This Thursday morning in Beijing, China and Taiwan came to the table for talks to mutually build confidence despite more than a decade of tense and untrusting exchanges. The last formal talks to take place between Beijing and Taipei occurred in 1999. Facilitating this dialogue was Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation and its Mainland Chinese counterpart. […]
There is a nervous anticipation in the air in Brussels. Today is the day that might undo the fragile compromise negotiated by Angela Merkel during Germany's Presidency of the European Union. Eyes grew wider with anguish when the Irish Times reported earlier in the week that the ‘No’ camp had overtaken the pro-Lisbon Treaty faction in the […]
The negotiations over the government seats continues. "Efforts are being made to find a solution to [General Michel] Aoun's insistence on handling a sovereign ministry, the Finance Ministry," the source said. The source also said that Aoun has agreed to a proposal giving him the right to name someone to him as general director of […]
Today corn prices hit an all-time high of $7 a bushel. How does this affect Mexico, which gave the world its native maize after European contact? The answer is two-fold: 1) this represents a hardship for the majority of Mexicans while 2) higher prices present an opportunity for large agricultural exports. As a staple crop […]
When inflation skyrockets, business confidence plummets. Economics do not work quite that simply, but the correlation is pretty clear in South Africa right now.
Dave Zirin of The Nation has a fascinating take on the intersections of xenophobia, violence, ubuntu, and sport in South Africa today. Here is a taste: Criticism has been widespread about the lack of response by South African, not to mention Western, leaders. But there is an important, overlooked and–we can only pray–decisive tide of […]
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has declared that because of the fragile and violent conditions in Zimbabwe the time is “not at all” right to hold the run-off elections. Erstwhile challenger Simba Makoni has similarly argued that because a free and fair election cannot be held, the runoff must be canceled. And yet that violence that […]
Barack Obama's official position‚ at least according to his campaign website‚ is limited to promoting further economic development in Mexico to decrease illegal immigration. This is a reductionist position on one of the most important financial and political relationships in the world. Nevertheless, this does not mean that Obama does not have a more detailed […]
On May 22, new Russian President Dmitri Medvedev made his first foreign diplomatic visit of his term to Astana, Kazakhstan. This gesture shows to the Astana's government, China, US, and the world that Russia sees great importance in its relations with this CA/CIS power, but also the region as a whole. Medvedev stated; “Astana did […]
Just as the demands for increased female leadership in the EU become more vociferous, a new study reveals that enormous income gaps in some of the Union's largest countries are hurting women's chances and having a harmful effect on the economy as a whole. Speaking to German daily, Die Welt, the EU Commissioner for Employment, […]
Today, Mark Ames, the editor of the embattled Russian dissident paper The eXile (whose plight this Blog has been morbidly following) writes for the first time about the harrowing ordeal in an article for Radar Magazine. It is required reading. In addition to the Limonov factor, he sheds some more light on the possible causes […]
Republican presidential nominee John McCain is well known for his adversarial, even anachronistic, approach to Russia. Straight talk, right? Perhaps. But, asks Mark Benjamin today on Salon.com, could his bluster have had less to do with the Republican base than with the lobbying connections of a close advisor? The architect behind McCain's hard-line Russia policy, […]
It seems that talk of Blackwater and other mercenary organizations in Iraq has subsided over the past year (while searching the New York Times, the most recent articles I found on the subject were Mike Nizza's “The Lede” blogs from 2007). At least that's what has happened in the US; abroad it's a different story. The […]
It was a good weekend to be a South African sports fan as both Bafana Bafana and the Springboks won big international matches. Bafana Bafana defeated Equatorial Guinea 4-1 in a game that serves as a qualifying match for the African Cup of Nations. It also was part of the World Cup Qualifying process, but […]
With an International Donor's Conference being held in Paris next week on Afghanistan's behalf, increasing pressure is being put on President Karzai's ability to run the still unstable nation's government. The donor's aid is expected to target the sector's of agriculture, energy, security and education, but a number of them are demanding that the conference […]