Regions

Speculation swirls around today’s sudden resignation of Vladislav Surkov, the Kremlin’s chief ideologue who had thought up “sovereign democracy” and invented the Nashi youth groups. He name-dropped Lacan and Derrida and even allegedly wrote a novel called Almost Zero. And now he might have become just that. Did he jump, or was he pushed? What […]

Even though we are still commemorating great political, social and military achievements, their meanings and symbolisms are fading away. History is all around us, is present and shapes our lives everyday, but remains unknown and too often misunderstood. History should be learned not because it fits a cause, a policy, a vision, but rather because […]

  May 8, 1945 symbolized the end of World War II on the European continent. It is a symbol of victory over the Nazis, not Germany. This day is of supreme importance to the making of Europe as we know it. Pictures can only tell a better story than words. This selection of photos below […]

This blog regularly focuses on the foreign policy reverberations of the U.S. energy boom.  As discussed in earlier posts (here and here), these include the gradual paring back of U.S. strategic commitments in the Persian Gulf*, the diminution of Russia’s great power aspirations**,  as well as a boost to America’s soft-power prospects and global standing.  But […]

An Interview with Gissou Nia, Executive Director of IHRDC To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the imprisonment of seven Baha’i Leaders in Iran, on Monday, May 6, the U.S. Bahá’í Office of Public Affairs is hosting an event at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C. This event is part of the Baha’i International Community’s “Five […]

Karim Sadjadpour on Iran’s Conflicting National and Ideological Interests Karim Sadjadpour is a leading policy analyst and researcher on Iran at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Previously, he was chief Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group. Mr. Sadjadpour’s views on Iran and the Middle East are Frequently sought by U.S., EU and Asian officials. He has testified […]

In Israel, Yom Hazikaron, the country’s Day of Remembrance, commemorates the lives of fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism. At eleven in the morning a siren sounds throughout the country. For two minutes life stands still as people stop to remember those who died as a result of violent acts. Drivers stop cars and emerge […]

Many Americans feel that their current system of government is unable to get anything done in any meaningful way. Conflicts between interests in the U.S. government has blocked essential legislation from being passed, and interest groups in the political system thrive off preventing the president from passing many of his key policy initiatives. While compromise […]

The single band of light slashed across the shelves catches the metallic detailing on the spines of the neatly lined books set upon them.  The shine creates what looks to be the only source of real illumination in an otherwise darkened room, perhaps an intentional set up to reflect the gravity of the interview.  Seated […]

Frederic Hof on Syria’s Weight on Iran’s Security Interests Ambassador Frederic C. Hof is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. In 2012 Ambassador Hof was tasked by President Obama to head the Syria policy at the State Department. Ambassador Hof was previously the special coordinator for regional […]

As territorial disputes have continued to escalate between the Chinese and Japanese over the Diaoyu/Senkaku island chain, Chinese tourists are arriving at The Eighth Route Army Culture Park in Wuxiang county, a war theme park where visitors can dress up at Chinese or Japanese troops and then shoot at each other using toy weapons.  The […]

On April 3, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an opinion piece by its (Israeli-Jewish) reporter Amira Hass which discussed Palestinian stone-throwing in the West Bank. In her article, Hass proclaimed that “throwing stones is the birthright and duty of anyone subject to foreign rule” and  proceeded to suggest that Palestinian schools teach classes in this […]