At least 60 people have been killed as a result of two bombings in Algiers today- one near a government bulding and the other near United Nations offices. The government is sure that the GSPC is responsible (The GSPC, a splinter of the GIA group which waged the civil war in the 1990s, was known as […]
I tend to believe that The Mail & Guardian is the best newspaper in South Africa (and maybe in the entire region), both in print and online, and as my readers know, I refer to it often in my posts and commentary. But I was stricken by an example of sloppiness in this story on […]
Jose Narro Robles was named the new rector of Mexico's National Autonomous University (UNAM). Robles is a doctor who previously headed the university's medical school. UNAM, with approximately 160,000 undergraduates and 21,000 graduate students, is the largest — and often ranked the best — university in Latin America.
Next year the Great Decisions series at the Foreign Policy Association will have a blog on Russia, which will complement Central Asia reporting here–we are going to press onward. For the purposes of Central Asia reporting though, it's important to note that Russia's electoral process sends messages to Central Asia as well and suggests the […]
With a title like this, I had to write in: they finally filmed a mammal in the Gobi desert that, okay, my fellow tree-huggers, is a really cute cross between a mouse and a rabbit: a long-eared jerboa. BBC has pictures, a story, and a video. It is also an endangered species. We should look […]
Director Luis Mandoki's latest release, “Fraud: Mexico 2006,” opened in Mexico to large audiences, generating interest and controversy. The documentary suggests that Felipe Calderon defeated Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in a fraudulent process that included improprieties at polling places and an unlawful smear campaign against the leftist candidate, Obrador. The film's pro-Calderon critics dismiss it as propaganda, […]
Quick one: Since transparency continues to be an issue in Central Asia and elsewhere, I found this article of interest–and it uses the U.S. as an example, but the principles are perhaps universal. Over at How Stuff Works: how to launder money. Now don't go saying I told you what to do here! :-) The idea is […]
If it's a new day in South Africa it inevitably means that the tension level has been ratcheted up another notch. The biggest story may be the rumors that if Jacob Zuma wins the ANC presidency he will get to work trying to find a way to force Mbeki out of office. One cannot help […]
The EU-Africa summit kicks off tonight in grand style. The central figure in the drama that plays out will still be Robert Mugabe whose very inclusion in the meeting has been the source of much debate in the past few months. Still a hero to a few but a pariah to most, the wily despot, […]
Polokwane is not the only (or arguably even the most) contested political terrain in South Africa. One can be certain that the naming of Jake White's successor as Springbok head coach will be every bit as full of recriminations, barbed comments, and backroom politicking as anything that happens among the ANC's National Executive Committee in […]
The biggest news from South Africa today is Thabo Mbeki's interview with the ANC, which naturally aroused controversy among many who believed the interview and the timing to be an inappropriate allocation of public resource. In his talk Mbeki tried to sound a note of party unity, arguing that whatever happens in Polokwane will not […]
Gee, I hate when I’m wrong. I was rooting for Kazakhstan and OSCE chairmanship, but I didn't think they’d get the chance after Rakhat-gate blew into the stratosphere. But they have it, which, as I said, and against most of the reactions, I think is a good thing. As noted in a great backgrounder by […]
The countdown to the ANC's conference at Polokwane is well underway and it appears that the meeting will be the most momentous in South Africa since the CODESA meetings to negotiate the transition from Apartheid to democratic rule. The two key players in the political drama that is unfolding are Jacob Zuma and Thabo Mbeki. […]
Gazprom agreed on November 27th to hike its price for Turkmenistan's gas: from USD 100 per cubic meter (cum) to USD 130 starting January of 2008. In July of 2008, Gazprom will start paying USD 150 per cum, through December, when the price will undoubtedly change again. This is a long overdue for Turkmenistan, and […]
Two reviews recently appeared of Mark Gevisser's mammoth new biography, Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred. Both make clear that Gevisser has produced an essential book that not only provides the deepest understanding of its subject to date, but that also serves to place Mbeki in the context of the country's history and that history within […]