Plans for Canada’s Nanisivik Naval Facility Downsized
March 29, 2012 6 min. read

In August 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced plans to build a deep water port at Nanisivik, where remnants of an old port and airfield from the area’s nickel mining days would serve as the foundations for further construction. New docking and refueling facilities were to be built, thus turning Nanisivik into an important site […]

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Romney’s Russia Rant: Not Just Stupid, But Also Bad Politics
March 28, 2012 3 min. read

Poor Mitt Romney. He tried to play the All American tough guy, opportunistically seizing on Obama’s ‘hot mic’ moment with Medvedev to score some cheap Cold War points by calling Russia America’s “greatest geopolitical foe”. And he succeeded, at least in assuming the “John McCain” mantle in the presidential race. Bashing Russia has become an […]

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Shaima Alawadi and the Fickle Discourse of Instant Obsession
March 28, 2012 3 min. read

America is in a state of public mourning for a young man by the name of Trayvon Martin, whose death at the hands of an over-zealous neighborhood watch volunteer – and under suspicions of racial profiling – has sparked a national dialogue on race. His shooting death has prompted outrage across with country, with dozens […]

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Revolution in Cairo/The Brothers (2011)
March 27, 2012 2 min. read

These two short pieces are Frontline mini-documentaries about the situation in Cairo during the Arab Spring, where youth movements used social media to coordinate demonstrations against the government of then-President Hosni Mubarak. The April 6 Youth Movement started in 2008 when it fought for textile workers who were on strike. It’s leaders, all around 30 […]

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And the Next President of France is… François Hollande
March 27, 2012 3 min. read

As a French citizen and social scientist, I could not resist reviewing a very good article published by the excellent peer-reviewed journal, PS: Political Science & Politics. Two experts from the University of Montréal, Martial Foucault and Richard Nadeau, declared François Hollande winner of the 2012 French Presidential elections in their article “Forecasting the 2012 […]

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Passports, Embassies and the U.S. Supreme Court
March 27, 2012 5 min. read

The Israeli/Palestinian conflict, long entrenched in the Executive and Legislative branches of the American government, is finally working its way deep into the Judicial as well. This week the Supreme Court ruled, 8-1, that the lower courts could make a decision on the issue of placing Israel as the country of birth in the passports […]

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Flying over the Arctic in a 777
March 27, 2012 2 min. read

I’ve never been north of the Arctic Circle – until now, in a commercial airplane. From my window seat on a 14-hour flight from Newark to Tokyo, I caught several glimpses of the Arctic’s west and far east. In between stretching my legs in place, flipping through the on-demand movie offerings, and poking at the […]

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I Will Transmit This Message to Vladimir
March 26, 2012 2 min. read

“I will transmit this message to Vladimir”, outgoing Russian president Dmitry Medvedev tells Obama at the Nuclear Security Summit in response to the US leader’s candid assurance that he will have a freer hand after being re-elected next November. Perhaps Obama wishes the US elections had the same sort of predictability of outcomes seen in […]

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Memo to Bryson: Go Big on U.S.-India Trade
March 26, 2012 3 min. read

Focusing on the high-tech agenda would instill a level of momentum in bilateral ties that has been noticeably missing since George W. Bush left the White House. U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson is in India this week with a high-powered business delegation in tow. Chief among his objectives will be furthering American involvement in India’s […]

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Can the U.S. and Russia Get Along?
March 26, 2012 4 min. read

With the Russian presidential election behind us, and rather predictable western not-so- optimistic attitudes towards their results, one would expect a further cooling of U.S. -Russia relations. The Obama administration belated congratulation to the President-elect Putin and deepening of anti-Russian rhetoric in American political circles are just a few signs of general discontent and disappointment. […]

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2012 ASEAN Summit — Phnom Penh, Cambodia
March 25, 2012 4 min. read

The 2012 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit will take place April 3rd and 4th in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. As the new chair of the regional bloc for the 2012 year, Cambodia will have an opportunity to show off its capital city’s latest developments, both socioeconomic and political. The streets are already being decked […]

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Sometimes India Doesn’t Look So Bad By Comparison
March 24, 2012 5 min. read

Two articles in the Wall Street Journal this week contain thoughts bearing on the debate regarding the relative virtues of China’s authoritarianism and India’s free-wheeling, cacophonous democratic system.  Countless paeans have been written about the triumphs of centralized, technocratic pragmatism in Beijing.  The closed-door, brutally efficient decision-making may not be all that great in terms of […]

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