The recent tiff between the White House and the Netanyahu administration has reignited a long-running debate on the terms of cooperation between the United States and Israel. Officials of both countries have repeatedly harped about the shared values and mutual interests of the two countries. The United States supplies Israel with military might and aid, […]
With with 89 percent of the votes counted from the March 7 election, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s coalition has edged ahead of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. Nuri al-Maliki’s coalition is currently leading Allawi’s bloc by about 40,000 votes. However, Votes are still being tallied and the race is still too close to call. […]
Bangladesh has been buying stuff from China and China has been happy selling stuff to Bangladesh, without much concern for doing some shopping of its own. That is now about to change. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina currently in the middle of a five day visit to China carried with her great hope that China would […]
The annual Arab League summit is being held this year in Libya, and Lebanon’s attendance at the meeting is doubtful. Libya and Lebanon have been at odds since the highly influential Imam Musa Sadr went missing on a 1978 visit to Tripoli. Many Lebanese blame Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi for Sadr’s disappearance, and tensions between […]
A new study in Nature released this week indicates that your pooch is most likely a descendant from Middle Eastern wolves. The study evaluated genetic traits from 85 breeds of dogs and 200 wild wolves, and researchers found that dogs are probably most closely related to the Middle Eastern gray wolf. Israelis are nicknamed ‘sabras’ […]
The House Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Global Environment held a hearing yesterday on US-Japan Relations. The subcommittee brought together a panel of experts (half in government, half think tankers) to discuss the current state of the Alliance and the best possible ways to strengthen ties. I found it surprisingly […]
I’ve written extensively on Israel as a model for airline security, particularly following the failed Christmas Eve terror plot. While the Obama administration has changed some policies that shift the security profile toward a system that mirrors some elements of Israeli policies, the technologies developed by Israeli firms are the top of the line. This […]
President Hugo Chávez wants to place restrictions on the Internet in Venezuela after he criticized negative coverage from Noticiero Digital, a website generally opposing the government. The site had incorrectly reported the assassination of a top government official. Frustration with a false report is understandable. Any broader move to limit news sources, however, appears to […]
David Miliband: Do you think President Hamid Karzi will be able to provide a stable situation in Afghanistan with his new cabinet? Mr President Hamid Karzi has possessed presidential election through corruption. Do you think he will be able to eliminate corruption from the country itself ? Do you think Mr Karzi has education, health, […]
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, watch this Irishman named Patrick speak his mind on the current American strategy and presence in Afghanistan and the lack of media coverage of the war: Kennedy does a more than fair job offering a critique of the American presence in Afghanistan and President Obama’s counterinsurgency/Drone attack strategy. But […]
We at the Foreign Policy Association welcome new blogger for Afghanistan, Tahera Nassrat. I, in particular, am very excited to have her expertise and unique perspective brought to this blog. Here is more about Tahera, our new blogger: Tahera was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. She finished her primary education in Kabul and higher education in […]
The sitting government is making swift and sound moves to shore up the country’s infrastructure. It now seems like the government has been able to attract private foreign investment to help pay for the infrastructure construction. The Communications Minister, Syed Abul Hossain has communicated to his fellow parliamentarians that up to nine foreign firms […]
This past Sunday in Beijing marked the closing of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and its more eclectic sidekick, the China People’s Political Consultative Congress, familiarly known in Chinese as lianghui, or “the two meetings.” Both are typically derided as “rubber-stamp” bodies, theatrical reenactments of democracy that give the public a vague whiff of political […]
That groaning sound you just heard was South African officials envisioning their worst nightmare. South Africa wants the world to come this summer, and they hope that among those who come will be Africans. But they want the world, including (and I hate to say it, but maybe especially) the Africans, to go back home […]
The pro-Israel establishment, including Israel’s allies in Congress, are fuming over the recent row between the White House and the Netanyahu administration. They are condemning the Obama administration for inappropriately chastising Israel and holding the Jewish state to higher standards. These criticisms of U.S. policy are nothing new, and only took a new form following […]