Over two weeks have passed since Nicolas Maduro’s contested election victory over opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski. Unfortunately, fair democracy appears to remain limited in Venezuela, even after the passing of Hugo Chavez. Capriles and his supporters have demanded a recount in the closely contested race and refuse to acknowledge Maduro’s victory as legitimate. […]
Yesterday, I mentioned in a blog post that Eimskip, the Icelandic shipping company, recently moved its North American hub from Norfolk, Virginia to Portland, Maine. This will be the American port’s first direct connection to Europe in 33 years, according to an excellent, fact-filled article in the Press Herald, a local newspaper. Eimskip’s decision is in line […]
On Saturday’s parliamentary elections in Iceland, two center-right parties seized power from the incumbent Social Democrats. Iceland Review states that the Independence Party won a reported 28.5 percent of the vote, while the Progressive Party won 25.2 percent. What does this mean for Iceland’s Arctic strategy and the region at large? The EU dimension First of […]
Trita Parsi on Sanctions and Iran’s Strategic Imperatives Trita Parsi is is the founder and president of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a non-partisan, non-profit organization through which Iranian-Americans could participate in American civic life. Dr. Parsi is considered a leading analyst and observer of US-Iranian relations, Iranian foreign politics, and the geopolitics of the Middle East. He is […]
The conflict between Russia and the territory of Chechnya is the backdrop for this film. In it two Russian soldiers are taken away to a Chechen village after their group is ambushed. The reason they are captured is so that a villager can use them as a trade for his son, who is being held […]
By now, most people have come to the realization that the global economic order is under the unrepentant control of neoliberal institutions. Not to conflate neoliberalism with capitalism, but suffice to say both philosophies share the same goal: privatization, deregulation, and trade liberalization, all in the pursuit of profits. For some people, like Slate’s Matthew […]
The photograph above of a man and a woman found dead at the collapsed ruins of Rana Plaza, the eight-story building in Savar, Bangladesh was shot by Dhaka-based photographer and workers’ rights activist Taslima Akhter. The photograph stands, by itself, for both the tragedy that took the lives of nearly 400 garments workers and for […]
Two days ago an 8-story building collapsed in Savar, a suburb of Dhaka, Bangladesh. That building housed garment factories; at least 300 people were crushed to death, many must have suffocated after surviving the initial burial under concrete. More victims are sure to be dragged out dead as the minutes and hours tick by and […]
FPA event – “Iran and the U.S.: Endless Enemies?” Ambassador John W. Limbert joined the Foreign Policy Association at The Colony Club this past Wednesday, April 24 to discuss anything but the nuclear situation in Iran. Limbert’s lecture suggested that if the only topic of U.S.-Iranian relations continues to be nuclear weapons, we will never […]
Economic Comission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) recently published its growth forecasts for Latin America’s economies in 2013. With a few exceptions, the news is disappointing. The 3.5 percent projected growth for Latin America’s economy is slightly above last year’s rate, but well below the 5 percent clip that the region has experienced […]
Ramin Jahanbegloo on Iran’s Crises of Ethics and Institutionalized Violence Ramin Jahanbegloo is an internationally known Iranian-Canadian philosopher known for his intellectual work and efforts on fostering constructive dialogue among divergent cultures and for his advocacy to bring about social and political change based on principles of non-violence. He has written numerous books and articles in […]
In a subtle swipe at the Arctic Council, Icelandic President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson criticized, “The Arctic has suffered from a lack of global awareness and, as a result, a lack of effective governance.” Ostensibly believing that the Arctic Council is inadequate, Grímsson launched the possibly rival Arctic Circle in Washington, D.C earlier this month. ” The formation of this […]
Popular from Press
