Regions

Pakistans mlitary headquarters are attacked by militants in October 2009, at the heels of a sweeping offensive against terrorists in South Waziristan. This also comes as the Kerry-Lugar bill/Enhanced Partnership Act of Pakistan is hotly debated in Pakistan. There are concerns that the bill invades sovereignty, will fail as a result of corruption and undermines the military. Senator Kerry dispels those myths in a report published by his office last week and Zainab Jeewanjee elucidates the situation on both ends.

While Turkey and Armenia seem to be mending their relationship, a growing rift is still developing between Turkey and Israel, largely over disagreements on the Gaza War earlier this year. The Turkish government ousted Israel from participating in an international joint military exercise scheduled to include the air forces of Turkey, Israel, the United States, […]

According to History Channel lore, the Mayan calendar ends on December 21, 2012. Indeed the Long Count calendar, one of several used by the Maya, reaches the end of a 394-year cycle, known as a Baktun, at about that time. The Long Count calendar begins in 3114 BCE; hence, 2012 AD will mark the end […]

Asia – U.S. President Barack Obama will make his first trip to East and Southeast Asia in November.  During his 8 day trip, beginning on Nov. 11, Obama will visit Japan, Singapore, China, and South Korea – in that order.  He will focus his speeches on the global economic crisis and global security.  He will […]

The Los Angeles Times has posted an audio slideshow by Robert Gauthier featuring photographs of the Alaskan Arctic, along with commentary by various residents. The images document the changing environment of the Seward Peninsula, whose coast lies along the Bering Strait. In two and a half minutes, the slideshow touches on topics such as the […]

In the past few years we have seen Venezuela as an arms recipient, but does it now qualify as an arms dealer? In late September the Chávez administration donated six combat airplanes to Ecuador. Despite the weapons transfer, relations between Colombia and Ecuador appear to be on the mend, with talks about the resumption of […]

The Obama Administration after deliberation, surge in troops and General McChrystal’s advice, is differentiating between the Al Qaeda and Taliban threat. The focus in the strategy in Afghanistan will now be on eradicating Al Qaeda.

The prospects of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s “economic peace” leading to a comprehensive political two-state solution may actually result in another intifada. Sever Plocker’s latest op-ed in Ynet traces economic growth within the Palestinian Authority prior to the outbreak of the last two intifadas, in 1987 and 2000. Similarly, both intifadas erupted following specific […]

So Robert Mugabe is ready for “fresh and cooperative relations” with the West. Well that’s a breath of fresh air. The problem, of course, is that we’ve heard this song and dance before. Here is the script to a movie we’ve all seen: Act I: Mugabe ruthlessly pillories and hectors and scathes and condemns the […]

There we go again. Another bomb blast in Peshawar destroyed everything – peace, confidence and hope, yet again. We all know that the campaign against the Taliban is going to be bloody, and these nihilists are going to do everything in their power to scare, destabilize and intimidate Pakistan, but I am confident that Pakistanis […]

The WorldPublicOpinion.org (WPO) has released a new poll on how Iranians view their nuclear program. The poll has some interesting revelations; the most pertinent being that two-thirds of Iranians would favor their government precluding the development of nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against Iran. The poll also found that only […]

Just making sure we’re all up-to-date on the latest ‘President Obama Afghan Decision 09’ process.  Yesterday, the President met with a large bipartisan group of Congressmen and Senators with the major news coming out that he will not implement a major evacuation of American troops from Afghanistan nor fall back on orchestrating a strictly anti-Al […]

It seems that some things will never change. One certainty is that American policy toward Africa will nearly always be reactive, and worse yet, those reactions will be slow. Not slow as in deliberative and nuanced, but rather slow as in indecisive and apathetic.  The latest example of this American dithering on Africa comes in […]

The responsibility of an opposition party is, well, to oppose. To hold the majority party’s feet to the fire, to criticize, to represent those who do not feel represented by the party in power. In South Africa there is no doubt that Helen Zille and the Democratic Alliance (DA) take their responsibility seriously (even if […]

Anytime there is a Shia rebellion in the Arab world, Iran gets excoriated.  Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have blamed Iran for fomenting Shia unrest in their country, and now Yemen is following the same footsteps.  A leading Yemeni religious leader has accused Iran of inciting violence in the north of the country, where a predominantly […]