Every year a couple of stories come out about serf labor in the cotton fields of Central Asia, right about the time that the cotton crop gets harvested. That day has again arrived this year, but with new, tougher problems for Central Asia's agricultural laborers and for the state leaders that have made this choice. […]
Is Thabo Mbeki revealing signs of creeping authoritarianism? Newsweek International fears as much. It is most alarming that Mbeki is showing his Machiavellian side (it certainly is not new; it might now be more brazen, however) as his tenure as President and party head comes to an end and while the whispers that he might consider […]
According to a nurse I know and trust: Medical practitioners in the United States are gearing up for a possible world flu epidemic, and H5N1 is on everyone's mind. A large flu epidemic, on the scale of the 1919 pandemic, would curtail essential services (utilities, fire and police protection, other) in developed states. One is left […]
Now that I’m back from Latin America, I’m catching up on my Central Asia reading, and I found a new great article in the American Political Science Association's Perspectives on Politics. Tucker, J. (2007, September). Enough! Electoral fraud, collective action problems, and post-communist colored revolutions. Perspective on Politics 5 (3), 535-550. This article has a […]
A curious mix of science, publicity, politics, engineering, and Big Bucks: no, not a new Matrix movie. Instead, the latest installment of business/political cooperation into the stratosphere continues to develop, a legend in the making and well worth our attention. Yesterday, a new Russian space flight from Kazakhstan's Baikonur, with a crew of many nations. According to […]
After a long series of events featuring Portugal and the globalization/colonialization of Asia & South America, the Freer/Sackler Gallery is again turning to Rumi, the great poet, and his 800th anniversary of his birth. On the 27th of this month in Washington DC's great museum of Islamic and Asian art, a day-long festival of poetry […]
Let the Games Begin! Actually, the machinations over the African National Congress succession have been under way for quite some time and will continue to be the source of political infighting, manipulation, and polarization well into next year. The latest volleys have come from KwaZulu-Natal, where the Thabo Mbeki wing of the party has put forward a […]
Today at Eurasianet, one of my favorite writers talks about a new but limited openness in Turkmenistan from the vantage of the street, the hotel, the taxicab. I love this article because it points out the difficulties for the state on a psychological level. He writes that government policies are changing slowly and selectively: his phone is probably tapped, […]
Appearing on CNN to promote his new book, “Revolution of Hope,” former Mexican President Vicente Fox offered his views on a variety of issues including immigration and U.S. politics. Though he did not explicitly endorse Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Fox said that more women need to be elected. Referring to his post-presidency, Fox said he […]
At The Boston Globe Michael Gerson has a column on AIDS in the developing world, focuding on Africa. Embracing neither foolish optimism nor outsized pessimism Gerson argues that a cobination of approaches will be required to stanch a disease that is still spreading at a faster rate than it can be prevented: Treatment and prevention, […]
After a crazy weekend of upsets in the Rugby World Cup in which England defeated Australia 12-10 and France, riding a wave of host's emotion stunned the All Blacks 20-18 the Boks find themselves as tournament favorites. South Africa earned their trip to the semis by defeating a game Fiji squad 37-20, which, though the widest […]
South Africa's policy of “silent diplomacy” with regard to Zim has been endlessly frustrating for many of us who feel that Thabo Mbeki needs to be more assertive publicly with regard to Robert Mugabe. It would be one thing if Mbeki adhered to the old Teddy Roosevelt approach of speaking softly but carrying a big stick, […]
It looks like British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has failed in his campaign to prevent Robert Mugabe from being invited to December's summit of European and African leaders in Portugal. Further, Brown is meeting with resistance to his proposal that the European union send an envoy to deal with the Zimbabwe crisis. Those African leaders who continue […]
Former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda recently addressed the Foreign Policy Association's World Leadership Forum in New York. Click here to view his speech on U.S.-Mexico relations.
Some states confront economic calamities. Some confront political tyranny. And in some cases the latter fuels the former. Such is the case in Zimbabwe where Robert Mugabe's dictatorship quite clearly has exacerbated the country's dire economic straits. The country's citizens are facing acute hunger that stems from the country virtually running out of bread because […]