I’m immensely proud to announce that the Latin American Studies Department at Georgetown University has launched a new web site. “The Center for Latin American Studies was one of the first of its kind in the United States. Its core faculty bring together diverse scholarly interests with a focus on Latin America, and adjunct faculty […]
Morgan Tsvangirai has taken office in Zimbabwe. (You can read his inauguration address here.) His calls to restore the rule of law and to revive the country’s devastated economy coupled with the belief among masses in Zimbabwe that he is the country’s rightful leader have resulted in Tsvangirai’s receiving a hero’s welcome. Naturally optimists want […]
It is amazing how much the US media is now concentrating on the war in Afghanistan as the war in Iraq is dropping further and further onto the back pages. This also appears to be true in looking at US government entities as Afghan envoy Richard Holbrooke is seemingly everywhere and we do not even […]
While Israel asserts a victory in Operation Cast Lead, the state lost a number of intelligence agents in the conflict. Due to the use of intelligence to focus attacks and prevent civilian casualties, the loss of these individuals could result in increased death tolls in the event of another strike. Meanwhile, even though Israel failed […]
Coalition building continues with Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu offering Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who received a plurality of votes, significant cabinet positions such as defense alongside the foreign ministry. However, Livni still intends to attempt to form a coalition after receiving support from left-wing voters intent on preventing a Netanyahu victory. Meanwhile, Yisrael Beitenu chief […]
Authorities in Gabon have arrested two journalists, one French, the other Swiss, for posing as tourists. According to an official the two men were trying “to dig up a story on French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner,” who went before France’s parliament last week “to reject accusations made in a new book of having unethical ties […]
There have been some new pharmaceutical developments that seem to hold out promise in combating HIV/AIDS. According to The Washington Post: Two experiments in monkeys showed that antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, given by mouth or by vaginal gel, were highly effective in blocking infection by the virus that causes AIDS. A third study, in 3,100 women […]
In an interview with SABC on Sunday South African President Kgalema Motlanthe suggested that perhaps Zimbabwe could adopt the rand as its currency. What he surely means (or what I hope he means, if this gains traction, anyway) was that at some point down the road, under the right conditions, Zimbabwe could tie the Zimbabwean dollar to […]
There have been some interconnected developments on the Sudan/Darfur front that bear watching. First, the Sudanese government is set to sit down with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels in Qatar in order to try to kickstart peace talks. It is frankly difficult to muster up a whole lot of optimism that these talks […]
With the global economic crisis still dominating headlines following inconclusive results from Davos, I’d like to focus on two effects on Mexico’s economy. One indicator is remittances. Worldwide, remittances bring in several times more money than foriegn aid. In Mexico, these bring in the second-largest amount of foreign money after oil. In 2008, remittances slowed […]
Popular Science has an article on its website examining the effects of thawing permafrost in the Arctic. New research reveals that the melting ice does not just have localized effects on towns in places like Alaska and Scandinavia, which are sinking as the ice beneath them melts. In addition, vast amounts of greenhouse gases currently […]
The European-quarter of Brussels where all the major EU buildings are based is usually a fairly boring and dull place (with employees who often reflect the surroundings). The Berlaymont building, which houses the Commission, though a spectacular building itself, is but a speck in a sea of nothing-much. Today, however, the drabness of Europena was […]
The author of The Yacoubian Building writes in a Times op-ed that until the new President calls Israel to account for its incursion into Gaza, his words about listening to the Muslim world and initiating a dialogue will fall on deaf ears.
After some legal wrangling (and what would current South African politics be without at least some legal wrangling?) around the issue of the voting status of South Africans living abroad, President Kgalema Motlanthe has announced that South Africa’s elections will take place on 22 April. By the way, is it just me, or has Motlanthe […]
So there is a deal in Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe has yielded enough to allow Morgan Tsvangirai finally to take his place in government, as Prime Minister to Mugabe’s President. Tsvangirai’s MDC and Mugabe’s ZANU-PF will govern together. Tsvangirai was even able to appoint his chosen finance minister, Tendai Biti, the MDC’s General secretary, and he, at […]