From April 11th to April 17th, 1971 a group of Americans were invited to play ping pong in China. Dubbed ping pong diplomacy, it helped improve U.S.-China relations. In fact, on April 14th of that year the United States announced it would end it's trade embargo with China. One year later Nixon made his infamous […]
Reuters Tuesday, February 26, 2008 GUATEMALA CITY: Guatemala's new President Alvaro Colom said on Monday he will open army files for the first time to make public details of massacres and torture by soldiers during the country's 36-year civil war. “We are going to make all of the army's archives public so we can know […]
The debate over the use of cluster bombs has hit the boil in recent months, however it looks that the issue will not be cooling down anytime soon. More than 120 nations tried to resolve the issues related to the use of cluster bombs, this past week. As the talks ended on Friday no agreement […]
Last week the Financial Times published an article about how corporations and non-profits can work together productively. The relationship is probably always going to be an awkward one, especially for NGOs that don't want their corporate partners to make any money off the arrangement. The FT is particularly concerned with the division of intellectual property […]
The federal prosecution against a former U.S. navy sailor for terrorism charged opened Monday in Connecticut. Hassan Abu-Jihaad stands accused of providing material support to terrorists with the intent to harm or kill U.S. citizens. The U.S. government alleges that Abu-Jihaad obtained classified evidence regarding Navy fleet movements in the Straits of Hormuz and sent […]
(Arial photo of Darfur refugee camp) The conflict in Darfur, the Western province on Sudan is the most protracted of the 21st century. Since 2003, the people of Darfur have sustained violence, genocide, starvation, disease and profound misery. While estimates range, Amnesty International puts the death toll at 300,000 (95,000 killed and more than 200,000 […]
The Times of India has another example of what cell phones can do for a society. Through the website IndianBloodDonors.com people can now send a text message with their urgent request for blood. This is clearly a much more direct means of communication than first finding an internet-connected computer. Getting the cell phone in the hand […]
Blood donation drives have been held in Kenya to meet the demand that has been caused due to the continuing post-election violence. In wake of the high demand the shortage of regular blood donors has only become more apparent. Donations must be screened for HIV to ensure they are safe for transfusion, and thus many […]
Twenty-four cities from Atlanta to Tel Aviv to Bangkok have agreed to turn off their lights for one hour on March 29 to draw attention to global warming. Organizers said more cities may join the event and that some 30 million people may participate (Associated Press). In related news UN officials say Human rights threatened […]
(Richard Falk) Yesterday Today's Zaman News, a Turkish English-language daily newspaper, published an opinion piece by Richard Falk, an American professor of international law at Princeton University. Titled “What to expect from the next American president in the Middle East,” the piece gives a well-rounded, in-depth summary of the current status of the US presidential […]
The former chief military prosecutor for the war crimes tribunal at the U.S. naval detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba said he would testify on behalf of the personal driver for Osama bin Laden, Salim Ahmed Hamdan. Air Force Col. Morris Davis told The Associated Press Thursday he would appear at the Hamdan trial. “I […]
It seems Israel is mulling over a cease-fire offer from Hamas. Earlier in the week, Defense Minister Barak warned Syria and Turkey that Israel had plans to launch a major operation against Hezbollah and Hamas. A few days later, a Hamas spokesman said, "we won't rule out any bid for cease-fire with Israel." This morning, […]
The Economist commented this week on the recent controversies over the Gates Foundation's global health work. The most recent example of this controversy was when the head of the WHO malaria program asserted that Gates is becoming a monopoly and driving inappropriate research in malaria. Our Economist correspondent defends the Gates Foundation. In doing so, […]
When Henry Crumpton speaks, the US Diplomacy blog listens. Henry, also know as "Hank" during his time at the CIA, played a pivotal role in overthrowing the Taliban months after Sept 11th. He is currently the Ambassador-at-Large for counterterrorism at the State Department. Crumpton understands the intricacies of the tribal nature in Afghanistan. He recognizes […]
I wrote about one of the several climate change six-hundred pound gorillas at King Coal in November. There was a hard-hitting piece in yesterday’s “Progress Report” called Bad News For Big Coal. (Fair warning: “Progress Report” is a newsletter of the avowedly partisan Center for American Progress, which I’ve noted before, along with the fact […]