There are many—both in the East and the West—who have been confidently betting on the overt plan to marginalize, and, in due course, eradicate the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan) as a sociopolitical movement. In light of the on-going vicious Ikhwanophobia and emboldened brutality of the coup regime, it is hard to counter such contemptuous optimism. But, […]
Slender forms in decadently jeweled red and gold glide across the stage. Delicate white flower petals cling to dark hair and long limbs grab the air in soft waves. This traditional dance marked a stunning welcome to the mid-November commencement of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOG) in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The ceremony provided a much needed moment of glitz and […]
When I heard the news that Nelson Mandela, our beloved Madiba, was gone, I had flashbacks to the first time I laid eyes on my South African wife. I didn’t know much about South Africa at the time, and for some reason or another I kept calling her “Mandela” over the course of the entire […]
Any unchecked authority or power—especially when involving monies—ultimately leads to corruption. That is why it is necessary to put in place mechanisms to monitor, audit, reward, and, when necessary, punish.All laws stemming from a moral or a legal code are based on a system of rewards and punishments. By corruption I mean: Abuse of authority […]
Show your support on Twitter and Facebook by reposting and retweeting United for Iran’s messages on Monday, November 18th and Tuesday the 19th. Use the hashtag #IranVote. As the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee prepares to vote on the resolution on the promotion and protection of human rights in Iran on November 19, 25 […]
This day marks a decade in Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s imprisonment, a journey all too similar to the hopelessly frigid Siberian settings of Dostoevsky’s stories and Solzhenitsyn’s novels — except in one regard. In his younger years, Khodorkovsky was a corrupt oil tycoon and pragmatic oligarch successfully basking in the Russian government’s economic malaise. It was Khodorkovsky […]
Federal agencies are beginning to revise their policies in the wake of the decision in United States v. Windsor, where the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the controversial definition of marriage contained in the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). This paradigm shift has the potential to promote a rapid change in the […]
Evicted from Bhutan at the age of 11, Vidhyapati Mishra spent two decades in U.N.-funded Bhutanese refugee camp in eastern Nepal before resettling in the United States. Just a week before his departure from Nepal to Charlotte of North Carolina, self-learned journalist Mishra also featured in the New York Times with his powerful narrative story […]
In family courts, judges do not tend to take the position of either parent in cases that involve the health and custody of children. Judges take the position of the child as if they were of mature age and speaking to their own personal benefit and well being. We need to be reminded that over […]
There are few places in the world that do not afford its citizens basic human rights, or at least a garb of human rights. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan (or better known as “FATA”) are one of those areas. FATA are the semi-autonomous areas in the northwest frontier of Pakistan, bordering both the […]
In late July, following 28 years of authoritarian rule in Cambodia by the Prime Minister Hun Sen, citizens of the impoverished southeastern Asian state went to the polls for elections. What followed was a shocking setback: Mr. Sen’s ruling Cambodia People’s Party (CPP) saw its number of seats in the 123-seat parliament reduced from 90 […]
The recent international shipping scandal involving the Chong Chon Gang, a decrepit, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea-flagged (DPRK) cargo ship with a dodgy track record has raised many important questions involving contemporary issues on the international laws of international security, maritime law, human rights, and labor rights. This high-profile incident occurred not long after the […]
Nearly 500 miles of European land mass fell away, the English Channel hollowed out, the great earth shifted and the continent merged with the island to its west. When all came to rest, the medieval cityscape of Strasbourg, France, sat atop London… No, certainly not. But for many a Europe-weary Briton, it felt as such […]
Ironic as it may seem, it is a statement of controversy to assert that a genuine national reconciliation is needed in Somalia. To some, that has already happened; to others, there is no need for it since the country has emerged out of the transitional period and the current government is the officially recognized representative […]
The U.N. Environmental Programme (UNEP) recently highlighted some appalling figures pertaining to issues of food waste in a somewhat unexpected and innovative manner. The UNEP’s 2013 theme for World Environment Day on June 5, “Think.East.Save,” reports the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization’s (FAO) data concluding 1.3 billion tons of food, or the equivalent of all […]