Regions

Cuban media finally published the outcome of last month’s Communist Party Congress: a list of 313 “guidelines” to shape economic reforms in Cuba. The items include mention of changes across a number of sectors and important issue areas—from ration books (and their gradual retirement) to private sector employment (not far beyond barbers but including family […]

The Following piece is written by a Yemeni-based journalist who writes for Foreign Policy Association (FPA) and, due to serious security concerns, remains anonymous. With Yemen entering its fourth month of protests and scores of casualties (reportedly 140 dead), the country is nowhere nearer a solution. So far it seems that all political negotiations have […]

For years now, the U.S. military’s responsibilities in the Arctic had been divided up amongst three geographic combatant commands: USNORTHCOM, USEUCOM, and USPACOM. The area of responsibility (AOR) for NORTHCOM, which was established by the 2002 Unified Command Plan following the 9/11 attacks, included all of North America. Alaska, however, though technically assigned to NORTHCOM, […]

After raising 5 million won (about $4,560) it raised for victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that ravaged the Tohoku region of Japan, the South Korean city of Yangju is instead using the money for a scholarship after the Japanese government approved a textbook claiming the Liancourt Rocks are Japanese territory rather than […]

The protest movement in Syria continues to grow, with thousands of demonstrators taking to the street on Friday for a “day of rage”. We have seen similar days of rage in the other Arab countries that have undergone or are undergoing revolutions. The people of Syria, at first demanding reforms, are now openly calling for […]

The following piece was written by Donna Hakimian, a researcher and historian focusing on modern Iran and human rights.  Ms. Hakimian obtained her MA in Women’s Studies from the University of Toronto. She also holds a BA in Religious and Middle Eastern Studies from McGill University. To watch a house burning with great intensity in the […]

From House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) office: Jerusalem – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and a bipartisan delegation arrived in Israel today and met with Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu to discuss U.S.-Israel relations and regional security issues.  Leader Pelosi issued the following statement this evening: “Our bipartisan delegation was pleased to arrive in Israel to […]

While the tiger-hunting, jet flying, oligarch-jailing judo blackbelt may already comfortably be the most powerful man in Russia, Vladimir Putin has never been one to take chances. And it must frustrate the PM that, despite having unlimited resources and virtually no opposition, his approval ratings hover at around 50% while those of his behemoth United […]

Morgan Kelly, the reluctant hero of Michael Lewis’ tale of Gaelic misadventure and Irish banking woes in March’s Vanity Fair, had the leading op-ed in Ireland Sunday warning that by agreeing to a bailout, the Irish economy has actually doomed its economy. To recap, in 2009 the Irish government decided to nationalize four major banks […]

I recently came across an interesting paper at Brookings by Wang Feng,  The Future of a Demographic Overachiever: Long-Term Implications of the Demographic Transition in China.  The title of the paper is self-explanatory as to the subject.  Through his research,  Wang found a consistent continual demographic decline in China.  This is not necessarily news, but […]

Former National Security Adviser James Johns has questioned the feasibility of the plan for relocating a U.S. Marine base within Okinawa Prefecture. Secretary General of the People’s New Party Mikio Shimoji told reporters in Washington on Friday that Johns, an Obama aide until last November, said the best option is integrating Futenma Air Station with […]

Azeri youth activist Jabbar Savalan was convicted last week (4 May) on charges of marijuana possession and sentenced to two and a half years in prison.  As readers of this blog may recall, Jabbar was arrested in February after calling for protest actions on Facebook and attending a youth conference in the city of Sumgayit.  […]