David Ignatius has a column in The Washington Post revealing the ways in which Rwanda has, against all odds, managed in many ways to come to grips with the horrible events of 1994. The Rwanda story is unspeakably incomprehensible for most of us, and yet the last fourteen years have shown the ways in which […]
This analysis in The Mail & Guardian seems to capture pretty well the ways in which recent events — most obviously, but not solely, the explosion of violence against foreign Africans — seem to have shaken the ruling party from its complacency. The responses from Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma have been especially telling. Even […]
Simba Makoni drew a great deal of attention when he stepped out and announced his challenge to Robert Mugabe. He finished third in the recent, and still contested, elections but more importantly he may well have broken the dam of silence and fear. His candidacy simply could not draw from a firm enough base of support […]
Mexico is one of the largest exporters of corn. Nevertheless, it also imports almost half of what it consumes. In a world of skyrocketing food prices, this dependency is becoming a national security problem. In order to reduce pressure over rising food prices, President Felipe Calderon has launched an initiative that promises to improve the […]
A few years after leaving his post, a once faithful minion publishes a sensational tell-all story that sends shock waves all through the nation's capital. Its revelations not only stab his ex-boss in the back, but cast doubt on the integrity of the entire administration, the robstness of the media, and the state of the […]
from the China Balance Sheet: China's economic modernization has lifted almost 400 million citizens out of poverty since 1990, but 415 million Chinese still live on less than $2 per day.
China is working to review oil policy and strategy to determine the most favorable path forward to “bolster” oil company profits and avoid [prolong] rising fuel costs. One large driver for this effort is the upcoming Olympic games, which has been a sore spot for the country politically and logistically these past several months. Ensuring a plan is […]
“To be honest, they abandoned us.” Unnamed Uzbek who fled the country in April, voicing his displeasure with the West's rapprochement with the Karimov regime. The three year anniversary of the Andijon incident in Uzbekistan is upon us and I have found two interesting articles discussing its significance in the here and now, mainly regarding […]
Being accused of excessive seriousness is not something Russians expect or covet. We pride ourselves on a sense of irreverent humour, irony and ability to exist in often self-destructive fantasy worlds. In fact, part of what saved the country's 'soul’ during Communism was the widespread popular subversion of that ideology's central tenants of seriousness and […]
President Suleiman asked Fuad Siniora to form the next cabinet. After appointment, Siniora said among others: Premier Rafik Hariri is the reason I stand here, and I promise to fulfill my duties in protecting the state and its institutions and confirming the sovereignty of the law and justice through the International Tribunal. Not surprisingly, FPM, […]
A recent article by Steven Simon in the Foreign Affairs journal is quite an interesting read. It can be read here at RealClearPolitics. The main points of the article are as follows: There should be a distinction made between the Iraqi Sunni insurgents who are nationalists and Al-Qaeda members who poured in from foreign countries […]
Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee, has called McCain's proposals to resume nuclear weapons reductions talks with Russia “fully realistic”. Kosachev was quoted in the May 29th issue of the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestiya employing a sports metaphor: “Mr McCain can completely count on the fact that Russia will be ready to engage […]
There has never been any love lost between John McCain and the Evil Empire. As far back as 2006, he had promised to be “very harsh” on Russia. By May 2008, he was still vowing to push through an even earlier 2005 determination (in a bill co-sponsored with Joe Lieberman) to kick Russia out of […]
As a new international rugby season gets underway, the Springboks stand tall as the defending world champions . And yet the country's fans still have a fixation on New Zealand's mighty All Blacks. Mark Keohane wants to shake South Africans from their rugby inferiority complex and make them realize that they support the greatest team […]
Michael Gerson has a blistering column in today's Washington Post about the crisis in Zimbabwe and what he sees as South Africa's enabling of Robert Mugabe's despotism. There is little new in Gerson's column for those who have been following the crisis for a while, but perhaps voices like his will lead to more pressure […]