Port-au-Prince Caves under International Pressure to Hold Overdue Elections
February 7, 2013 5 min. read

Reacting to a United Nations Security Council’s Jan. 28, 2013 press release that cilled on the Haitian government to hold free, fair, inclusive and credible senatorial and municipal elections that are 14-months overdue, Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe reiterated his administration’s determination to organize elections this year, an exercise the note stressed “Is important to maintain […]

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Between a Rock and a Hard Place
February 6, 2013 3 min. read

Here on the tranquil island of Palawan, in the West Philippine Sea, the arrival of Chinese naval vessels  is causing quite some anxiety among local residents.  Last Friday, three ships from the Peoples Liberation Army Navy’s North China Sea fleet, the missile destroyer Qingdao and missile frigates Yantai and Yancheng, traveled through the Bashi Channel, […]

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Greenpeace leaks draft Arctic Council oil spill treaty
February 6, 2013 6 min. read

Greenpeace Canada has obtained a draft of the Arctic Council’s Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution that officials have claimed is genuine. In a press release on Greenpeace’s website, Christy Ferguson, Arctic project leader for Greenpeace Canada, called the 21-page agreement “effectively useless.” She stated, “Despite promises that this would be the first legally-binding agreement of its […]

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India and Pakistan: The Ties that Bind vs. The Line that Divides
February 5, 2013 5 min. read

Despite the promising rapprochement (here and here) that gathered pace between India and Pakistan last year, disruptive military tensions are never far from the surface.  This point was amply demonstrated by last month’s skirmishes along the 450 mile-long boundary – known as the Line of Control (LOC) – separating the two armies in the disputed […]

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Shades of Grey in U.S. Policy towards North Africa
February 4, 2013 6 min. read

“The United States is struggling to confront an uptick in threats from the world’s newest jihadist hot spot with limited intelligence and few partners to help as the Obama administration weighs how to keep Islamic extremists in North Africa from jeopardizing national security without launching war. We want to put up a map here and […]

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The Long Road Back
February 4, 2013 3 min. read

My mother was born in Havana on December 11, 1953, into a solidly middle-class Cuban family. After years of self-driven study and hard work, my grandfather Celestino had been able to launch a successful car import business that allowed him and my grandmother to raise and support a family. They lived on the second story […]

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Is Russia Becoming a Theocracy?
February 3, 2013 4 min. read

This weekend the Russian Orthodox Church held its Bishops Council at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. In his speech to the assembly, president Putin said that, of course, Russia is not a theocracy but: “We are a secular state of course, and cannot allow state life and church life to merge” he continued, “but at the same […]

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Wretched Refuse of Cambodia’s Teeming Shore
February 1, 2013 2 min. read

After three months of national mourning, Cambodia’s late King Father Norodom Sihanouk’s body will be cremated this upcoming Monday in a ceremony that could only be fit for a king.  As is the case whenever Cambodia draws international attention, the capital city of Phnom Penh is spit shined and polished in an attempt to live […]

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Arctic Frontiers: Russian Voices
February 1, 2013 8 min. read

At the Arctic Frontiers conference, attendees had the opportunity to listen to numerous government and NGO representatives from Russia speak in their own language. If my memory serves me correctly, the Russians were the only ones who spoke in their own language, as the people from the Nordic countries and Asia all spoke in English. […]

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What’s on the menu for France in 2013?
February 1, 2013 8 min. read

After spending several weeks in France for the holidays, it was not difficult the sense the current malaise floating over France. Despite the current economic difficulties, the malaise is mainly social. One of François Hollande’s platforms during his presidential campaign was to reunite all social classes, ethnic groups under one same roof; so far he […]

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U.S. Embassy Bombing in Ankara: Why? Why now?
February 1, 2013 2 min. read

On February 1, U.S. Embassy in Ankara – in a calm, residential and business neighborhood — was bombed. At the time of writing this, police statements indicate that it is believed to be a suicide attack and the attacker(s) detonated the bomb inside the security checkpoint bunker, killing at least one security guard. Growing up […]

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Freedom in Iran
February 1, 2013 4 min. read

Freedom: “The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.” Freedom of information! Freedom of speech! Freedom to assemble! Freedoms Western democracies’ citizens enjoy are distant dreams for many people worldwide. Desired freedoms are continuously fought for but often denied. Unfortunately, Iran is among the countries continuously making […]

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