There are certain narratives in South Africa that seem immune to change over time. Despite many indications that violent crime has been going down consistently over the last decade or more, South Africa is still tainted as a crime-infested country. Although AIDS rates have been dropping, for many South Africa still represents Sub-Saharan Africa’s AIDS […]
Articles From Around the Web The Force By Jill Lepore The New Yorker Once a country that regarded a large standing army as a form of tyranny, the United State’s has now become one of the largest spenders on defense — and its military spending exceeds all of the nation’s in the world combined. […]
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’ ill health is widely known, but what may be less recognized in my neck of the woods is how the president’s ailments have become front-page news across the Caribbean. This is due to PetroCaribe, the regional oil cooperative Venezuela created in 2005 to provide fuel for neighboring countries. PetroCaribe supplies 18 […]
Senior defense officials stated Wednesday the Pentagon will lift the military’s ban on women in combat, thereby opening up thousands of front-line jobs to them. Not many details have been released at this time, but it is known that Panetta has implemented this change following a recommendation from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The change […]
I first became fully politically aware around the age of 10. Since that time there have been three speeches that resonated with me, meaning I felt the speakers were expressing their true beliefs as opposed to simply spouting political rhetoric. The first was President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration address. The second was Dr. Martin Luther […]
In light of France’s recent involvement in Mali, questions about the trajectory and length of this war are naturally coming to the fore. For me, a phrase that I keep thinking about is “the law of conservation of problems,” which comes from an environmental science text I once used. Featured in the text to […]
In my previous two posts I provided what I have come to believe are the most important events and aspects of the Syrian civil war to date. Bashar al-Assad’s country is no more; it has been replaced by a parcelized system. Free Syrian Army (FSA) and jihadist units in the northwest: the commercial hub of […]
Must read pieces from around the web for the week of January 11-18, 2013.
The Economist’s Venezuela correspondent put out an informative video on the succession of the next possible leader in Venezuela, that can be found here. I also encourage everyone to read the last few posts on FPA’s Latin America blog for information on Venezuela as well. The consensus among many experts in the region is that […]
Last week most stories about Afghanistan focused on the meeting between Afghan President Hamaid Karzai and President Obama. The President announced that starting in the spring U.S. troops would only play supporting role. Of note he gave no information on troop withdrawal schedule but did indicate there would be a U.S. troop presence after 2014. […]
Budget support is in the news once more. Corruption in Uganda recently spurred several Western governments to suspend their budget support to the government there. Unfortunately, for Uganda, this type of foreign aid makes up almost a quarter of its annual operating budget. So I’m thinking about budget support again and its role in […]
For the first part of this yearly roundup, check here The Anatomy of the Syrian Conflict (Part 1) For my in-depth map of developments during the month of November, a crucial point at which the Free Syrian Army switched to attacking regime soft points in Aleppo and Deir ez Zour governorates in order to […]
Recently in my own community, one branch of the government has taken to openly violating some enshrined rights under the constitution using their own legislation that clearly violates the rights of the people. The acceptance in using the legal system to remove the rights of citizens that are governed under a constitution were surprisingly permitted. […]
Hugo Chavez should be officially sworn into office on January 10. But with Chavez’s advanced cancer and his recently announced “complications,” it is unclear who will lead the country in 2013. Here is a brief primer. As Tim Padgett recently argued, Venezuela’s Bolivarian constitution provides a “murky map” on matters of incapacity and succession. The […]
“We must start from the simple premise that Africa’s future is up to Africans.” This simple sentence came from a speech given by U.S. President Barack Obama in Ghana in 2009. Never has this premise rung more true than right now. As Africa faces imminent threats in several regional situations, the trend seems to be […]