Communist Party chair Ziuganov with supporters in Samara, Nov 2011 (credit: www.dp.ru) Russia’s March 4th elections will be remembered for several things: vocal demonstrations after December’s parliamentary vote, Moscow throngs denouncing Putin, and the now-household name of protest leader Aleksei Navalny, alternately pictured with megaphone and in handcuffs. But the most interesting outcome is one […]
The following is a guest post by Leila Hanafi. The profound unrest the world witnessed throughout the Middle East and North Africa over the past year has prompted some Arab governments to introduce a series of dynamic and responsive measures via reforms. At the very heart of the unrest, echoed from the Maghreb to the […]
While Turkish foreign policy makers have been emphasizing concepts such as ‘soft power’ and ‘zero-problems policy’ after the ascent of the AKP government in 2002, the Arab Spring effectively heralded an era in which Turkey is retaining its soft power advantages, while simultaneously pursuing a more Realist (as in IR theory) outlook, similar to its […]
For a number of years, Nairobi (Kenya) has been the de facto capital of Somalia after the State has disintegrated into anarchy. It has been where Somalis sought refuge, re-started their lives, and networked with the rest of the world. By the same token, it has been where almost all of the eighteen or so […]
Taking lessons from the Fukushima nuclear incident in March 2011, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will review standard evacuation procedures in the event of a threat to a US nuclear plant, an NRC official said at a think tank event Thursday (March 22nd). Although current NRC standards require a 10-mile evacuation buffer and […]
This article originally appeared on the Fikra Forum (March 22, 2012) —————————– In recent months, as uncertainty over Assad’s future continues, Turkey’s position with regard to its potential military or humanitarian intervention has been heavily debated. While Turkish leaders have condemned the Syrian government’s brutal suppression of dissent since February 2011 and warned several times […]
The global diplomatic community heaped major embarrassment on Sri Lanka on March 22 as it adopted a United States-sponsored resolution at the ongoing session of UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) censuring the island nation for alleged war crimes in the conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels that ended in 2009. In the 47-member UNHRC, 24 countries […]
Considering the unpredictability of fear-driven markets the eurozone is not yet out of the woods. Neverthless, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to say that Europe has ridden out the worst of the storm. The piecemeal rescue process has not been pretty, but the sum of measures taken – the incremental build up of a firewall, the six pack, […]
“The public sees no reason to get involved in foreign adventures. So you have to whip them up. And to whip them up you have to frighten them.” – Noam Chomsky So here we go again. Nine years after the invasion of Iraq, the mainstream press marches in step to the melodies of our Pied […]
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a research agency housed within of the U.S. Department of Defense, is looking to develop new remote sensing technologies in order to monitor the Arctic both above and below the ice and enhance regional maritime security. DARPA tends to support high-risk, high-reward projects with a futuristic bent. It […]
The sanctioned peaceful protest that took place in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku on Saturday, March 17 resulted in arrest of three activists. Members of Bulistan band Jamal Ali, 24, and Natig Kamilov, 24, and another activist Etibar Salmanli, 25, were arrested after a fight that broke during Ali’s performance. The singer has used strong language in […]
“Let me tell you, it hurts. It hurts bad,” remarks Johnny Phillips, elucidating the emotional and sometimes physical pain extracting yet another $1000 from an ATM in Phnom Penh can cause. Mr. Phillips is the founder of BuckHunger, a nonprofit organization which seeks to provide free food to Cambodian children whilst also teaching the kids […]
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