Secretary of State Hillary Clinton preemptively rebuffed yesterday a settlement compromise proposition expected for delivery by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on his upcoming trip to Washington, D.C. Israeli seeks U.S. support for natural settlement growth in exchange for the dismantling of illegal outposts. However, at a press conference, Clinton reiterated the official stance of […]
The magazine business new europe (bne) has recently issued a special report on Kazakhstan. The journal covers eastern, southeastern and central European markets. The special report on Kazakhstan is especially interesting right now as the country is closely tied to world markets and is therefore struggling. KazakhGold, the state gold company, listed on the London […]
US Defense (or is it War) Secretary Robert Gates spoke candidly about the war in Afghanistan to group of reporters yesterday aboard an Air Force plane. Gates, who has gone from a seemingly short, holdover type term to one filled with significance, warned that unless “a perceptible shift in momentum” occurs with the Obama administration’s […]
It is my last full day at England’s Keele University, where I have spent the last month as a fellow at the David Bruce Centre for American Studies. Tomorow I begin a tortuous journey toward London and on Friday I’ll depart Heathrow for my return flight to Texas. I am wrapping up lots of loose […]
The left-leaning Center for American Progress’ Middle East Progress will host a forum on Jerusalem next month. The speakers all have extensive knowledge on Israel-U.S. relations and should provide great insights into the role of the city in future peace negotiations. The United States believes that the city’s status will be determined in final status […]
An upcoming book from State Department Envoy Dennis Ross seems to contradict a new policy regarding linking Iran to the peace process set forth by the Obama Administration. The White House mandates a resumption on peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians as crucial to any solution aimed at preventing an Iranian nuclear weapons program. […]
China’s U.S. dollar quandary There has been a lot of talk recently about China pushing for dethroning of the U.S. dollar as the world’s dominant currency. Topping the discussion, China’s central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan called for the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights to eventually replace the dollar as omnipresent global reserve currency. Seen […]
The Israeli government will reportedly offer the United States a deal: the dismantling of all illegal settlements in exchange for U.S. acceptance of natural growth in existing settlements. Defense Minister and Labor leader Ehud Barak intends to formally offer the compromise during his visit to Washington, D.C. next week. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently […]
Sad news has stricken the African Studies community. Glen Elder, a geographer at the University of Vermont, died of a heart attack while jogging this weekend. He was only 42 years old. I only knew Glen slightly based on interactions I have had with him in his capacity as one of the leading lights in […]
I suppose there will be an element of celebration for the “underdogs” for those inclined to celebrate Darfur’s Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) successfully seizing the town of Umm Baru from the control of Sudanese soldiers. But while I have no problem with categorizing Khartoum as the bad guys in Sudan’s destabilization, it does not […]
The Heads of State of Afghanistan (Karzai), Pakistan (Zardari), and Iran (Ahmadinejad) met in Tehran on Sunday for the first trilateral meeting between the neighboring states in years. Extremism, terrorism, and drug trafficking were the main issues on the agenda, but the most important accomplishment was setting a tone of cooperation for future dealings. The […]
Taliban are losing ground and in the process, they are realizing that it is one thing to be a bully around weak people, but bravado doesn’t mean that they were capable of fighting as well. Thank God, the Taliban are losing faster then everyone would have imagined. Still, astonishingly, people in are protesting the operation […]
The fever of global panic has broken. Mexico is receding from the headlines, though H1N1 continues to claim lives—85 worldwide as of May 22nd. With the luxury of some hindsight, several trends are becoming apparent. My posts over the next few days will discuss some of the more salient trends. First, the Calderón administration deserves […]
The United States must include Israel as a major component in any negotiations with Iran, according to a variety of academics speaking at the Tel Aviv University’s Center for Iranian Studies annual conference convened today. Due to Israel’s unfortunate status as the principal target of Iran’s nuclear program, some of the analysts concluded that no […]
This Memorial Day, I would like to pay tribute to all those American military men and women fighting in Afghanistan and beyond. Actually, I would like to go further and thank all those Americans who have sacrificed for this country by serving in our militaries throughout our history, whether in Vietnam, Iraq, WWII, etc. To […]