As soon as the Russian spy scandal broke, commentators rushed to lazy pop cultural comparisons: James Bond, the novels of John le Carre, the BBC TV series Spooks. Yet no one seemed to mention the one bit of TV that the operation truly resembles (in structure and scope, not in success of execution): Michael Apted’s […]
A clandestine meeting between top Israeli and Turkish officials highlights a major obstacle in Israel’s foreign policy — namely, the irrelevance of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Following reported pressure from U.S. President Barack Obama, Israeli Industry, Trade, and Labor Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer (a top adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu) met Turkish Foreign Minister […]
Jamaat-e-Islami, the Islamist political party that entered into coalition with the BNP during its previous turn in power, has seen better days. The three top leaders of the party were arrested this week on charges of hurting the sentiments of Muslims. This has all come about because another Bangladeshi religious group filed charges against Jamaat […]
Deadlocked efforts to resolve Iraq’s governing crisis nearly four months after parliamentary elections failed to produce decisive results, are at the heart of this current wave of political violence.
I’m fighting off a cold, which is a bit of a bummer, as colds while travelling, even on long trips where you settle into a real life model at least a little, seem worse than colds at home. It is not bad enough to keep me from living my life (or to excuse me from […]
I crossed the border with Mark into Zeerust Wednesday. Zeerust is a medium sized town, by the standards of rural North West province a small city, that serves as the shopping and banking and service center for the larger region, including many Gabaroneans like my friend who find Zeerust to be cheaper and more abundant […]
The growing prominence of Indian-Americans has been an important but under-noticed factor in bilateral relations.
It is not the first time that the EU’s High Representative has spoken candidly on the subject of Israeli settlement construction in East Jerusalem. Indeed, Ashton remarked in her maiden speech as the EU’s foreign policy chief that “East Jerusalem is occupied territory, together with the West Bank.” Needless to say the remark caused […]
A documentary on the political history of modern China, produced by the C.I.A circa 1967. It’s definitely worth a look. The link is here, if the flash player isnt working for you. (H/T Henry Hoyle)
The current government of Bangladesh should be congratulated for maintaining some modicum of restraint and dignity, relative to its predecessor governments. It has managed macro-economic policy to the extent that over the last year a series of macro-economic reports for different sectors have trended positive. The central government’s plan to take over recruitment and management […]
Summer is the season for scientific expeditions in the Arctic, as the ice is finally thin and sparse enough that light icebreakers can ply the circumpolar waters. Yet while both of America’s heavy icebreakers are sidelined and Canada laments its lack of icebreakers, China will soon be sending an icebreaker to the Arctic and constructing […]
Hot Russian spies having sexy spy sex! Hijacking the identities of dead Canadians! Using social networking sites! Burying caches of cash in NY! Praising Fidel Castro! Being all-American! And posting inane and ridiculous status updates on facebook! In fact, the 11 accused of being ‘deep cover’ Russian spies did pretty much anything but acquire any […]
As the world and multi-national corporations come to predict a not so bright future for the regime in Tehran, there are very important factors that need great attention. These factors can play a role in bringing about a wholesale change in Iran’s political system with far-reaching geopolitical implications for the Middle East and beyond: Economic […]
The former dictator and President of Bangladesh, Hussain Muhammad Ershad, pledged his loyalty to the ruling Awami League, the very party that once stood in opposition to his rule. His Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), though a member of the left leaning AL Grand Coalition has been something of a flighty beast. Once the clearing house […]