National Public Radio (NPR) reporter Lourdes Garcia-Navarro filed a report examining how Mexico City is leading the way in Latin American liberalism. Reflected by the Mexico City Assembly passing progressive measures on civil unions and abortion, local attitudes are not as they once were. With its trendy art scene, the city recently hosted controversial photographer Spencer Tunick's […]
There was a long span of time when the issue of the South African role in sport was arguably the single most contentious debate in the global sporting community and it was a discussion that came to transcend the voundaries of athletic competition to become a global concern. Sport reflected politics, sports intensified politics, sport […]
As Nathan Hamm at registan.net reminded me, today marks the second aniversary of the Andijan Massacre. Central Asia watchers know that this horrific event has intensified the conduct of internal control within Uzbekistan, and changed diplomatic discourse regarding Central Asia ever since. Andijan's heroine is Mahbuba Zokirova, the lone witness in the Andijan trials to contradict the […]
Sometimes it seems that the United Nations goes out of the way to prove its own fecklessness. The latest example? A government- (read: Robert Mugabe) chosen representative from Zimbabwe is about to be named the chair of the UN's 53-member Commission on Sustainable Development. Of course the UN is not acting alone — in the […]
Yesterday, I attended the Third Annual Sakip Sabanci lecture at The Brookings Institution, a joint presentation of Sabanci University and Brookings. The lecture series is devoted to developing scholarship concerning Turkey's relationships in the international system. The speaker was former Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who has been involved in U.S. diplomatic efforts since at least the Vietnam War, through […]
US diplomacy in the developing world has often failed to capitalize on its full array of experience with national development. State and nation-building literature focuses upon the present, but the past reveals how the US accomplished its own nation-building–and how supremely difficult this 200-plus year project has been. I’m talking about the Wild West. Go ahead and laugh, because a. this will probably […]
Notes from the blogosphere: In April, I collected four posts from three blogs that take apart conventional metaphors and assumptions, either in a large way or small. These phrases have taken on the ring of tired, unhappy, and uninteresting truth–but may not be true. Their constant repetition has led to hopelessness and apathy. Yet the issues these […]
Tajikistan's President Rahmon has been visiting Iran as head of his country's economic delegation. It appears to have been a fruitful meeting for both sides: Transportation and Energy: New initiatives on land, rail, and air transport were agreed upon between the two countries. This is extremely important news, as transport via Uzbekistan for Tajikistan's commerce […]
Just as an FYI: For access to the BBC's weekly program “South Africa Direct,” with links and other information, go here.
On Tuesday Bill Clinton announced that his foundation has brokered a deal with Indian pharmaceutical companies to provide generic AIDS drugs in developing countries. Sub-Saharan Afria will obviously provide a huge market for these drugs. There are perhaps a few of lessons to learn here. The first is that it is unlikely that these Indian companies, […]
According to BBC, journalist Umida Niyazova has had her sentence lifted because she has changed her trial plea from ‘not guilty’ to guilty, and because the judge had compassion over separating a mother from her 2-year-old boy. She recanted her association with human rights groups and others, citing ‘undue influence from her environment’. I remain grateful for her brilliant work through discouraging […]
The United States is moving forward with plans to establish an Africa Command that will enable the United States to respond quickly to address strategic situations that artise on the continent, which is increasingly visible in American and global policy. The establishment of the new command, which will deal with issues such as terrorism, humanitarian […]
Larry Birns and Alex Sanchez of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs analyze the power of Mexican drug traffickers in their report, “The Government and Drug Lords: Who Rules Mexico?” Arguing that the only viable solution to combating drug trafficking is further deployment of the Mexican army to relevant regions as well as the subsequent extradition […]
The daughter of former President Akaev, Bermet Akaeva, was interrogated again on May 5th for 4 hours–between 10 am and 2 pm. This curious scheduling information is related to Ms. Akaeva's previous interrogation, which put her into the hospital, and lasted until after 10pm at night. Following the interrogation, Ms. Akaeva has been put under house […]
Yes, trade can drive on in where pastors fear to tread: Edmund's, a trade group following the auto industry, reports that auto manufacturer GM-Daewoo has bought into the UZ-Daewoo plant in Asaka, a city in the Andijan region of Uzbekistan. The article continues with a fine and high disregard for previous asset expropriation of foreign business, including […]