As I prepare to depart for my Independence Day holiday, I’ve been giving some thought to what I could post that would be appropriate for the holiday, something celebrating democracy and liberty. The U.S. has contributed much to the world, far more than can be listed in this space, but perhaps it is those […]
I will be on vacation for the majority of July, so I thought I would leave you with a few timely resources on foreign policy and the US Presidential campaign. 1) Senator Chuck Hagel (R, NE), as part of his recent book tour, spoke at the Brookings Institution last week about “U.S. Foreign Policy and the […]
The ex-vice-president of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been extradited to The Hague to face trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Jean-Pierre Bemba, who fled DR Congo last year, was detained in Belgium in May. He will face trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Mr Bemba is accused over atrocities allegedly […]
Today marks the start to the Junior 8 Summit, which will be held in Chitose City, Hokkaido, Japan, from 2-9 July. The J8 is a youth event run parallel to the annual Group of 8 Summit of world leaders. The J8 takes place every year and allows young people from around the world the opportunity […]
Is today's bulldozer attack in Jerusalem indicative of a developing trend in terrorist tactics in the West Bank? Similar to the March shooting that killed eight Israelis at a religious school in Jerusalem, various Palestinian groups took credit for today's attack that involved a Palestinian man running a Caterpillar front loader into traffic and pedestrians. […]
China – You will have noted that the PRC surpassed the USA this past year in total carbon dioxide emissions. I referenced this here a couple of weeks ago and referred to the “NY Times” article that fleshed out the whys and the wherefores. Much of the Chinese inventory of emissions, not surprisingly, is a […]
Although in regards to Iran, Bush used his favorite phrase, "all options are on the table," he did say, military action would not be his first choice. More importantly, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mullen admitted "opening up a third front right now would be extremely stressful on us — that doesn't mean […]
Last week–as the Bush administration sees it– diplomacy came out victorious in the standoff between North Korea (aka the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and the five other “parties” attempting to halt its nuclear weapons program. Pyongyang submitted an accounting of its nuclear arsenals to the Chinese government–a first step in reigning in the nuclear weapons program North Korea […]
Steven Erlanger, one of the New York Times’ best foreign affairs writers, filed a delightful report June 30 from a French village in Provence, Collobrieres (population 1600), which has reintroduced the French franc, alongside the euro, in order to boost business. The mayor is quoted as saying, “We lost something with the franc; we lost […]
After a series of bombings in Sukhumi and Gagra, the Abkhaz de-facto authorities closed the checkpoint on the Inguri bridge yesterday. Unfortunately, my permission entry letter to Abkhazia is dated July 1st. Having come so far, I still tried to cross. I made it past the Georgian and Russian armed guards only to be stopped […]
John McCain's airborne version of the “Straight Talk Express” flew off to Columbia yesterday — and it wasn't Columbia, South Carolina, but the actual country of Columbia. Both candidates, in fact, are taking advantage of a break in the political calendar at home to do some foreign travel. For Obama, who is about to set […]
It is fitting that progress on disarmament talks with North Korea has been made this week as this also marks another important milestone, the signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty forty years ago this week. The treaty created a framework for countries to pledge not to seek nuclear weapons and for existing nuclear powers to […]
Sadly the case of infanticide in India is not a new story, but the long term effects of what one may consider the worst form of gender inequality are beginning to rear their ugly head. As a result, showing a noticeable effect on the Indian population, especially in the more densely populated states in the […]
India – The second-most populous country in the world is rapidly industrializing. That means its GHG output has been rising inexorably, as more heavy industry serves the country’s burgeoning economy, and roads fill with cars. India is intricately and inextricably involved with the ongoing UNFCCC negotiations leading to a post-Kyoto international agreement. It has also […]
Writing for the European Courier, former ICTY spokeswoman Florence Hartmann slammed Western powers and international courts for not adequately protecting the victims of the Srebrenica genocide, either in the runup to the genocide or in the recent litigation. In her first book, Peace and Punishment, Hartmann accused Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and […]