China’s investment in Brazil has taken off like a catamaran surfing across the Pacific. While one might associate this trend with a Chinese desire to earn returns and pump capital into a fellow BRIC country, a look at the Chinese approach suggests otherwise. China does not have the variety or quantity of natural resources […]
A few years ago, while being interviewed on a radio show, I was asked what I thought of President Bush. I reminded the host that while in the military the President was my Commander-in-Chief. I said my views of the President were probably similar to many employees in other professions. Some things the President did […]
As we close out 2012 we at the FPA polled 100 of our contributing writers at ForeignPolicyBlogs.com to glean their thoughts on the year behind and the year ahead. What were the events, people, organizations and publications that shaped the way we think about foreign policy this year? What lies on the horizon in 2013? […]
How does one describe the immense changes in the Syrian conflict this year? Well, a group of rag tag defectors and civilians, beaten so badly in 2011, have transformed into a viable insurgency which has effectively freed anywhere from 40 to 75 percent of the country. Secular and Salafist-leaning rebel groups do the bulk of […]
Given all that we know and hear about Africa, success is not the first thing that comes to mind when penning about the African Union’s intervention in the continent’s conflicts. But this year, under the continental body’s watchful eye, Kismayo in Somalia has fallen in the hands of the Somalie government, and the two Sudan’s-South […]
[Image From: African Executive] It seems as if everyone and their mother has an opinion on the state of South African politics after Mangaung. For better or for worse, the African National Congress has reaffirmed Jacob Zuma’s status as the leader of party and country. It has brought Cyril Ramaphosa back into the political loop […]
The National Gallery of Art is one of my favorite places in Washington. I didn’t take a single art history class in college, and despite traveling to London, Paris, and Florence as a student I hadn’t retained any substantive knowledge or lasting interest in art until I settled in Washington for graduate school and discovered […]
NGO Human Rights Watch is saying that fighting on both sides of the November 2012 Gaza-Israel conflict violated the laws of war. In two different reports with data and information collected post-fighting, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that militants in Gaza targeted civilian, non-enemy combatants. They also say that Israel made unlawful attacks on Palestinian […]
The following is an article from Atlantic Council Senior Fellow and fellow of the Foreign Policy Association Sarwar Kashmeri. Read the original article here. President Obama is thinking of nominating former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel as the country’s next secretary of defense. It is an inspired choice that the President should be proud to present to Americans and […]
By Dr. Marvin Weinbaum, Middle East Institute Scholar-In-Residence Assertions and opinions in this publication are solely those of the above-mentioned author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Middle East Institute, which expressly does not take positions on Middle East policy. Washington and Kabul have welcomed increased Pakistani cooperation in finding a political […]
Many who believe the Mayan calendar’s predictions are factual see December 21st as the last day of days. Recent worldwide events might make many feel that his could be the case. With political strife in the Middle East, the murder of children in both the U.S. and China, ongoing economic problems in Europe and the […]
So, Jacob Zuma was rather easily elected to continue on as ANC President, and therefore to represent the ANC as the party’s presidential choice in the 2014 elections. We can debate whether this is a good or bad idea. But barring unforeseen circumstances (and let’s face it — Zuma is not the poster child for […]
Yesterday in The Hague, the International Criminal Court (ICC) acquitted former Congolese Warlord Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui of all charges, including crimes against humanity and war crimes, in connection with the massacre that occurred in 2003, in the town of Bogoro. Ngudjolo was on trial for a host of crimes including rape, pillaging, murder, forced enslavement and […]
In spite of international hype about Iran, the country’s real stories remain underreported. When it comes to struggles against human rights, for instance, we only hear about the noble work of Iranian activists, lawyers, journalists when they are imprisoned, on hunger strike, exiled or seen in mass protests such as the Green Movement of […]
Last week, a U.N. tribunal ordered the release of an Argentine frigate docked in Ghana since October, when a group of hedge funds succeeded in getting a local court to hold the ship as collateral until the Argentine government made good on a $20 million bond. The bond, in turn, is just a sliver of […]