Crime is the domestic issue that evokes the most handwringing in South Africa, especially among a certain segment (read: affluent) of the white population. And crime certainly is bad, especially in the most highly populated areas. Virtually (and perhaps literally) all South Africans of every race and social class knows someone who has been victimized by crime, and while crime, and […]
The world has been facing some tough days recently. Burma's tsunami, western China's earthquake, and the continual rising of food prices has wreaked havoc on many of the world's poorest people. As has been discussed earlier, food prices have been escalating in Central Asis for months now and show no signs of slowing. These rising […]
Opposition and Lebanese government officials planned to meet Friday in the Qatari capital Doha for a national dialogue hosted by the Arab Leaque. The meeting, scheduled for 2 p.m. EST, seeks an end to some of the worst political violence in Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war. Leaders from Hizballah and the Western-backed government of […]
Given the ever-shifting nature of the economy, variations on prices rising and occasionally falling, and the fact that in the case of Zimbabwe the numbers become meaningless, or at least mind-boggling, it is nearly impossible to know precisely what the rate of inflation is in that beleaguered country. But we do know this: Zimbabwe has […]
At The American: A Magazine of Ideas Marian L. Tupy has a perceptive piece on the stark differences between Botswana and Zimbabwe. Tupy's conclusion is a bit prosaic: “It turns out that much of the difference stems from the degree of freedom that each populace enjoys.” (Really? It turns out that way, does it? Well […]
Readers of this blog know that, along with Yemen, Lebanon is a particular obsession here, for reasons both strategic and emotional. I’ll still do an occasional piece here and there, mostly about Lebanon's role in the region, but highly suggest checking out Daniel Graeber's new FPA blog on Lebanon. Highly readable and informed, it has quickly […]
The Mexican armed forces are a pillar of the war against drugs. Indeed, thousands of regular troops are patrolling several municipalities and large cities across Mexico while Special Forces make most of the arrests of high-profile drug lords. In a country plagued by corrupt police forces and heavily armed drug traffickers, the army (which also […]
There are many things to be said about the crisis Lebanon goes through. An update here. Sami Nader said back in 2007 that there are two competing visions in Lebanon. In the past 10 days the struggle moved from the political arena to the streets. The government backed down in front of Hizballah, AMAL and […]
An open, public hearing is being held by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission* in Washington on May 20, 2008. The topic of the hearing is “China's Proliferation Practices and the Development of its Cyber and Space Warfare Capabilities,” and seeks to collect and share information from academic, industry, and government expertise to identify […]
Just a quick one today folks. If you haven't checked it out yet, make sure to take a look at the post on May 11 ‘A Autocratic Dawn’, I think it raises an important issue that will and has affected CA and the world. EurasiaNet has written a scathing report chronicling the Tajikistan government's voluntary […]
Chaos in Alexandra continued to escalate through the weekend, though people are doing the best they can to live their lives as normal and many claim not to have noticed the violence that has largely been driven by xenophobia. Calm prevailed on Tuesday morning, but one wonders if the tenuous peace will hold. Stranded and fearful, […]
With the caveat that news from Zimbabwe these days is increasingly sketchy, it is clear that things there continue to fester. Agustino Zacarias, the United Nations senior representative in Zimbabwe, declared on Tuesday that the escalating violence is expanding countrywide, in rural and urban areas, and could reach crisis levels. Supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change […]
After exploring the recent death of Mexico's antinarcotics chief, I decided to explore where much of the funding for Mexican drug cartels comes from. The latest killing of Edgar Millan Gomez (see my previous blog post) has now been linked to a Sinaloan drug cartel (see: NY Times article) and occurred shortly after several of […]
There is some good news out of Lebanon, as the legitimate government has managed to regain control of the streets. But this editorial from The Daily Star seems to be asking too much. How the Arab League might at least put Lebanon on the right track I’m somewhat sceptical.
Just as I opine about a growing autocratic threat to the world liberal system I want to introduce a report by the Brookings Institution analyzing weak states, many of which consist of authoritative leadership. Of course yesterday's discussion centered on the Great Powers of China and Russia who do not fair prominently on this list, […]