Merry Christmas to all. It is a sign of the rising urgency of the necessary work that still needs to be done in order to foster tolerance in Bangladesh that the Awami League has taken security measures in order to ensure that peace prevails for the Christmas celebrations in Bangladesh. It were as if the […]
The Copenhagen Conference has claimed another victim: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed’s prestige on the international stage. Her state visit to India to hash out issues as far ranging as investment in cross-border electrical grids, prisoner swaps and child trafficking got derailed when her Indian counterpart decided to attend the talks in Copenhagen. Her visit […]
In an op-ed in todays New York Times, Alan Kuperman, director of the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Program at the University of Texas at Austin, outlines the reasons that negotiations with Iran to thwart its nuclear program have not and will not work. Instead, he calls for precision, aerial strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. And instead of […]
On Monday, Hugo Chávez accused Colombia of using a US-manufactured spy plane to over-fly its airspace. Colombian officials denied not only that this happened, but stated that their military did not have such the required military technology. The retort from Bogotá via its Defense Minister, Gabriel Silva, included a little bit of humor: perhaps the […]
Upon the retirement of the Chief Justice M.M. Ruhul Amin, Justice M. Tazzaful Islam was elevated to teh seat of Chief Justice on December 22nd. Though he will serve his term for only a few months, he nevertheless intends to be an activist justice on the bench of the Bangladesh Supreme Court. However, his remarks […]
India’s Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram has proposed setting up a National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) as part of a plan to radically restructure the country’s security apparatus. Delivering the 22nd Intelligence Bureau Centenary Endowment Lecture he said that given the scope and urgency of internal security, it is necessary to separate the non-internal security […]
A new poll indicates a majority of Israelis would pay almost anything for the return of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, an issue currently stalled on whether certain terrorists held in Israeli prisons would be deported outside Israel and the territories. The poll, conducted jointly by the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement […]
Things have been quiet here at the Africa blog with the end of the academic semester and the onset of the holidays. But I’ll be back in full force soon with regular posting and, soon, with my annual “Africa: Year in Review” post. Until then I want to wish all of my readers, regular, casual, […]
A Trial Court in Dhaka, in accordance with the Supreme Court decision that upheld a guilty verdict on the assassination of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman issued the death warrants for the 5 convicted men who were appealing a High Court verdict on their complicity in the plot. This is a most historic case because it deals with […]
The United States’ role in the peace process has always drawn significant attention. Some critics allege the United States cannot serve as a proper mediator due to U.S. officials’ unrelenting support for Israel. Others say the U.S. government, and particularly the Obama Administration, has been imposing an unfair and one-sided expectations on Israel, such as […]
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will unequivocally attempt to prevent the launching of a third intifada, a prospect bolstered by recent polls that showed a stark improvement in his popularity among Palestinians. Abbas, speaking in a 60-minute interview with the Wall Street Journal, promised that no intifada would erupt under his watch, saying he prevented […]
A report, investigating the state’s response to the Mumbai attacks last year, has blamed then Commissioner of Police (CP) Hasan Gafoor of “absence of overt leadership” and “lack of visible command and control at the CP’s office.” Gafoor was heavily criticized by the media and state government, and was transferred from his post two months […]
The Anchorage Daily News has an interesting story on polar bear research in the Arctic. This fall, scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks on board the US Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea, one of the world’s most powerful icebreakers, researched how melting sea ice is affecting polar bears. These animals rely on sea ice […]
Zainab Jeewanjee contrasts Christopher Hitchens Slate.com piece: Why does Pakistan Hate the United States with Dr. Goodson’s article “Pakistan is the most dangerous place in the world”, published at the Strategic Studies Institute. Although both articles describe the problems of a “transactional relationship” between both countries, Jeewanjee says Dr. Goodson’s piece offers an accurate assessment of the issue.
I haven’t read Dan Fleshler’s new book Transforming America’s Israel Lobby, but I have read a review (think belated Hanukkah gift…anyone?). And the book sounds interesting, particularly because it seems to serve as a moderate counter-part to previous so-called exposes on the Israel lobby, such as the highly controversial book The Israel Lobby by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt. […]