The Kojo Nnamdi show, an NPR station based in Washington, DC, hosted a group of foreign policy experts and practitioners in a discussion about the future of the US Foreign Service (FS). (Listen to the show). All of Kojo's guests pointed out that the central barrier to a bright future for the FS was the […]
Former Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering tells the Independent the United States and Iran have been holding back channel talks over its nuclear program for several years. Last month Pickering, along with William Leurs and James Walsh, authored an editorial in the International Herald Tribune regarding stagnation in the United States' policy towards Iran. They […]
Women and girls in Sudan's war torn Darfur region continually face rape and sexual assault, despite increased international awareness in the five years since the start of the conflict. Human Rights Watch calls on government to end sexual violence in Darfur, as neither the Sudanese security forces nor international peacekeepers are doing enough to protect […]
The Financial Times reports the United States has reached a compromise with North Korea over declaration of its nuclear activities. The United States has agreed Pyongyang does not need to publicly state a complete declaration of its nuclear activities. The compromise would allow for a "secret side-agreement" in which North Korea would acknowledge concerns over […]
Last week a ground braking and historic story broke to international media, the story was Hadijatou Mani legal fight against the African state of Niger. Hadijatou Mani, a former slave who is suing the state of Niger in a landmark legal challenge, claiming that the country failed to protect her from being sold into a […]
This article from the Houston Chronicle argues that a new Western Union product that allows immigrant to send money home by using their cell phones will serve to undermine the US government's current border security plans (the author disagrees with those plans, and thinks undermining them is a good thing.) I think remittances are great, […]
The International Food Aid Conference (PDF) will take place next week in Kansas City. This is event the brings together leaders in food aid from 25 countries, including the leaders of the US Government's chief food aid officials. They’ll be discussing some genuine issues in the field, including the rising price of food internationally and […]
I stumbled upon a website called “The World Wants Obama,” dedicated to documenting evidence of Senator Obama's support abroad (the group is also extensively on Facebook and YouTube). The group's manifesto is worth reading: “Although Americans have done many positive things around the world, the US government – once the champion of anti-colonialism and self-determination – […]
It is fitting that V-Day Fall's in April, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, “V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence […]
Every third woman sexually abused as a child, according to a survey conducted by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), which was released this past week. According to the survey, not only has one in three Swazi women experienced a degree of sexual abuse as a child, and additional one in four had experienced physical violence. […]
Michael Gerson argues that there is a purpose to large aid programs in this wonderful piece on PEPFAR in Zambia.
The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, published an interesting article on African development today. The author is Deborah Brautigam, a professor of international development at American University. She makes two basic points. The first is that a developing a more robust system of public taxation would have broad benefits for African societies. Besides […]
…it's afterimage imprints itself like an irreversible negative from the camera obscura of dreams.” -Pat Conroy, The Prince of Tides The rape of anyone is one of the most atrocious crimes that can be committed against a person, especially a child. The ever increasing use of rape as a weapon of war not only […]
"No good times, no bad times, There's no times at all, Just The New York Times" Here's some good, recent stuff from the venerable "New York Times." The "Business of Green" is a special section from a few weeks ago. (I wrote at some length over a year ago on their special of the same […]
If you are at all interested in the field of journalism you might enjoy reading this interview with David Marash in the Columbia Journalism Review. But his story is one that appeals to us followers of US foreign policy as well. Marash, formerly a “Nightline” correspondent, took a job in 2006 with Al Jazera English, the English-language version […]