The Danish Defense Intelligence Agency (Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste) released an intelligence risk assessment on September 1 warning of possible diplomatic conflicts in the Arctic arising due to disputes over territory and resources. The assessment can be found on the FE’s website here (in Danish). Page 20 is devoted to the Arctic. The FE’s main conclusion in […]
For the first time in the 30-year history of the Islamic Republic, the Iranian cabinet will have a female minister. Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi won the approval from the Parliament to become the health minister. She was one of 18 nominations for President Ahmadinejad’s new cabinet to be approved. Two other women were among three rejected […]
– Malaysia is often sited as an example for the wider Muslim world of how a moderate pluralistic democracy can be compatible with Islam. An article in Forbes explores how moderate Malaysia actually is. First, the article recants the common outsiders view of Malaysia: …the Southeast Asian nation boasted the world’s tallest building, the iconic […]
The Iranian government supplied the terrorist group Hezbollah with chemical weapons and weapons of mass destruction protective gear, according to officials quoted in a Kuwaiti daily today. Hezbollah reportedly stored the chemical weapons in a warehouse that exploded in mid July, killing eight terrorists. The terror group refused to grant Lebanese military and UN workers access to […]
Another day, another attack, welcome to contemporary Pakistan. It seems that Pakistan is transforming from a dangerous country to a lawless jungle with every passing day. Be it a terrorist attack, bomb explosion or target killing across the country, the challenge of taking control over Pakistan’s security remains an unfulfilled dream. Now, this almost successful […]
Here’s some news out of the Arctic from the past week. I’ll be posting more in-depth analysis tomorrow. UN Secretary General visits Norwegian Arctic Ban Ki-Moon has just wrapped up a three day tour of the Norwegian Arctic prior to the global warming conference in Copenhagen in December 2009. This visit compliments Mr. Ban Ki-Moon’s […]
The recent announcement by the Turkish government that it is preparing a serious plan to address its Kurdish problem should also serve as a reminder to the Iranian government that it needs to address the Kurdish issue as well. Iran, which contains the second largest population of Kurds, has also treated its Kurdish population egregiously. […]
The Venezuelan flag carries a rich historical tradition, and is based on versions used by rebels who fought for the country’s independence in the early 19th century. At the same time, like Venezuela as a whole, the flag has undergone changes in recent times. The flag has three horizontal colored stripes. The red is said […]
Fellow FPA blogger of Global Film Review, Sean Patrick Murphy has reviewed a recent Afghan film called the ‘Fixer’. Here it is!: This film paints a grim picture of life in Afghanistan. It starts with Naqshbandi’s relationship with American journalist Christian Parenti. Naqshbandi is also a journalist and is called a “fixer” because he facilitates […]
You would be forgiven for wondering if things are improving in Zimbabwe or not. My inclination is to believe that with Jacob Zuma’s tougher stand on Robert Mugabe and with continued pressure from NGO’s and other outsiders things have improved and will continue to do so. But that improvement is tenuous and incremental. More importantly, […]
When India-Pakistan came close to a N-war After Gen Aslam Beg’s claims about the Pakistani Air Force being ready to attack India’s nuclear facilities in 1990, two US researchers said that Pakistan is ramping up its India-specific nuclear capability. According to them Pakistan has upgraded its nuclear arsenal both “quantitatively (from 60 weapons last year […]
On August 30, Turkmen president Berdymukhamedov announced he intends to open a new naval base in the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi. The base will, according to the President, “effectively fight smugglers, terrorists and any other forces.” Turkmenistan has a Coast Guard made up of leftovers from the Soviet Union. For the new base, they will […]
High-ranking Israeli and Palestinian officials met in Jerusalem today to discuss administrative issues, such as visas to the West Bank, medical treatment for Palestinians, and other export/import issues. The meeting between Palestinian Minister of National Economy Bassem Khoury and Israeli Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development Silvan Shalom marks the first direct high-level talks since […]
While flipping channels, I noticed the difference between the coverage on Pakistani channels and BBC and CNN. The local channels are reporting about the 40th anniversary of Libya’s so-called revolution. And of course, BBC and CNN were reporting about the elections in different parts of the world. I couldn’t help, but notice that Pakistan’s channels […]
“I hope we learn to be more humble, to listen more. Because what we are in the end, or should be, are actions that speak for themselves, that speak for us”, Says Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Michael Mullen, the highest-ranking officer in the US Armed forces in respect to our dealings with […]