Could Zimbabwe be on the verge of collapse, possibly within the next six months? That is what a recent report indicates. With collapse or its threat might come a State of Emergency. Of courses states of emergency are as often politically derived as they are reflections of actual emergency. One envisions Robert Mugabe invoking emergency […]
Hasten his musters and conduct his powers: I must change arms at home, and give the distaff Into my husband's hands. –King Lear, (IV, ii) The personal, the private, the political, the public, and the press issues are nearly inseparable in the Aliev-Nazarbaev contretemps. I feel we are at once watching for gossip, witnessing a future […]
Mexico City's Palacio de Bellas Artes museum is hosting a 2-month exhibition of artist Frida Kahlo's work, marking 100 years since her birth. Kahlo (1907-1954) was born in Mexico City and has been recognized as an intellectual and social activist. As a painter, she depicted Mexico's indigenous culture in a style combining realism, symbolism, and surrealism. […]
A few headlines that have caught my attention as I enjoy the first days of my honeymoon in the Pacific Northwest: Massive strikes, organized by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), continue in South Africa. They have been largely peaceful, but as the strikes enter their third week there have been some incidents of […]
Here is a short, 1.5 minute video, produced by UNICEF, that illustrates the conduct of polio immunization in Afghanistan. I alluded to this immunization drive in a previous post. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/SrQtRYjjLPM” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] The details such as the chalk markers are very interesting procedural points that you rarely get in news articles or scholarly papers–the details, […]
In part 1 of this series, I described the extremely desirable and/or risk-reducing incentives that make Afghanistan's opium production persistent. Changing opium production requires a different landscape of economic incentives and disincentives, which is what Afghanistan's agricultural aid programs aim to provide on many levels. Chief among the disincentives include poppy eradication and other law enforcement measures; […]
Le Figaro published an interview with President Felipe Calderon, in which he discusses relations with the U.S., Cuba, and Venezuela. On Cuba, he said, “It is inconceivable that the Cubans would opt for a market economy if the outside world continues to block opportunities for trade and investment.” Calderon also addresses climate change, saying that […]
Kyrgyzstan's schools will now teach the Epic of Manas as a required component of the curriculum. IWPR did not say whether this was to go to grade school, secondary school, or university (or all of the above). Like Homer's epics, the Epic of Manas is part of an oral tradition; unlike Homer, his work is still […]
A United Nations Official has concluded that Africans will only pay attention to climate change when it can be couched in human consequences: “Most people are unable to relate to the projections of increase in temperature or the impact of climate change on the economy, but if the climate change forecasts are linked to possible […]
Something new and significant: a possible two-party state? Recently Nur-Otan, President Nazarbaev's party, has consolidated with some smaller opposition parties. Now the opposition takes steps: Kazakhstan's opposition parties, Ak Zhol and the National Social Democrats, have merged. The new opposition party hopes to make a difference in the next Parliamentary elections. While we’re all waiting […]
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who lost a highly contentious presidential election to Felipe Calderon last year, toured the southern state of Chiapas recently to advocate for transparent local elections. Obrador claimed that the buying of votes, mainly in the indigenous communities, is the main obstacle preventing democratic reform in the country. Obrador, the candidate of the Party […]
Last week, Secretary of Defense Gates measured the costs of Ganci AFB in Manas against the costs of other bases maintained by foreign powers in Kyrgyzstan. This whirlwind trip-with-comparative analysis, designed to keep Ganci open, was followed by today's visit from a high-ranking U.S. official, Undersecretary of State Boucher. Mr. Boucher made the U.S. position quite clear […]
Through twenty-six years of war and repression, Afghanistan has lost its ability to meet its public health needs. The efforts to rebuild health care systems continues, with mixed results. This was illustrated for me yesterday, when I read Asne Seierstad's The Bookseller of Kabul. Though Seierstad's book focused upon family relations, disease just kept cropping up over […]
The Supreme Court of Mexico struck down the national “Televisa law,” which was enacted last year to give away bandwidth for television, Internet, and telephone services exclusively to two media giants, Televisa and TV Azteca, without bids or compensation to the government. Lawmakers will now have to re-draft the law to allow competition. In making the ruling, […]
This week I received a flock of new State Department fact sheets on H5N1 Avian influenza. The leader of these flying missives was : U.S. Government Support to Combat Avian and Pandemic Influenza — An Update , which reminds us of the potential seriousness of any viral mutation in creating a human flu pandemic. In the […]