An estimated 6000 journalists and free speech advocates marched in Hong Kong on February 23 in protest against the erosion of press freedom and free expression in the Chinese territory. Organized by the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) and other media groups, the demonstration included a rally outside Hong Kong chief executive C.Y. Leung’s office […]
Our favorite long reads and blog posts from the past week.
On Sunday, approximately 300 students from across Israel traveled to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The meeting was arranged by Labor MK Hilik Bar. Abbas spoke at length, in both prepared remarks and during a question and answer session. Below are some highlights: On dividing Jerusalem Just last month, Abbas stated that […]
On Wednesday, February 12, Israel Policy Forum released a letter addressed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in support of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace process initiative. Over 150 prominent American Jewish leaders signed the letter, which included rabbis, formal officials, activists, scholars, and philanthropists. The letter urged Netanyahu to continue negotiations on […]
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Chinese leaders in Beijing on February 14 and 15 as part of a six-day Asian trip that also included visits to South Korea and Indonesia. Kerry then headed to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for talks on Middle East issues before returning to Washington. Among […]
The EU has proposed that it join with the United States to formally coordinate their financial regulatory activities, as part of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Principles (TTIP). U.S. officials reportedly oppose the proposal because such an agreement might dilute Dodd-Frank and other new American regulations. It is more important that they it for reasons of deep principle, and economics. First world executives and […]
Our favorite long reads and blog posts from the past week.
Last weekend, Israeli media sources the Times of Israel and Channel 10 reported that United States President Barack Obama did not support Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace efforts. The Times of Israel article wrote, “Citing unnamed sources close to the negotiations, Channel 10 news said that Kerry sought Obama’s ‘political backing for confrontation […]
In my last blog, I wrote about suggestions and resources for breaking into International Development. In my daily mails, I often get emails from professionals, and students, asking how to break in or make the transition into the International Development sector. As a follow-up to my last blog article, here are nine suggestions for finding […]
February 11 marks the anniversary of the Iranian Revolution of 1979, a jolting socio-political and geopolitical event that transformed the dynamics of the Middle East, energy security, and global diplomacy. Iran, at the time a key regional ally of the U.S. and the West, became a virulently anti-U.S. and anti-Western state with a state ideology […]
As the 2014 winter games kick off, this is what you should be reading.
Western countries continue to fund UNRWA out of the belief that by doing so, they are helping to provide for the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian refugee community. The United States, as of 2010, donated $247,872,993 to UNRWA, making them the largest financial contributor to the international Palestinian refugee assistance organization. However, recent reports […]
In the spirit of all the verbal “bullying” going on in the media recently surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, I have included a must-see video spoof posted on Youtube by the Yesha Council, the regional council for West Bank settlements, mocking John Kerry’s peacemaking efforts.
China has escalated its war on international news media with stepped-up harassment of foreign journalists and blocking of foreign news websites. This has sparked renewed discord between the United States and China on issues of press freedom and media access but no concrete action as yet from the United States. China’s record on press freedom […]
Ever since the restoration of U.S.-China diplomatic ties in 1979, Beijing has allowed American media organizations, newspapers, and magazines to establish bureaus on the mainland. Although these operations were initially quite small throughout the 1980s and 1990s, China-based newsrooms kept growing during the late 2000s to reflect China’s growing international stature as the “big story.” […]