Last week, The Economist in their article “The Great Deceleration” discussed the slowdown in the BRICS economies in recent months. The assumption was that countries such as China, India, Russia and Brazil were to grow indefinitely as a reflection of a new world economy, showing their clout during the 2008 great recession by saving the […]
Journalism has never been an easy job. The conditions get worse when a journalist is dealing with an authoritarian government such as the Islamic Republic of Iran. The 2013 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders ranks the Islamic Republic of Iran 174 amongst 179 countries for its respect for media freedom. The […]
This past weekend South Africa’s Sunday Independent published a lengthy (by op-ed standards) piece of mine on the Zim elections, which are taking place today. It continues one of my prevailing themes in the last few weeks, and indeed represents an attempt to synthesize my last month’s writing on Zim here at the FPA and […]
Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki left Monday for a two-day trip to China to exchange views with senior officials, according to a Thomas Reuters report. No details were provided on what Saiki planned to discuss with the Chinese on his July 29 to 30 visit, but his trip comes at a time when Japan’s […]
While whether climate change is real is being debated around the world, there is one country that is experiencing its effects firsthand: the Maldives. This documentary follows then-President Mohamed Nasheed as he attempts to get the rest of the world on board with reducing carbon emissions, one cause of global warming that is causing sea […]
Joe Biden is in India this week, the latest effort in the Obama administration’s three-year effort to enlist New Delhi in a closer strategic partnership aimed at hedging against a rising China. Indeed before departing Washington, Biden declared that the United States welcomes New Delhi’s emergence as “a force for security and growth in Southeast Asia and […]
Zimbabweans will go to the polls on Wednesday to participate in an election that will be closely monitored by hundreds of foreign observers, mostly from around Africa. One country that will be watching despite Western observer missions not being invited is the United States of America. Relations between Washington and Harare are definitely nowhere near the […]
The ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has recorded a victory in Cambodia’s 2013 general election amidst widespread irregularities. Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith announced via Facebook, confirmed by independent sources, that the CPP won 68 seats, enough to give them a safe majority in the 123 seat National Assembly. The final official tally guarantees the CPP […]
Traveling across France earlier this summer, I went back to one of my favorite childhood locations, le Chambon-sur-Lignon, in the middle of France, Haute-Loire. In between catching up with relatives and grand-parents, I had the time to go visit a new museum, lieu de mémoire, that received national attention at its grand opening earlier on in June […]
President Barack Obama hosted Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang at the White House for the first bilateral meeting between the two leaders. Acknowledging the “extraordinarily complex history between the United States and Vietnam” President Obama and President Truong announced the establishment of a new Comprehensive Partnership between the two countries, with the end goal of […]
Editor’s Note: Ralph Black is a Zimbabwean political refugee and the U.S. Representative for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC-T. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is the largest political party in the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe. _______________________________________________________________ by Ralph Black Zimbabwe is important to U.S. strategic interests from political, security and economic […]
At the July 16-18 Symposium on the Impacts of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic held in Washington, D.C., Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski asserted, “When it comes to circumpolar navigation in the Arctic, regardless of which route is taken – the Northern Sea Route, the Northwest Passage, or perhaps across the pole if we see an ice-free summer, […]
Article VI of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s constitution “mandates popular elections for president and parliament.” Four years after the controversial presidential election that kept Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power, the Iranian people have elected a new leader. On June 13, Hassan Rouhani won more than 50 percent of 36.7 million votes cast and became Iran’s […]
Long viewed as “client state” of China, Myanmar’s precious national resources have for years been auctioned off to the hungry dragon next door. Indeed, China was Myanmar’s only significant dance partner, following the trade sanctions imposed on Western firms in response to human rights abuses by Myanmar’s repressive military junta. With Myanmar’s recent transition […]
In ten days Zimbabweans will go to the polls. This much we know. And it is just about all we know. There are glimmers of hope for the opposition. Some are reading murky tea leaves, coming to the conclusion that Morgan Tsvangirai and his wing of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC, or, as some […]