One of the largest cyber discussions on global security and transatlantic relations kicked off several hours ago. From March 19th to 23rd, the 2012 Security Jam offers a week long platform of discussion, allowing world experts and non-experts to debate, interact, and present ideas on emerging security threats and trends. The 2012 Security Jam is composed […]
Foreign Policy Association’s defense blogger, Gail Harris, was recently profiled in a BBC News video entitled, Pioneer on the Combat and Career Frontlines. Harris, who is an integral part of the Foreign Policy Blogs team, is an expert on U.S. intelligence and defense, with nearly three decades of navel experience. By the time of her […]
Moroccan girl, wed to rapist, kills herself A Moroccan law that allowed a rapist to avoid punishment by marrying the 16-year-old girl he raped is being decried the world over after the girl, Amina Filali, reportedly took her own life last weekend by swallowing rat poison. Filali was not old enough to legally marry. Historic […]
My posts for the U.S. Role in the World blog tend to focus on specific expressions of the U.S. role that are current and timely (like foreign aid or defense spending) but I was reminded today that it’s sometimes good to step back from the specific and look at the big picture. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) hosted […]
In his recent article Michael Klare points to an often overlooked cause of higher gas prices in the U.S. – “a fundamental shift in the structure of the oil industry”. In any public discussion the usual explanations for rising gas prices are geopolitical pressures in connection with current tensions in Iran, Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan […]
Why Not Frack? is the title of an article in a recent issue of the “NY Review of Books.” One of the best environmental journalists we’ve got, Bill McKibben, is the author. McKibben, of course, is more than just a journalist. He’s a ground-breaking thinker and, in recent years, a very serious and effective activist. […]
The following is a guest post by Director and Founder of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD) Mark C. Donfried. Governments in the twenty-first century are faced with a variety of global security risks including terrorism, war and conflicts, stereotypes/ misconceptions and ideological conspiracies, to name but a few. These risks have manifested themselves in […]
As promised, here are more of my thoughts on current happenings in Afghanistan and Iran. Yesterday I blogged about Afghanistan so this blog will focus on Iran. This past Sunday evening I was pleasantly surprised to see Meir Dagan, the former head of the Israeli Mossad their equivalent to the CIA, on CBS’ 60 Minutes. […]
I’ve not had time to blog in the last couple of weeks because of travel but thought I’d offer my thoughts on the crises with Afghanistan and Iraq. Starting first with Afghanistan, like many I was horrified by the massacre of 16 Afghans, to include 9 children, allegedly by an Army Sergeant. This is a […]
The following is an excerpt from Atlantic Council Senior Fellow and fellow of the Foreign Policy Association Sarwar Kashmeri. Read the complete article here. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned home without receiving an American endorsement for an Israeli attack on Iran. Neither did he find much support for the Israeli government’s assertion that the […]
Growing suspicions that recently engulfed the credibility of humanitarian organizations working in Haiti could cause people to underestimate the significant initiative launched in Cap-Haitien by Hands on Haiti, Mothering Across Continent and STARS Alliance; however, their work in Northern Haiti this spring will be nothing short of extraordinary. Haiti proclaimed its independence 208 years ago, […]
Last week was International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate women and girls and increase awareness about their marginalization across the globe. Much work remains to be done, but there are hundreds of organizations and efforts working to address the issue of female rights across the world. Women Deliver, a global advocacy organization, recently announced […]
A year ago today, a huge earthquake hit Japan, followed by a tsunami that destroyed thousands of lives. It also started a chain of events that caused three reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant to meltdown. Here are a few facts that are important to remember as we reconsider nuclear power and how we do […]
In this climax of crises, the middle class is not the only one to have considerably suffered; the environment has been the other loser. Social policies and the welfare state have been slashed across Europe and the U.S. in the name of austerity measures and debt crisis. The environment has been increasingly slaughtered in the […]
Malaria is an early threat to fetus, study finds The growth of a fetus can be stunted even when expectant mothers infected with malaria early in their pregnancies no longer show any symptoms, according to a study by a unit of the Mahidol University-Oxford University Tropical Medicine Research Program in Bangkok. The findings bolster the […]