Regions

I am pleasantly shocked by the news that South Africa has already moved out of recession. According to Statistics SA, South Africa recorded modest positive growth in the third quarter.

Pursuant to the developing story on the 3 men arrested in Bangladesh for plotting to attack U.S and Indian political institutions, I’d like to point out an interesting piece of editorial analysis by the India based South Asia Analysis Group.  The short paper examines the history of Lashkar e Taiba in a broader, electoral context […]

A short British film attempts to recreate Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank by using London as an analogy. The film is worth watching but should be viewed with a pound of salt because it is rife with bias and shares only a small sliver of the truth. Nonetheless, check it out:

A three year saga may finally be over. Abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit may finally return home in exchange for hundreds of imprisoned Palestinians. After years of negotiations over the individuals on the exchange list and the terms for the release of some of the prisoners, such as whether they should be exiled, news reports […]

Before he meets with President Obama on Tuesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today addressed the business community at the United States India Business Council in Washington, D.C. Here he called upon American business to increase investments in infrastructure projects and agriculture. Dr. Singh said that American businesses are welcome to invest in “agriculture based businesses […]

I’ve been following reports that three Bangladeshi men affiliated with Lashkar E Taiyeba and Harkatul Jihad al Islam have been implicated in a plot to attack the U.S. Embassy and Indian High Commission in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. This story just got a lot more interesting and puzzlingly complicated.  Even though the piece is […]

Believe me, I’d be mad like hell if Americans bombed Pakistan and killed innocent civilians. Believe me, America is not targeting Pakistan. The Taliban are attacking Pakistan. Today, Pakistan is facing a very tough challenge of defeating home grown insurgency funded and fueled by the money that is directly coming from the Middle East. And […]

In a disquieting assessment, an economist has concluded that South Africa could have the most expensive electric rates in the world if ESKOM’s price hikes go into effect. And given the rates of poverty and the status of the working classes and general economic precariousness in South Africa, this is alarming news that could fast […]

Any discussion of contemporary South Africa will come around to the issue of crime fairly quickly. And whenever issues of crime come up someone will raise the issue of “getting tough” on crime. (And this happens everywhere, not just in South Africa —  it certainly does in the United States, for example.) But what does […]

While Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Kabul for Karzai’s inauguration, she gave two extensive interviews; one with Kim Ghattas of the BBC and other with Mujahid Jawad of Radio Azadi. The BBC interview focused on how the US was going to effectively deal with Karzai for the next few years.  Here’s an excerpt […]

CNN’s Christiana Amanpour interviewed “pro Israel, pro peace” lobby J Street’s Executive Director Jeremy Ben-Ami and American Jewish Committee Executive Director David Harris. J Street recently held a controversial conference in DC that had unexpectedly high turnout. However, critics of the group contend J Street’s agenda and supporters do not have Israel’s best interests in […]

For once in discussions on the Middle East, ‘rats’ actually refer to rodents, or more specifically, hamsters and similar species. A new study finds Israeli rats are more cautious than their Jordanian cohorts. Even though rats can freely cross the border between Israel and Jordan (humans are limited to three border crossings and Israelis can actually use […]

He announced he’s quitting. He halted the peace process. He condemned Israel for not stopping settlement activity. He criticized Hamas for not using popular resistance. He wants to unilaterally declare statehood. He still says he wants peace. He kind of backtracked on quitting. He rejected a U.S. peace negotiations effort. That’s right, Palestinian President Mahmoud […]

Today is Universal Children’s Day.  50 years ago today, on November 20th, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Child.  20 years ago today, the General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights the Child. These declarations and conventions are aspirational, high reaching rhetoric and are considered normatively obligatory […]

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will arrive this Sunday for his first visit to the US since the Obama administration took office. The Indian Prime Minister will be President Obama’s first State Guest since his inauguration in January. During an interview with the Washington Post, Prime Minister Singh said that during the visit he “would like […]