Tis’ the season of giving and there are so many endless ways that you can help a child in need. Therefore here is a few ideas to get you started and help make a child’s life better this holiday. Why not pick a few off the list to do this holiday season, pick one even […]
Still traveling, in Saint Louis for a speaking engagement after spending Thanksgiving with my Mom; but wanted to comment on the most recent crisis with North Korea. 2010 marks the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War and the 57th of the Mutual Defense Treaty we signed with South Korea. Yet though 60 […]
In international relations theory, there’s a lot of talk about the offensive advantage, that being the advantage a country gains by striking first in a military conflict. There’s comparatively less written about the defensive advantage. When a country is attacked, the victim population is galvanized against the attacker and neutral states may also turn against […]
Every informed and honest observer has known since 2002-3 that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program and that, in the absence of a general regional agreement, nothing ultimately will stop it from obtaining nuclear arms. It’s also pretty clear that the holocaust deniers currently running the country might actually use their bombs, and use […]
The International Panel on Fissile Materials, a MacArthur-supported international group of scientists that has been promoting a treaty to terminate production of explosive material for nuclear weapons, has learned from the Indian government that it will not be allowed to hold a meeting it planned for December in Delhi. According to a news report that […]
The estimable Bill McKibben and the hard-charging activists at 350.org have organized 350 Earth – “the world’s first art exhibit large enough to be seen from space.” There are photographs, videos and text here to suit any palate. As the late, great Phil Ochs said: …you must protest you must protest it is your diamond […]
Proprietorship of information is an integral part of any nation’s foreign policy and national security. Ultimately, through collecting, maintaining, and exploiting secrets, governments can accrue advantages over both adversaries and partners, whether political, military, or even economic. Conversely, loss of such an advantage can have unforeseen and particularly damning consequences. One such consequence, as appears […]
The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article on a small but growing number of U.S. students applying to British universities – not as study abroad but as their home institution. The article is here. U.S. high school and transfer students are looking at colleges outside the country as the price of an American college […]
So all of you are familiar with the Buena Vista Social Club right? The film, the soundtrack, the impact made by reuniting some of Cuba’s most experienced musicians. Well, Afrocubism is the record that was supposed to get made back in 1997, but, for a number of reasons, didn’t happen. Now, Nick Gold has […]
U.S. foreign policy is in the news today with the release by Wikileaks of secret diplomatic cables. As a blogger for the Foreign Policy Association, foreign policy is naturally something that I take seriously and I’m really amazed and stunned at this malicious attack on American foreign policy. You know, when I first heard about […]
Land mine progress is unveiled at UN The number of deaths from land mines and other unexploded devices left behind after wars has dropped to the lowest level since tracking began a dozen years ago thanks to concerted efforts to clear unexploded ordnances, advocacy groups said in a report issued at the United Nations. Fewer […]
There was an excellent op-ed this weekend in the NY Times that reminds us that we’re in a race. As the climate system continues to show unmistakable signs of a warming world – signs that are accelerating – we need to bring greater focus to how to get ahead of the curve and do what […]
Paraphrase of NYTs Helene Cooper’s 26 Nov 2010 article: A fundamental tenet of foreign affairs doctrine holds that sovereign nations will always define and act in their own national interests, and will rarely against their own interests. Somebody needs to tell that to the United States when it comes to China, many foreign policy experts say. A key part of America’s relationship with China now turns on a question that is, at its heart, an interminable conundrum: How to get Beijing to do what its leaders don’t believe are good for their country, but will benefit ours? From economics to climate change to currency to Iran and finally culminating with North Korea last week, America has sought to push, prod and cajole China, to little or no avail.
The use of child soldiers continues to be a plague on our global society, as thousands of children continue to be recruited into armed conflict by both government forces and armed rebel groups in spite global efforts to combat the continued use of children. UNICEF estimates there are some 300,000 child soldiers globally, while Human Rights, with […]
It’s only the media–not a special, dedicated tunnel team–who might believe the identification of Guzman as the tunnel mastermind qualifies as breaking news.Any agent who’s worked the southwest border for a while already knows that if a tunnel or any other kind of operation is high-end, it’s almost certainly the work of “El Chapo”…