Welcome Everyone, I am Patrick Frost and I will now be the lead writer for FPA's Central Asian Blog. I look forward to your participation and comments. I especially want to encourage all of our readers to submit topic and debate recommendations. You can reach me anytime by email, [email protected], and by posting comments on […]
Two interesting developments in the Zimbabwe election campaign. The first is that it appears that many of Simba Makoni's supporters are hedging their bets, quietly supporting the upstart candidate while avowing their loyalty to Zanu-PF and thus implicitly, it would seem, to Robert Mugabe. One can sympathize with the inclination — crossing Mugabe almost always […]
South Africans, like people the world over, are beginning to take a great deal of interest in the primary campaigns taking place in the United States. According to a story on NPR (Click on the link to hear the full report.): South Africans have been consumed with crippling nationwide power outages and other issues closer […]
(Adalberto Roque / Agence-France Presse) The timing of it all! With Castro out and the prospect of a waning trade embargo in a new American administration, Beijing stands a little taller this spring. It is openly noted that Raul Castro is ready to replicate China in planning for Cuban economic reform, an extension of Fidel's fascination […]
For US-China Trade's first-ever cross post, I am excited to vehicle this article by Rich Basas (blogger for FPA's Latin America blog, and co-blogger for the Migration blog). He compares patterns of economy between Brazil and China and parallels their struggle with growth and unequal dispersion of wealth.
(Zapiro — The Mail & Guardian) The political contest in Zimbabwe continues to mystify observers. Simba Makoni's candidacy has legs, which in and of itself is a cause for surprise, and possibly excitement. A British economist, Professor Gwyn Prins of the London School of Economics, has called for South Africa to threaten to cut off […]
There have been some new books published in the past week on the Iraq situation, with The Financial Times reviewing one called “The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict” by Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes (Columbia and Harvard professors). The FT's review is scathing in its criticism, saying […]
Sabrina Tavernise has a brutal and harrowing piece in today's New York Times about how the cleric-driven violence in Iraq has led many to question their faith, which they have seen as bringing them nothing but misery and blood. "In the beginning, they gave their eyes and minds to the clerics; they trusted them," said […]
Simba Makoni's comments last week that “South Africa has not offered any support, and I didn't ask for it” probably reaffirmed in the minds of many people Thabo Mbeki and the rest of the South African government's unwillingness to stand up to Robert Mugabe. And yet it seems from where I sit that Mbeki must […]
The election of Dmitry Medvedev as the new president of Russia on March 2nd has been met with mixed reviews from leaders around the world. While many congratulated Medvedev on his victory and voiced hopes for a positive international working relationship with him, these salutations were matched by concerns over how the Russian elections were […]
Look: I know this is just a snapshot, and the other is an official portrait. And I know Mahmoud Abbas might have been smiling a second beforehand. But the calm half-smile in the photo above his head contrasted with the glum, depressed and lost look he has now is too good (read: easy) a metaphor […]
You might think you are reading the synopsis of a comic book, for all the talk of ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’, but instead it's just the newest edition of the Centre for European Reform's (CER) Lisbon Scorecard. Published with smooth regularity ahead of the Union's annual Spring Summit for the eighth consecutive year the report highlights the most […]
From CNN… Iran's president: No one likes Americans BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, heading home after a two-day visit to Iraq, again touted his country's closer relations with Iraq and reiterated his criticism of the United States. “No one likes them,” Ahmadinejad told reporters prior to returning to Iran, referring to the […]
Wall Street Journal columnist Mary Anastasia O’Grady seeks to put the Nafta-bashing on the campaign trail during the Democratic presidential primary into perspective this week. O’Grady says not only will such rhetoric undermine U.S. efforts to assist in the modernization of Latin American economies, it tips the balance of power towards Big Labor when it […]
Here is a quick roundup of some Africa-related news stories that have caught my eye in recent days: Despite the fact that the media lives by the age-old credo “if it bleeds it leads” with regard to crime stories, which serves to warp people's perspectives on the nature and frequency of crime, violent crime rates […]