In the last few weeks, there have been numerous problems with Uzbekistan’s Ferghana Valley neighbors. While incidents have been provoked in the past, there has been a confluence of strife recently, likely due to the anniversary of the Andijon shootings of May 2005. In Tajikistan, the Uzbeks have erected a checkpoint along some disputed point […]
Not about Lebanon, but regionally relevant and interesting: From Stratfor By George Friedman June 8, 2009 Amid the rhetoric of U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech June 4 in Cairo, there was one substantial indication of change, not in the U.S. relationship to the Islamic world but in the U.S. relationship to Israel. This shift actually […]
Here’s a roundup of recent events in Nordic military affairs. Norway moves military operations HQs to High North Norway has moved its center of military operations to Reitan, becoming the first Arctic state to headquarter its operations command in the High North. This development is in line with Norway’s increasing strategic focus on the High […]
Two days have passed since Lebanon’s parliamentary elections, and everything is still all quiet on the Middle Eastern front. The Western-backed March 14 coalition retained a majority in Lebanon’s 128 seat parliament. Both Hizballah and its Shia ally Amal had strong showings in their districts, but it was not enough to put its March 8 […]
Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Dore Gold’s latest piece for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs explores historical legislation governing settlements and questions whether settlement growth, including natural, really remains the crux of disagreements between the United States and Israel. He asserts that due to the small amount of land occupied by settlements, the […]
At the end of August, United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon will visit Svalbard on a fact-finding mission to learn about the effects of global warming in the Arctic. He will travel to the northerly Norwegian island accompanied by Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. Ban will also stop by […]
A new INSS report from Avner Cohen discusses the need for the Knesset to enact legislation admitting to an Israeli nuclear program that resulted in nuclear weapons capabilities. Even though the international community largely accepts that Israel already developed nuclear weapons, Israel refuses to confirm nor deny the claim. Instead, the country prefers a policy […]
China’s largest electric transmission company has announced an ambitious plan to develop a national smart grid by 2020 that would help utilities and their customers transport and use energy more efficiently. The sheer size of the project raises some intriguing questions. First, about whether China has the capital and technology for such an extensive upgrade. […]
Those who always want to read positive or even glowing analysis about Pakistan must stop here because what follows is not pretty. For me, it is hard to differentiate between hell and Pakistan because things in Pakistan are that bad. The best way to describe Pakistan is to explain that the country is a place […]
Reports are slipping out from the US military’s official investigation into the accidental bombing of civilians in Afghanistan’s Farah Province last month and it looks like the US is admitting some mistakes. The investigation, according to the LA and NY Times, acknowledges that all rules of engagement were not followed during the incident, including reports […]
A fire swept through the ABC day care center in Hermosillo, capital city of the northern state of Sonora, on Friday afternoon. The New York Times reports 38 children are dead, between six months of age and five years. Another 30 are wounded, some from asphyxia, and others from burns. The children with serious burns […]
The Washington Post President Barack Obama to permit “natural growth” in settlements, the generally left-wing newspaper wrote in an editorial today. The Obama administration recently called for an end to all settlement activity, but Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu insists on maintaining natural growth in existing settlements. The newspaper asserts that Obama can accept the […]
I apologize for my absence as we have been having good ol’fashioned technical difficulties. There are many Afghan-related in the past week and I hope to catch up and comment on at least a few of them (McChrystal’s testimony, airstrikes and civilian casualties, poppies, etc.), but for now let’s discuss what President Obama said in […]
All of my colleagues at the various Foreign Policy Association Blogs are doing wonderful work and I hope that you are reading all of them regularly even if your main interests lie in African affairs. (And I want to thank you if your interests lie elsewhere but you came over here anyway.) In recent weeks […]
See a post from FPA Global Films blogger Sean Patrick Murphy on a 2004 movie regarding the Gaza Strip. The footage was taken prior to the Hamas coup on the Gaza Strip following the IDF pullout and seems to show how Hamas handily won the 2006 elections while maintaining support in the Strip. From the […]