King Abdullah’s much anticipated visit to Damascus is expected to take place this week. Last month, Syrian President Bashar Assad traveled to Saudi Arabia to attend the opening ceremony of a new high-tech university, which had been a personal pet project of the King’s. There, President Assad extended an invitation for the King to come […]
An Israeli women won a prize much more important than being the champion of “More to Love” (see a previous blog post) Ada Yonath won this year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry for discoveries in the structures of ribosomes that help them function. The work has implications in developing antibiotics and preventing bacteria from becoming resistant to antibiotics. […]
Reuters put out an interesting story today on how development of the natural gas fields on the Yamal Peninsula could disrupt the indigenous Nenets tribe living there. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the conference held by the Russian government for foreign investors interested in developing these very resources. Gazprom is seeking to turn […]
It is no secret that India believes the Pakistani Intelligence Agency (ISI) sponsors terrorists against Jammu &Kashmir (J&K) in the long drawn border dispute between the two countries. But according to a media report the ISI is planning to use captured Taliban militants to infiltrate and fight the ‘jihad’ against India in J&K. “In a […]
A Barrage of Links and selective commentary as I try to get back to a regular routine after all of the travel of late: South African president Jacob Zuma is considering granting his economic development ministry greater powers but first needs to determine whether doing so would be constitutional. The Congress of South African Trade […]
In an article in the Washington Post, Anti-U.S. Wave Imperiling Efforts in Pakistan, Officials Say, writers explain the growing hostility towards the Americans in Pakistan But what is missing from this article is the historical aspect of anti Americanism in that part of the world. During my recent trip, I was shocked to see that […]
Cambodia and Thailand – Our favorite soft authoritarian, Cambodian PM Hun Sen is back at it. Just when you thought they were on the road to peace, Hun Sen has ordered Cambodian troops and police to fire on anyone crossing “illegally” into the area around the Preah Vihear Temple. This was Hun Sen’s response to […]
It is the fall, and that means that once again it is Miss Venezuela season. The national pageant was held on September 24th, and the winner, Marelisa Gibson, will now serve as the country’s representative in the international competition. The contest is a big deal across Venezuela, with all eyes turned to televisions. For the […]
This Al Jazeera program provides a very interesting discussion on the whether there has been a loss of legitimacy since the disputed election and if the escalation of protests will affect Iran’s regional role. The program also provides a background on the Iranian history and Iran’s influence in the region. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/k-F_9qV0AYE” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” […]
Peter W. Galbraith, who was fired last week from his position with the UN as deputy special representative in Afghanistan, has come out swinging with a hard hitting piece in the Washington Post deriding the United Nation’s work in securing a free and fair Afghan Presidential Election. Galbraith, who was basically fired by UN special […]
Coming back from the brink of death after a car bomb that put him in a coma, the Ingush president Yunus-Bek Yevkurov today dismissed his republic’s entire government. Was it because he felt the leadership was not doing enough to stem the Islamist insurgency widely accused of destabilising this tiny territory and having tried to […]
How difficult is it to be a blogger in Saudi Arabia? Not so hard, it turns out. According to “Saudi Jeans,” the nom de plume for 25-year-old Ahmed Al-Omran, many topics can be discussed by the more than 10,000 bloggers in Saudi Arabia without facing reprisals from local authorities. “I avoid writing about the royal […]
The Africa Center for Strategic Studies has launched its new website. On the front page are links to articles about the United States’ engagement with Africa and the complex security threats across the continent.
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) index, Niger is the worst place in the world to call home. (Norway ranked first). Rankings like this always seem like exercises in precision rather than accuracy — Niger is worse than the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad and Sudan? Worse than Zimbabwe? Norway is better […]
Imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti maintains his position as a potential future Palestinian Authority President and likely increased support for him following a recent interview publicized on Sunday. Even though Barghouti remains a Fatah member, his advocacy of resistance grants him support from a broad swath of Palestinians, including Hamas members. Because of Barghouti’s popularity, […]