights in Addis Ababa if we cannot make up the time and get me to my connecting flight, which leaves […]
(I’ve been in an internet free zone the last couple of days, so I am playing some catchup with posts. I am putting this together in the departures lounge of the OR Tambo Airport outside of Joburg where I have the following itinerary: Joburg to Addis Ababa, hour and a half to change planes; Addis […]
Commentators were buzzing over the weekend following the publication of the PT’s ‘radical’ campaign manifesto on Dilma Rousseff’s polished official website. Listing the party’s platform and campaign commitments, the original manifesto included commitments to judge the takeover of lands on a per case basis; socialize information and the private media; and tax the country’s big […]
First of all, a shout-out to the folks at registan.net, for doing everything well. Here is a great post on how sudden and unexpected the violence was for journalists and scholars of the region, as the region is known for for relative peace. Poverty, but peace. What is so interesting is that no one on […]
As I wrote recently the High Court in Bangladesh has deemed fatwas and other extrajudicial punishment illegal. Indeed, it has ruled that those who issue fatwas are now subject to punishment. This is good news. But the results that the ruling might seem to promise may be a long time coming. In the first instance […]
This post can also been seen in FPA’s Latin America Blog. You can find some of the biggest futbol fans in Spain and Holland, and that was before either of them reached a World Cup final. Neither team has ever won the prestigious title and Spain, while being the current European champions, have never been to […]