Presidential politics in China are pretty predictable. About once a decade its Communist Party votes for a new leader, who becomes the new president. The process is shrouded in secrecy, and not much is known about the new boss until he (and it’s always been a “he”) takes office. There’s also always some debate and […]
With the election behind us and David Petraeus having testified in closed House and Senate hearings, we may hope for a more measured and less emotional examination of the events in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012. In a previous post, I looked at some of the background behind the issue of post security. In […]
Having visited Myanmar years ago when it seemed uncertain when or if political change would occur, I find it fascinating to watch the ongoing democratization of Myanmar, which continued to unfold this week with President Obama’s historic trip and meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, one of my personal heroes. In a generally optimistic time […]
I received an email from a publisher today, and I was tempted to quickly skim it and move on. Like many of you, I get far more email than I can reasonably deal with. This e-mail, however, was apropos of a blog post I wrote over the summer of 2011 about the Captain America […]
Last Wednesday, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) released its annual State of the World Population report, in which it called family planning a “fundamental human right” and underlined the need for increased investment in and a “rights-based approach” to family planning. Citing studies that show improved health, societal, gender, and economic outcomes when family planning […]
Every year, the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Committee on Freedom of Association releases a list of cases examined and their findings, placing a higher priority on some particularly egregious violations or lack of responsiveness on the part of governments. This year, situations in Argentina, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Fiji, and Peru were determined to be the most […]
Guest post by Andy Kristian Agaba Recently, a friend recently sent forwarded to me an article he had read curious to hear what my opinion was. He wrote that after reading the article, he had mixed emotions of which I am not keenly aware as I didn’t bother to ask. After responding to him, I […]
Last month saw the first ever Day of the Girl – now it’s time to turn round and gaze in the other direction, to an older generation: grandmothers.
This blog has looked at democracy and democracy promotion (or in some cases suppression) around the world. My aim is to look at how democracy works, and could work better. I’ve covered elections far and wide, and while my focus is global it only seems right that I say something about one of the defining […]
A few quick updates are in order for a regular theme in this blog: Amid a torrent of extravagant prophesying about how China is poised to conquer the world, technological innovations and private entrepreneurs are actually rejuvenating America’s strategic prospects. As previous posts (here and here) have outlined, the marked surge in U.S. oil and […]
The U.N. headquarters in New York City shut down for an unprecedented three days after Hurricane Sandy tore through the eastern seaboard of the United States. Though global operations continued uninterrupted, the problems presented by the storm prompted Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, like many others, to reflect on the lessons learned from the storm. Obvious […]
In the field of energy, conservation is about the least sexy topic out there. However, it is also the one area that can affect the picture immediately, and for that reason, we ought to be paying greater attention to it. For its part, the British government has just released its first Energy Efficiency Strategy. I […]
In terms of establishing the conditions for a world without weapons of mass destruction (the main theme of this blog), we might as well say frankly that Obama’s first term left a good deal to be desired. Despite the clear commitment to the elimination of nuclear weapons the Obama made both as candidate in 2008 […]
The Foreign Policy Association has recently released results of its 2012 National Opinion Survey with some interesting insights regarding the geopolitics of energy. Among other things, the survey finds that a total of 57 percent of the balloters believe that constructing the Keystone XL pipeline is in the U.S. national interest. This seems to […]
When two of the world’s largest superpowers undergo political transitions at the same time, contrasts are inevitable. One of the best comparisons comes from the above cartoon, which contrasts the bombardment of information from the American press with the deafening silence from China’s new leadership. While many Americans are sick and tired of the relentless […]