As the global economy entered a sharp decline over the last year, the Palestinian economy “has done relatively well,” according to General Manager of the Bank of Palestine Hashim Shawa in an interview with Middle East Progress. He attributes the economy’s stability due to its low number of exports, thereby isolating it from the global […]
President Barack Obama intends to begin direct negotiations with Iran in merely a few months time. This declaration directly compromises Israeli politicians’ statements that Israel would prohibit Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon at any cost. Obama stated at a news conference Feb. 9: “[a]nd my expectation is in the coming months we will be […]
In a last minute surprise, Kadima Chairman Tzipi Livni managed a come-form-behind victory over Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu in yesterday’s elections. However, her victory does not guarantee Livni’s placement as the next Israeli Prime Minister, as forming a stable coalition may prove difficult due to the 63 seat “rightist” bloc in the government. The next […]
Thorvald Stoltenberg, former Norwegian Minister of Defense and Foreign Affairs, presented the Stoltenberg Report (PDF, in English) to a meeting of Nordic foreign ministers in Oslo. The report urges greater security cooperation between the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. In the past year, there has been increased talk of pooling Nordic […]
A study carried out by an Economist in the European Investment bank says that Europe may never catch up with the US regarding spending on Innovation and research. The aim of the Libson Agenda to spend 3% of GDP on research by 2010 also looks like it may not be met.
Last Thursday, a U.S. federal fishery panel based in Seattle voted to restrict nearly 200,000 square nautical miles of American waters north of the Bering Strait from industrial fishing. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council made the move in response to concerns over global warming rather than overfishing. Melting ice has made the waters, which […]
Last week, I spoke in front of the San Diego World Affairs Council North Chapter (an affiliate of FPA) about the rising objectives and capabilities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Here is my presentation in slides (go to the bottom of the page). I though some you might be interested in some of the articles […]
Today Tehran celebrates 30 years since Revolution. There is nothing there to celebrate in practical terms, unless, they want to celebrate misery, and the megalomaniacs mullahs ignoring and trespassing the population rights and liberties. In spite of what President Ahmadinejad wants to sell, the answer to all problems is not to export the Islamic revolution […]
The Daily Star had yesterday an interesting editorial. You can read it all here. A third party, therefore, should be built on bold ideas to finally rid this country of the slow but steady fratricide known as sectarianism. In addition, it must devise methods of fighting the culture of corruption that has infected the public […]
“In 1999, while taking a break from my PhD to try to get rich in the fine jewellery business, I nearly became the world's largest counterfeiter of Fabergé eggs”. So begins jeweller-turned-philosophy professor Clancy Martin's hilarious account of his aborted attempt to create an international criminal operation involving an oligarch-mobster and using a group of […]
The EU is beginning to fret about recent economic protectionist impulses by Member-States and the Czech Republic has decided to act, as they currently hold the 6-month EU Presidency. They have called a special summit of EU leaders for later this month to discuss recent Member-State “protectionist steps and statements”. This is especially a response […]
Russia faces 'systemic threat’ from extremism: Medvedev President Dmitry Medvedev warned that Russia faced a “systemic threat” from extremism and urged security chiefs to be on alert for possible unrest linked to the economic crisis.The comments came amid continued violence in parts of Russia's historically restive North Caucasus… Plouffe to Donate Speaking Fee to Pro-Democracy […]