Fareed Zakaria and CNN come together to give us an informative documentary on the terrorists attacks on Mumbai last year. Sean Patrick Murphy writes about it at the Global Film Review. “The film does an excellent job of drawing in the viewer, following the rampage as it unfolded over many hours, often providing cell phone […]
“Twas the night before Obama’s Afghanistan Strategy speech and all through the internet, not a pundit was resting, all arguing that they knew what was right. The allies were briefed in hopes that more troops would soon be there. Then down came Obama to West Point with sweet words of strategy.” I offer an immediate […]
In February, President Hugo Chávez won a referendum allowing him (and any other public official) to be re-elected indefinitely. A total of 54% of the electorate supported this option, but did this represent a recent peak in the Venezuelan President’s popularity? Over recent months Chávez provoked a diplomatic row with Colombia and sent troops to […]
Diogenes Laertius wrote, “The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.” This simple formula hides behind it much of what is wrong with the socio-political economy of Bangladesh. Humanism has been on the wane in Bangladeshi curricula since the rightist BNP took power in 2001 and the effect has yet to […]
In a follow-up to last week’s Washington Post On Faith interviews on J Street, the column’s authors took to the other side of the debate, speaking with Weekly Standard editor Michael Goldfarb who is an outspoken critic of the group. Watch the interview here and read the discussion here. Separately, Americans for Peace Now is sponsoring […]
It is easy to assert that the political negotiations in Zimbabwe have reached crunch time. But it might be more accurate to say that the negotiations that have been fraught from the outset are facing their last best chance of peaceful resolution. This assumes that both parties want peaceful resolution, or resolution at all, despite […]
Is the new trend of African nations selling or leasing agricultural land to foreign companies or countries a new form of colonialism (“agri-imperialism”) or a savvy form of investment and partnership? These are the questions raised in recent articles in the New York Times Magazine and Washington Post. The deeply unsatisfying answer from my vantage […]
Foreign Policy released a list of the world’s top 100 Global Thinkers, with only a minimal number of Israel-related public figures appearing. Many of the lists thinkers clearly represent revolutionary views in foreign affairs and economists; other list members, however, are simply not among them. Notably, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, a former IMF official […]
Thomas Friedman of the New York times writes about the Anti-American narrative that terrorist groups use to convince the Islamic world that American policies are aimed at oppressing Muslims. Zainab Jeewanjee critiques Friedman’s article, noting history and tangible consequences of our policies in the Middle East and Pakistan.
While readers were merrily gorging themselves on turkey dinners, FPA Russia Blog spent the past week hard at work: sniffing out traces of Soviet heritage in Hanoi, the capital of one of the world’s last remaining Socialist states. Indeed, most middle aged Hanoians speak at least some Russian, and many experience full-on Ostalgie for the […]
Sheikh Hasina has taken up the claim that Bangladesh deserves a separate fund for being a victim of climate change resulting from industrial carbon emissions. Until yesterday, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dipu Moni had argued for that claim. Addressing the executive session of the Commonwealth Heads of State in Trinidad and Tobago, Begum Hasina […]
Eid Mubarak. Eid-ul Adha was celebrated with quiet contemplation in New York yesterday. Today Bangladesh and much of the Muslim world celebrates the faith of the patriarch Abraham. Unfortunately as millions of Bangladeshi’s rushed to make their way back home for Eid celebration, tragedy has struck again. News reports show that more than 32 […]
In the midst of a global recession, drastic unemployment, and a non-existent peace process that could turn into an intifada, Israeli home prices are skyrocketing. Home prices are over 10-percent higher today than they were at this time last year, thus the Israeli housing market recently increased in price more than any other country’s housing […]
Journalism 101, that is, the very first lesson of journalism is impartiality. In other words, journalists, at least in civilized societies don’t take any position on issues. And editors make sure that personal opinion don’t seep into the work that the journalists are assigned. This is common practice, and even in India, if you read […]
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak reiterated on Tuesday his nation’s grim warning that Israel will hold all of Lebanon accountable for the actions of Hizballah. The statement came the day before the newly formed Lebanese cabinet was to make an announcment regarding the government’s official stance on Hizballah’s weapons. On Wednesday, it was declared by […]