A U.N. human rights team is scheduled to visit the Gaza Strip during the weekend to investigate Israeli conduct during the Gaza offensive in December. South African Judge Richard Gladstone, the former chief prosecutor with the international tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, leads a team of four to the Gaza Strip, entering through […]
This blog has also been posted in FPA’s Latin America Blog. Mexico in 2009 has become the recipient of at least half of the most famous biblical plagues starting in 2008. This past week brought yet another earthquake to Mexico, the second this month that received some media coverage outside the country. In addition to […]
The “NY Times” reports today on the massive cost overruns of a nuclear power plant at Olkiluoto in Finland and, in the end, the uncertainty of the date of its completion, testing and operation – if ever. The article reports that the difficulties with this flagship in the new generation of nuclear plants is making […]
Yesterday, Amnesty International released their global survey report on the state of human rights around the world. Iren Khan, Sec-Gen of Amnesty, made a salient observation when she attended a high-level meeting in New York on MDGs last September. Countries are hard pressed to back up their rhetoric on meeting the MDG goals set for 2015 she […]
Arvind Subramanian, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Center for Global Development, published a good commentary in the Business Standard arguing that India can learn from China’s strong public finances – a sound fiscal position is crucial for establishing international influence. “The lesson for superpower-aspiring India from superpower-arriving China is simple: […]
What do you sell when you have nothing left to sell, you have no money, no food, little water, and no prospects of employment? The future looks bleak and so you sell the only thing you have left…your own child! For if you cannot sale one child then how can you feed the others? News […]
A quick recap for those just joining us: On October 6, 2006 North Korea exploded its first nuclear weapon. This past week, it conducted an underground nuclear test and missile launches provoking international condemnation and raising tensions (and military alert levels) in the region. Satellite surveillance suggests it may have restarted its Yongbyon reactor (and […]
We often get reminders that a new Administration in Washington means new leadership at U.S. Embassies overseas. Within a year of taking office, an incoming President generally will have nominated (and the Senate approved) new Ambassadors for all major overseas postings. In many foreign government establishments, these appointments are highly anticipated events, more closely watched […]
Major Economies Forum (MEF) on Energy and Climate – After the second of four meetings scheduled to take place among the world’s major economies – all major contributors to global warming – the participants announced progress on finance. The 2nd MEF meeting took place this week in Paris. (See my notes from April on the […]
New York, NY — The Democratic Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee last night lashed out at former Vice President Dick Cheney for bearing “false witness” and “straying from the truth” in recent comments about U.S. treatment of foreign detainees. Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, speaking to the Foreign Policy Association in New York […]
Cholera still plagues Zimbabwe Zimbabwe will soon see more than 100,000 people infected with cholera even though the epidemic appears to be subsiding, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warned in a report released Tuesday. A collapse of water, health and sanitation infrastructure has helped drive the epidemic and has yet […]
“One can date precisely China’s debut as a great power,” writes Fareed Zakaria in the latest issue of Newsweek. “It was the evening of Aug. 8, 2008 – the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. The event perfectly symbolized China’s rise, a spectacular and expensive feat of mass organization, directed by the country’s highly competent […]
Vice President Joe Biden is on a victory tour, swinging through the country exulting the $787 billion stimulus package as a green job creator. In Denver, he boasted about the $11 billion for improving the electricity grid as well as the estimated 450,000 new jobs the bill will create. Despite the difficulty in defining a […]
Who will emerge stronger after the crisis? China or the United States? The New America Foundation and Foreign Policy hosted a debate on Tuesday about how the Great Recession will alter the global balance of power. “Which economy is poised to recover from the deepest recession since the 1930s? Who will be on top? Who […]
Here’s an interesting development that I missed earlier this month, but remains very relevant: It appears the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a regional group of middle-eastern Arab states have agreed tentatively to create a central monetary council that will evolve into a new Gulf Central Bank representing middle-east Arab states. Not surprisingly, the largest member […]