An important meeting took place yesterday in which a further display of concern and seriousness about climate change was exhibited by the President-Elect. I referenced his unequivocal post-election statements on energy and climate change here and how there is a critical positive synergy building between the incoming administration and the leaders on energy and the […]
Yesterday was the funeral service for the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Alexy II, who died of a heart attack at age 79. According to RIA, the patriarch is “credited with leading a revival of the Church after the fall of communism.” He officially became patriarch in 1990. As he came to lead the […]
It was on this day, December 10, 1948, that the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (which is available in more than 360 languages), for which it called all UN Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and […]
Check out our take on the closing year in 2008 in Review. FPA has asked all of the bloggers to answer those five questions. We would also love to hear your thoughts on what issues you'd like to see us cover in 2009.
"Mongol" is solid for what it is: a portrayal of the young Genghis Khan in 12th century Mongolia. With landscapes that provide stunning backdrops of just about every scene, this movie is easy on the eyes. The problem, however, is with what the film leaves out. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/28OLBrW6PSM” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] The life of […]
This post was written by Transatlantic Media Network intern Cecily Boggs German media and officials are irritated by a fresh revelation about the 3,600 German troops stationed in the north of Afghanistan: they drink a lot of beer and wine. The news came on top of constant complaints from other NATO allies about the German […]
"The Economist" has two great articles in their "Technology Quarterly," one on the state of wind power globally and the other on the Masdar Initiative. "The Economist," as you no doubt know by now, has terrific coverage on energy, the environment and climate change. I wrote about the Masdar Initiative, along with some other big-vision […]
U.S. News & World Report has a feature on the U.S. relationship with Europe focusing on European expectations of President-Elect Obama. The report includes a look at U.S. policy toward Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and Cuba. Political pundits inside the Washington beltway used to ask how long the new president's honeymoon would last, now […]
Asif Ali Zardari, the President of Pakistan, has replied to the current pressure on his government by reflecting on "the challenge of confronting terrorists." In an editorial printed in the New York Times, Zardari discusses both the global scale of the current war against extremists and the particular price that Pakistan that has had to […]
It seems so long ago now. The fear, the anxiety, the dark alleys of Laayoune. I met the Sahrawi human rights activist, Ahmed Sbai, in the outskirts of this wasted city, in the Eraki neighborhood where the marginalized live in bland block apartments. A week ago now, maybe even less. The days pass by in […]
As Georgetown's Center for National Security Law notes, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four men who stand accused of helping him plan the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon offered to plead guilty today in front of a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay. However, U.S. Army Colonel Stephen Henley, the presiding judge, […]
How can you help underprivileged children? Here are 25 ways for you to help make a child's life better this year. Why not pick a few off the list, or pick one that you can make a yearlong project and get a head start on your New Years Resolution! Donate new blankets to children in homeless […]
We haven't written on Darfur much lately – not because the genocide there has slowed (it hasn't), but because other war crimes like the Mumbai atrocity and the Gulf of Aden pirates have been making bigger news. It's still not clear what will happen with the ICC's Sudan indictments (though Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo briefed […]
The enmity between the United States and Cuba is well known and is unlikely to change anytime soon, as least on a government-to-government level. This report from NBC News notes that lower-level private approaches may succeed in establishing new links between the two countries. If you are interested in digging deeper, this panel report from […]
While thousands of delegates and interested parties from all over the world start their second week of deliberations and meetings in Poznan, the EU has been laying the groundwork for a summit at the end of this week in Brussels. In January, the European Commission agreed to work toward an ambitious program of a 20% […]