Regions

The BBC recently ran a wonderful slideshow feature on South Africa in pictures, 1950-2000. Have a great weekend.

Australia is not happy with the FPA Russia blog. The University of Sydney’s Philipp Ivanov wrote that my “arguments and the way they’re presented extremely narrow-minded, seriously lacking in depth and…biased”, leaving him “very disappointed that such a credible source of commentary as FPA fails to present a balanced and well-researched view on developments, issues […]

What makes this case stand out is more about who Tal al-Mallohi is, what exactly has brought on these charges, and the manner in which the Syrian government has handled the case.

Let’s face it — Zanzibar does not get a whole lot of face time even in circles where African affairs are on the front burner. I’m as guilty of this sin of omission as anyone — according to my “Categories” list, I have yet to devote an entry to Zanzibar. Well, consider that sin rectified […]

A rapprochement is taking place between Iran and Egypt. The two countries signed their first commercial agreement in more than Three decades. Resumption of direct flights between Cairo and Tehran has been welcomed by officials and businessmen in both countries. But not everybody is supportive of this development. Of course Israel and the U.S are […]

Anti-rape Campaign Nine months after doom’s day, the Haitian consciousness is perplexed, traumatized and scattered. Reality has settled in: there will neither be Moses nor his wand at the sea of debris. Sparks of progress are sporadic, but gradually painting a postmodern, post-quake impression. In addition, Haitians grow increasingly wary of parliament and presidential elections […]

It appears that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is becoming more amenable to a U.S. plan that would halt settlements for an additional two months and during that time negotiations on final borders would commence. This plan is interesting for two reasons. First, tieing the settlement freeze to metrics represents a clear timeframe that both […]

In every recent Israeli election, complaints abound that there is  no qualified leader worthy of people’s votes and there is only one candidate that is barely good enough. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was the most recent good enough candidate for the right, while the left split their votes between then-Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and […]

World-renowned analyst on Iranian and Central Asian Affairs, Pepe Escobar, sits down for a candid discussion on current Iranian Affairs. Known for his blunt style with a heavy dose of realism, Escobar sheds light on those aspects of geopolitical issues that are rarely, if ever, covered in the mainstream media. Born in Brazil, Pepe Escobar , is the […]

Once again, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled against Azerbaijan. RFE/RL reports that the Court (commonly referred to as “the Strasbourg Court”) has ruled that the Azerbaijani government illegally annulled the election victory of pop singer Flora Karimova after the 2005 parliamentary elections. The court ruling (which is available here) addressed decisions of […]

Is anyone listening? Whether development aid or good governance, an increasing number of Africans are questioning the rhetoric around these goals. Valid or not, I think their criticism should not just be shrugged off. The truth is, when it comes to Africa, there is an unspoken code among the International Development Community (including the UN) […]

“Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is relinquishing his position as president of the larger faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) next year,” reports AfricaNews. The change in the MDC-T leadership comes as a result of the party constitutional term limit, which allows an incumbent to hold office for a maximum of two five-year […]