Bitterlemons has another great series, this time about the renewal of a U.S.-brokered peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Two of the scholars in the series seem to differ on the need for an immediate renewal of negotiations. George Giacaman expressed urgency, calling the current proposals a “last chance,” in attempting to solve the […]
The Iran-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline slated for completion by 2013 sees India withdraw from the project and increasing concern from Washington that Pakistan do the same. However, there are few alternatives to such a profitable, efficient solution to Pakistan’s energy crisis. The IPI pipeline is testimony to Fareed Zakaria’s concept of “The Rise of the Rest” and beckons President Obama to consider formulating new strategies in foreign policy dealing with Iran, Pakistan and India
With 99% of the votes counted, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg’s center-left coalition appears to have won the national elections held on Monday. 86 of the 169 seats in the Storting went to the Red-Greens, giving them a plurality. If the victory is indeed confirmed, Labour and its partners will be the first government to be […]
Russian oil companies, including Gazprom and Lukoil, will pay $1 billion to Venezuela for the chance to develop oil reserves along the Orinoco. Even though Caracas and Moscow are allies, I still have doubts about the final payout for these businesses. In 2006 the Venezuelan government pushed out some foreign oil companies, and forced others […]
That is, minus Iran. The leaders of Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan met in Aktau to, as they say, ‘informally’ discuss the resources in the Caspian Sea. No major agreements were signed, because they likely wouldn’t be honored internationally anyway without Iran, but an important message was sent. As Iran is having major domestic unrest […]
When we think of religious conversions in U.S. prisons, we conjure up images of Islamic fundamentalism infused with the roots of anti-Americanism. The issue resulted in high-level officials issuing worried statements about the phenomenon, with Congress even holding hearings with expert testimony on the radicalization of prisoners. However, just last week, prisoners began embracing a […]
There is a legitimate debate to be had about sanctions against Zimbabwe. My own view is that relaxing the sanctions is the only way to give Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) the space to operate and to ensure that the unity government has a chance to […]
My Master’s thesis dealt with the effect of an independent Iraqi Kurdistan on the Kurdish movement in which I specifically examined what effect increasing the level of autonomy in Iraqi Kurdistan have had on Kurdish secessionist groups in Syria, Iran, and Turkey. Considering I spent last whole year engrossed in researching the operations of Kurdish […]
With good news regarding Afghanistan few and far between lately, I found this story though small, refreshingly positive. The Spanish government has decided to send an additional 220 troops to the Central Asian state. This would make Madrid’s total to around a 1,000 soldiers assigned to the NATO effort, but 450 of them were sent […]
Gold plated AK-47s. Marble columned mansions with caged panthers in the foyer. Caches of jewel-encrusted gold crucifixes affixed to heavy chains. Lots of bling is how you live when “investing for retirement” refers to your grave setting. And so it has been in Mexico among the drug gangs, spawning a pop culture infused with reverence […]
Israeli directors seem to have a knack for making great films about Israel’s wars with Lebanon. The latest film, “Lebanon,” won the top prize at this year’s Venice film festival and received wide acclaim as an “astonishing piece of cinema.” Director Samuel Maoz personally experienced the first Lebanon war from inside a tank, a claustrophobic atmosphere […]
After a 32-29 victory over the All Blacks the Springboks stand supreme as 2009 Tri-Nations champions. (Photo by Gallo Images) Today’s victory marked the first time since 1949 that the Boks had beaten the mighty All Blacks three times in a season. Between decisively winning the Tri-Nations, the premier non-World Cup international competition and their victory over the […]
The Arab Human Development Report, a publication from the UNDP that consistently draws commentary from anyone and everyone interested in Middle East politics, typically inspires a lot of positive response from the development community. For one, members of the Arab intelligentsia collaborate to write it, so it derives some credibility from that. Second, it doesn’t […]
… to teach people how to behave on the train. The sheer number of people who want to use the Metro, combined with the newness of the project, has meant chaos for the system.
An update on the recent Malaysian – Indonesian quarrel: The situation between the two nations has deteriorated to the point that the Malaysian government has asked the Indonesian government to protect its nationals in Indonesia. Further, Malaysia’s PM, Najib Tun Razak instructed Anifah Aman, his Minister of Foreign Affairs to meet with his counterpart in […]