On July 15th, the world saw the consequences of the struggle between religious forces and the secular military contending for control of the Turkish state.
On July 15th, the world saw the consequences of the struggle between religious forces and the secular military contending for control of the Turkish state.
The Egyptians may not be receiving fulsome applause at the U.N. this week for their diplomacy to date, but quietly, Israeli, Gulf, and American leaders are clapping, in large part due to Cairo’s reaffirmation of a hardline stance against Hamas this past summer.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest state, faces a serious prospect of ethnic civil war. When it gained independence from Sudan in July 2011, after decades of war between north and south, the world’s attention was focused on the disputed territory of Abyei. A declining oil-producing region Inhabited by southern farmers and visited regularly by northern […]
Two weeks after Mohamed Morsi was ousted as the leader of Egypt, chaos still reigns. According to state-run media, seven people died on Monday, July 15, in violent skirmishes between Morsi supporters and opponents. An interim government is trying to instill some sense of ruling stability, but the widely supported Muslim Brotherhood (Morsi’s party) and […]
Recent events in Egypt have been tumultuous, to say the least. The country’s first elected president in history was deposed by the military three days after his first anniversary in office. The International Crisis Group’s description of current Egyptian politics gives the impression of a grand competition in short-sightedness. What happens next will depend on […]
I recently asked a journalist friend of mine with over 25 years of experience reporting across Southeast Asia, “Do you think it’s possible we’ll see a coup in Thailand soon?” His sardonic reply was, “A coup in Thailand? Well it’s not like that’s ever happened before.” In its current state, Thai politics is at best […]
It’s been quite a week in West Africa. As mentioned earlier this month, Mali is facing its share of troubles since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in neighboring Libya. Observers knew that the return of Tuareg fighters from Libya would likely increase tensions in northern Mali and perhaps lead to a new Tuareg rebellion. However […]
East Timor: The would be assassins of Timornese President José Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão have been given sentences ranging from 16 to 24 years in prison. This would-be junta rebels was mostly composed of disaffected police and military. This blog detailed the events that preceded this trial in more detail, here. Indonesia: Another […]
The general principles of the rule of law state that legality should take precedence over all political affairs. But is it ever possible for two wrongs, such as a military takeover of an unconstitutional civilian government, can produce a positive rule of law outcome? That is the question many are asking in relation to Thursday’s […]
In a new development in the ongoing saga of the ouster of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya, the head of Honduras’s human rights commission, Ramon Custodio, publically declared Zelaya’s exile to nearby Costa Rica a mistake. However, Custodio does not believe that the actual ouster of Zelaya to be wrong, saying that Zelaya’s violations of the […]
Lately, the news coming out of Timor-Leste is quite reminiscent of the political reality drama, that was Ferdinand Marcos’ Philippines – corruption, assassination plots, and intrigue in abundance. On Monday July 13th, the 27 people accused of the February 2008 “assassination attempt” of East Timor’s President Jose Ramos-Horta, began trial. The case is a puzzling […]