Have the protesters overplayed their hand in Egypt? I cannot help wonder about this — and my question is not based on any sort of value judgment whatsoever. But consider the basic chain of events: Protests grow. The military does not really respond in crushing the opposition, which continues to grow. Hosni Mubarek announces he […]
News and Media coverage in China, is generally not my area of expertise… but this is the best account I have seen of the reaction by China’s authorities on developments in Egypt. Willy Lam has an intimate knowledge of developments in China, which is why I am reproducing his recent commentary on Beijing’s response to […]
Politics turns on public finance; public finance turns on politics. Afghanistan is no different than the United States, or the United Kingdom on those terms. So it comes as a dismaying shock that the government of Afghanistan might have to bail out its largest and most important private bank. Kabul Bank has taken losses as […]
In a somber illustration of the ever warming ties between Baghdad and Tehran, Iraqi security forces carried the remains of 38 dead Iraqi soldiers across the border crossing between Iraq and Iran in al-Shalamjah, Iraq, on Tuesday.
When I made my last post about the U.S. role in backing Mubarak, I hadn’t realized that Obama asked for “an orderly transition” that must begin “now” in Egypt. I am not changing my earlier post though. This is because it does reflect the growing general sentiment in Egypt about the U.S. role. This confusion […]
According to The Washington Post: Central African Republic’s electoral commission says the nation’s strongman easily won last month’s vote. The commission said Tuesday that President Francois Bozize took 66 percent of the vote. But opposition candidates said the Jan. 23 poll was riddled with irregularities and intimidation and that they will appeal to overturn the […]
This is from Cairo, right in the middle of this turmoil. 4:50 Cairo Time. I HAD NO ACCESS TO THE INTERNET FOR THE PAST 5 DAYS. THE MUBARAK GOVERNMENT CUT ALL ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS. I AM TYPING SO FAST BEFORE THE I LOSE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET AGAIN Mubarak is clearly backed by the Americans. He […]
Popular IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenzi’s term is not being extended, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak picked Yoav Galant as the new top military officer, although that plan was scrapped yesterday after the Israeli attorney general found that Galant used his stature to grab land. In his stead, General Yair Naveh was selected on an […]
The fifth-annual Arctic Frontiers conference, which promotes dialogue and cooperation in the Arctic, recently convened at the University of Tromsø in northern Norway. Over 1,000 attendees from 20 different countries attended the conference, this year entitled “Arctic Tipping Points,” and heard lectures and presentations on both Arctic policy and science topics. Jonas Gahr Støre, Norway’s […]
Events in Tunisia and Egypt are being closely monitored and discussed by pro- and anti-government forces in Baku these days, with postings on web forums, Twitter, facebook, and blogs – not to mention established web sites and newspapers. Even in Egypt, the well-known “sandmonkey” blogger has tweeted about Azerbaijan, expressing thanks for support the protesters […]
It’s the pundit’s dilemma: make bold predictions and you could end up looking like a fool, don’t make bold predictions and you run the risk of appearing tepid. Events in Egypt have brought forth a lot of predictions, many of them wrong, but keep in mind that most predictions end up being wrong, especially if […]
“A block of stone moving forward and leaving debris behind it”. That’s how the sculptor behind Russia’s first post-Communist statue of a 20th century politician summed up his subject, Boris Yeltsin; and it’s probably the best description I’ve heard. While grotesque, it’s not altogether senseless for the Kremlin to unveil a monument to Yeltsin a […]
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