Chechnya, recently overtaken by its Caucasus neighours North Ossetia and Ingushetia in the terrorism headlines, is back in the news for the most tragic of reasons. A bomb killed six women on Wednesday night outside of a theatre in Stavropol, a city not far from the restive region, moments before the start of a performance […]
In Ethiopia‘s recent elections Prime Minister Meles Zenawi claimed an overwhelming victory. The problem is that observers from both the European Union and the United States, not to mention the opposition leaders, have raised serious questions as to whether the elections were either free or fair. Zenawi denies the claims, of course, but what else […]
At the beginning of the month we discussed the opportunity that Arturo Valenzuela, Assistant Secretary of Western Hemisphere Affairs, would have in his May 20 speech before the Cuban American National Foundation—the opportunity to deliver the Obama administration’s first major statement on Cuba, and to say something new. May 20th has come and gone and […]
Controversy surrounded questions on Israel’s democratic character this year following multiple news blackouts, confiscation of reporters’ materials, and the imprisonment of a critical journalist. While some of these procedures have been rationalized by citing security concerns, the real character of Israeli democracy emerges during the debate on these issues. Dozens of Israeli newspaper and television […]
[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/KuTar3QcCbI” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] When asked what face Moscow should present to the outside world, President Medvedev replied: The one that I have now: a smiling face… We must not bare our teeth at anyone, get angry, sulk or feel offended, pushed into a corner… I would like to see Russia smiling and […]
I’m back already, well kind of. Below is a must-read article by the Washington Post’s Fred Hiatt about the disappearance of debate and discussion about America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Like I, he sees this as a detriment to our policy making process and a disservice to all our servicemen in harm’s way. Here […]
America’s standing in the eyes of the world has risen significantly since 2008. I’ll let you figure out the correlation or causality for that. But according to Gallup, nowhere is America respected more than in Sub-Saharan Africa (which admittedly also had a high opinion of the US during the Bush years as well).
Just a few years ago, newspapers were full of reports stating that tensions between Canada and Denmark were aboil due to a dispute dating back to 1973 over tiny Hans Island, a rocky outcropping in the Nares Strait between Canada and Greenland. Today, both countries still claim possession of the barren island, yet they’ve been […]
This map of the various populations in the Arctic, entitled “The Arctic: Life Beyond the Arctic Circle,” comes from RIA Novosti’s Infographics website. Each orange circle tells the relative strength of the local population, followed by its amount. For instance, in Alaska, there are “649 тыс. человек,” meaning 649,000 people. However, what the map doesn’t […]
President Calderón was unusually bold in his visit to Washington last week. He pointedly criticized the Arizona immigration law as an affront to the “core values” of both countries. Speaking in English as his addressed Congress he said: “It is a law that not only ignores a reality that cannot be erased by decree but […]
Few things in Russia are ever as they seem. Take this week’s unprecedented measure to provide each widow of the mine explosion victims with police protection to ward off attacks from organised criminals after their compensation payouts. After one of the victims’ relatives went to the authorities complaining of blackmail from a notorious local gang, […]
Just want to let everyone know I’ll be posting sporadically for the next week as I’ll be taking care of my newly born baby daughter.
It’s not getting very much publicity in the English language Israeli media, but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sat through hours and hours of questioning in his involvement (and likely leadership role) in a corruption scandal (see the English Google translate version here). When Olmert served as mayor, city officials allegedly received hundreds of millions (and […]
Robert Nolan guest blogging from Strasbourg Dear Congress. The European Parliament would like your attention. And they’d like you to visit too. I say take them up on it. Strasbourg is a lovely city. Just ask Joe Biden or even President Obama, who have both visited here over the past year. Yes, I know you’ve […]
Over the past year, the Obama administration has repeatedly answered criticism of its lack of progress on Cuba with the excuse that Havana has not responded in kind to any overtures Washington has tried to make (it has the distinct feel of the classic “he started it” argument). In fact, recent statements by top officials […]