Yet again, Al Jazeera English has produced a piece on Bangladesh’s society that other international media outlets surely know about but have done little to highlight. The issue is child prostitution in Bangladesh, compounded by new reports that young girls are being coerced to ingest animal steroids in order to attract customers at a higher […]
Sometimes, identifying, deciphering and tracking US foreign policy for a particular issue can be exercise in complexity, if not futility. For example, what is the US position on the best way to resolve the Western Sahara conflict, arguably one of the biggest hurdles to progress and stability in North Africa? Well, in an interview last […]
Many who follow or work in international affairs would hesitate to call themselves “North Africanists.” But I bet you’d be surprised that you probably are. North Africa, also referred to as the Maghreb (which literally means “the west” in Arabic), has long been a crossroads between civilizations. From the extensive economic partnerships and deep […]
Realizing full well the impact of remittance payments on the overall Bangladeshi economy, the sitting government has announced that it would rein in the ways and means of sending payments back home through back, underground channels. In a complementary move, the cabinet announced a new Expatriate Welfare bank that would provide loans to workers who wish […]
China recently announced that it had reached an agreement with Pakistan for the construction of two new nuclear reactors there. These reactors would be built at the Chasma site already designated for Chasma III and IV. The first two reactors were built by China after a 1985 agreement with Pakistan regarding the same. The setting […]
As tension mounts in the Korean peninsula in the wake of the Cheonan incident, it is worth taking stock of the various diplomatic options on the table. It is too early to predict what kind of pressure will be applied to the rogue regime for its belligerency this time around, but, importantly, a chorus of […]
In this piece William Sweet maintains that Iran is pursuing both technological routes to an atomic bomb, on the model of the Manhattan Project and that the West is in a position to adopt tougher unilateral sanctions, under the UN flag.
Officials from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) have stated that they expect charges to be filed in the Hariri murder case between September and December of this year. Former Prime Minister Rafik Hairri was assassinated in 2005 by a massive explosion as his motorcade drove through the streets of Beirut. The STL was established […]
If you have any interest in American politics whatsoever you really should bookmark FiveThirtyEight, which does fantastic analysis (usually with complicated statistical analysis that they thankfully are able to make accessible to the rest of us) about a whole host of issues but with particular strenghts on electoral politics. With the upcoming midterm elections in […]
In another bold and well-calculated move, the government of Bangladesh has reached out to yet another powerful country and has made of it another ally. This time, the government through Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and her aides have reached a five-year deal with their Russian counterparts to share peaceful nuclear technology, design and capability in order […]
Nicholas Kristof recently wrote a piece that dealt with Pakistan and Bangladesh’s parralel and diverging moves on Islamist socialization and education. The piece, published in the Times editorial page, has set off a run of commentary. To some extent this is a welcome development; considered another way, it is an unnecessary set of talk backs on […]
And who said the Palestinians aren’t partners for peace? Assuming the reporting is accurate and that the Palestinians are actually willing (and able) to follow through on their offer, a report in today’s Wall Street Journal suggests the Palestinian Authority is willing to give up double the land it offered in the past to former […]
Alaska’s three Congressional representatives – Senators Mark Begich (D) and Lisa Murkowski (R) and Representative Don Young (R) – are supporting Shell’s continued efforts to begin drilling for offshore oil on Alaska’s North Slope this July. On Monday, at a Chamber of Commerce lunch in Anchorage, the three solicited questions from an audience of several […]
Georgia is gearing up for nation-wide municipal elections on 30 May, with the most closely-watched contest in Tbilisi, the capital. Incumbent Gigi Ugulava, a close associate of President Saakashvili, will run against a large slate of opposition candidates, including the charismatic Irakli Alasania, who was once ambassador to the UN before he turned against President […]
Here are some stories that have caught my eye of late: Guernica: A Magazine of Art & Politics has an excerpt from what is sure to be an explosive new book on Israel’s connections to Apartheid South Africa. I’ve written a bit about the Middle East and especially Israel, and while I don’t want to […]