Welcome to the AU blog, the latest addition to the Foreign Policy Blogs network.
Last week, it was reported that an American submarine, the USS Texas (SSN 775), surfaced near the North Pole in mid-October. The submarine, part of the Virginia class, was the first ship in its kind to do so. It was taking part in an ICEX, or ice exercise. After surfacing, the submarine stayed moored to the […]
Continuing with the theme of the troubled relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia, especially over Yemen, here is an Al Jazeera report examining how Yemenis are reacting to foreign interference in their country’s civil war: [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/ybK4-DveFQ8″ width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] On Sunday, Ali Larijani, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, criticized the Saudi government […]
How is it that Venezuela, awash in energy resources, experiences blackouts? Although it is a global leader in oil production, most of the country’s power comes from hydroelectric dams, including one of the word’s largest, Guri. Unfortunately a combination of drought and failing infrastructure has severely reduced capacity for power-generation. A NYT article gives a […]
There have been growing signals, some blatant, that the Obama administration is looking for a way out of Afghanistan, even as they are still in the process of deciding on a new strategy, which is likely to involve the deployment of thousands more American and NATO troops. It of course is prudent for the US […]
The day’s news about the promise to make a promise a year out on Climate Change is frustrating, to say the least. This tactic of kicking the ball toward the goal post has just one problem: there is no goal post that all 192 countries convening in Denmark will agree upon. In fact, it is […]
APEC – Gregory Clark, over at Japan Times, argues that APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) is an obsolete framework that was never very affective in the first place. If one agrees with him or not, he gives a good background on the history of various political-economic groupings in East-Southeast Asian region since the Cold War. Obama’s […]
Comments made by Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat indicate that the Palestinians will unilaterally declare independence from Israel along the June 4, 1967 border, effectively on the green line that would include Jerusalem in the sovereign country. Palestinian leaders are actively lobbying countries for their support on the proposal and reports indicate that a measure could reach […]
According to the Jamestown Foundation, on October 29, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev promoted his son, Maksim Bakiyev, to lead the Central Agency on Development, Investment, and Innovation. This agency controls all foreign funds entering the country, along with control of major national hydroelectric and gold companies. Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s network of clients is growing stronger, to […]
On a lark, I’d begun to write today’s post with the idea that I’d deal mainly with the ill-gauged foresight with which even the most vaunted media outlets in the U.S deal with Bangladesh and her political economy and “culture”. With no small irreverence, I’d started the piece with the following declaration and all that […]
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will meet with his Indian counterpart next week to help boost Indo-Canadian relations that have been “cool” for more than three decades. Relations between the two countries declined after India indirectly used Canadian nuclear technology for its first nuclear tests in 1974. Thereafter it has build six Pressurized Heavy Water […]
President Barack Obama intends to nominate Hannah Rosenthal to serve as the administration’s Special Envoy for Global Anti-Semitism, an ambassador-at-large position within the State Department. She will largely work towards combating anti-semitic views throughout the world, an issue directly related to Israel as many countries in Europe propose or have enacted certain restrictions on trade […]
با دوستان هایی از این دشمنان ما نیاز ندارد. The meeting between Pakistan’s ‘super anchors’ and Hillary Clinton was, well, disastrous, not for America or Clinton, but for these talk show hosts. Hillary was calm, controlled, measured and she answered all sorts of questions thoroughly and intelligently. And unlike most of the panel, she was […]
Here are stories that should keep you busy as you head into a November weekend. If you are reading this from the US, Europe or elsewhere in the northern hemisphere, winter is fast approaching. If you are reading from Africa or the southern hemisphere, winter seems like a distant concept. Either way, enjoy. Commentary as […]
In a wide-ranging series of lectures Open Society Institute chairman and founder George Soros has been trying to place the global financial crisis in some larger context. In one recent speech he said: And China needs to become a more open society in order to be acceptable to the rest of the world. The rest […]