We looked the other day at some key initiatives from some of the states of the USA. There's recent news of not-inconsiderable import from some of the bigger nations. UK , Prime Minister Gordon Brown unveiled a plan last week for renewables that would commit £100 billion over the next dozen years. It's a comprehensive […]
Is the U.S gearing up for a major confrontation with Iran? In this week's issue of The New Yorker, journalist Seymour Hersh reports that President Bush authorized an increase in covert operations inside Iran after receiving funding from Congress (The New Yorker – Preparing The Battlefield): Late last year, Congress agreed to a request […]
AlJazeera.net continues its coverage of the violent clashes in Indian-administered Kashmir (particularly in Srinagar), which have already lasted more than eight days. It reports that the violence stems from protests over a “controversial plan to transfer land to a Hindu trust organization.” The aim was to provide 99 acres of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine […]
In war there are many weapons that may be employed and while the Kalashnikov or IED may be favored arms in modern warfare, there is one weapon all men carry and more often use. Men are choosing to use their bodies as weapons – in fact their manhood – to attack. The victim is raped […]
The front page of Al-Akhbar's Tuesday edition features news of the upcoming release of a Hezbollah music video celebrating the second anniversary of the July War of 2006. Subsequently, the name of the of the video is tammuz, which translates simply as July. According to the pro-opposition Lebanese daily, the picture at the bottom of […]
The U.S. Defense Department announced Monday it formally charged a Saudi Arabian national held at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay with plotting the bombing of the USS Cole in October 200 in the Yemeni port of Aden. The Pentagon said it charged Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri with eight charges associated with the suicide attack that […]
Shawn Brimley at Democracy Arsenal argues that America is suffering from strategic myopia and strategic amnesia, afflictions that blind us to the time-tested tools and strategies we have successfully used in the past to chart a winning foreign policy. Is there a danger that Iraq and the War on Terrorism are distracting the U.S. from […]
I noticed this morning that high ranking UN officials have joined the international chorus of voices encouraging the African Union to take the lead in ensuring that there is a negotiated settlement to the Zimbabwe crisis. While negotiations at the AU level will be necessary, I would like to see the international community play a […]
When wars end they do not just end full stop, the death and destruction do not suddenly turn to peace and prosperity over night. Peace talks and cease fires alone do not end wars, people end wars and when all of the people cannot find them selves distanced from the war, then the war rages […]
Amid the many reports of foreign audiences going ga-ga for Obama, one foreign policy expert issues a strong warning against thinking that a President Obama will solve the US’ global image problem, or make public diplomacy any easier. John Brown, a 20-year veteran of the US Foreign Service and currently a senior fellow at the University of Southern […]
If you are a member of Senator McCain or Senator Obama's cadre of campaign advisers, a former US Ambassador, or even a mere foreign policy expert, you are one busy guy/gal right now. Washington is brimming with events with titles like "US Foreign Policy in the Next Presidential Administration: What Will Go Down?" or "President […]
California , The Golden State has a population of 37 million folks or so. That's around Kenya's or Poland's population. According to which source you use, California, if it were an independent nation, would have the seventh, eighth, or tenth largest economy in the world. California is responsible for 13% of the United States' gross […]
According to President Bush's speech at the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast on June 26, his administration "has provided unprecedented support for the compassionate work performed by faith-based and community groups." He continued this thought by saying that the "government can hand out money, but government cannot put hope in a person's heart." The President remarked […]
I wanted to bring your attention to IRIN's latest film, Love, Positively, which follows the lives of four young adults living in Ugandan capital, Kampala who were infected at birth, and explores the challenges they face growing up with HIV and the courage they need to overcome it. To see this and other IRIN film […]
The 11th Arab conference on combating terrorism was held this past week in the Tunisian capital of Tunis. The two-day event, convened by the Council of Arab Interior Ministers, brought together officials from the region's counter-terrorism establishments to address various issues stemming from terrorism. In addition to the council, representatives from the Arab League and […]