The right in Bangladesh in again ascendant in violence. Recent reports suggest that student groups are reacting strongly to the government’s arrest and remand of leaders of the opposition coalition. This, after a morbid spasmodic run of violence that abated not too long ago. As the days and nights wind up and down to the […]
China and the United States held their Sixth China-U.S. Sub-Dialogue on Latin America this past week discussing their future policies on Latin America. The annual consultation was created to demonstrate how cooperation and a reduction in misunderstandings could promote increased trade in the region by both parties as well as avoid possible conflicts of interest […]
photo: Associated Press Chinese president Xi Jinping and premier Li Keqiang’s diplomatic offensive in Southeast Asia reaped benefits last month, as Beijing reached agreement with Vietnam to form a working group to jointly explore the waters of the disputed South China Sea. Beijing seems to have copied Obama’s “pivot to Asia,” in the wake of […]
Check out this very insightful piece from Ahmed Charai on Huffington Post, “A Regal Response to an Undue Provocation.” Ahmed makes a very good point that what makes Morocco stand out in a region of instability is King Mohammed VI’s visionary leadership. (It goes to show what I have always believed that good leadership, an open […]
Every year, roughly between August and November, the monsoon season hits Southeast Asia as a matter of fact. Despite this constant and consistent phenomenon, the corrupt governments which proliferate throughout the region remain inept and incompetent to handle the inexorable flooding which the rainstorms leave behind. In the Philippines, an estimated 10,000 people are dead […]
A few months ago, Iran denied that a tweet coming from its President was legitimate by simply denying that the Twitter account issuing the tweet was legitimate. Last week, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, spoke briefly with a reporter from the Israeli newspaper Maariv, before delivering a speech at the UN Economic, Scientific and Cultural […]
A new Reuters investigation details a key to Iran’s supreme leader’s power: a little-known organization created to help the poor that morphed into a business juggernaut worth tens of billions of dollars. “Setad Ejraiye Farmane Hazrate Emam” – Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, or Setad – has become one of the most […]
The Olympic torch for the upcoming Winter Games in Sochi, Russia has made quite the journey so far. It’s only a little over a month into its 123-day, 65,000 kilometer relay, but already, the torch has made it to the frigid north and even outer space. This past week, cosmonauts carried the torch during the […]
Expect the number of nuclear weapons in Asia to increase over the short to medium term according the latest edition of Strategic Asia 2013-14, aptly titled Asia in the Second Nuclear Age. Nuclear states across the region are all looking to further develop or enhance their nuclear arsenals, namely Pakistan, India, China and North Korea. […]
Editor’s Note: The following article was recently published in SITREP, The Journal of the Royal Canadian Military Institute. Re-Published with Permission from SITREP, Issue #6 Nov – Dec 2013 by Reza Akhlaghi Silicon Valley in the southern region of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California has been home to America’s most innovative […]
The snowball effect of the Snowden revelations is finally picking up. Between the revelations of the National Security Agency eavesdropping on Merkel’s cellphone and massive collection of European citizens’ emails and phone calls (as demonstrated by the illustration below), Europeans are furious and have been asking questions to a reluctant Obama administration. US Secretary of […]
Oil and gas. Uranium and rare earth metals. Cod and shrimp. Reindeer and seal pelts. These things constitute the bulk of discussions about Arctic resources, yet there’s one resource that’s overlooked: time. At the Arctic Circle summit in Reykjavik earlier in October, economist and Sami reindeer herder Anders Johansen Eira gave a talk, “The Challenges of […]
Mouvement du 23-Mars (M23) rebels fled their stronghold in Bunaguna, a small town in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on the border with Uganda, the rebel movement’s political leader, Bertrand Bisimwa, called for a ceasefire to end all hostilities. While fighting is ongoing, as Congolese government troops (FARDC) continue to […]
Before the era of nation-states, Shakespeare had it easy. While humanists may agree labels matter little, geographers in the 21st century must keep up with country name changes, and the accompanying politics. Readers these days come across Myanmar (Burma), or Burma (Myanmar), depending on the writer’s point of view. Burma is the original name […]
Canada and the European Union are working out the final details of their newly minted Free Trade Agreement. The first of these modern agreements will be completed with Canada in the midst of new agreements being discussed with Brazil as well as added access for Colombians and with Mercosur as a whole. The Canadian agreement […]