Recent reports from the Japan have, once again, complicated the history of Japan’s seemingly steadfast commitment to its Three Non-Nuclear principles – non-production, non-possession, and non-introduction of nuclear weapons on Japanese soil. (It is important to note that this is not the end-all, be-all of Japan’s nuclear stance: the four pillars of Japan’s nuclear policy […]
Sectarian conflict bloodies 12 more on final day of Shi’a pilgrimage.
Officers of the Israeli military, security agencies and clandestine infrastructure were known throughout the world as the most feared, smart and savvy agents the world has ever known. But recent incidents have severely called that perception into question. Most recently, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s security attache on his visit to Washington this week misplaced a […]
Despite my plane fiasco yesterday I did successfully make my way to Pretoria and my guesthouse, which is located on the edge of the vibrant, trendy Hatfield area, which itself is adjacent to the University of Pretoria (where I’ll be giving my talk tomorrow). The guest house has a pretty nice Portuguese restaurant attached to […]
So I missed my flight to Joburg. The Durban Airport Shuttle, otherwise so reliable each time I have used it, decided to falter when I needed to get to the airport. I waited 45 minutes and three came by, all claiming not to be going to the aiport, but rather coming from the airport, an […]
How did Russia soften up stubborn Belarus into entering the Customs Union that Lukashenko had so strongly resisted? In part by openly using the media, and specifically NTV, as a tool for diplomatic hardball; disproving all those liberal haters who predicted irrelevance for the formerly critical channel after its takeover by the Kremlin. To send […]
Al Jazeera English’s 101 East series has put together another astounding, heart breaking piece on Bangladeshi culture, its sociology. This time around, film makers sponsored by Al Jazeera have examined the wide spread phenomenon of violence that so often churns along with the covert exchange of property rights that is tagged euphemistically in cities and […]
“The course of history depends largely on the daring of those who act in terms of historically viable goals… These will depend, not on academic predictions, but on collective action guided by political wills that make work what is structurally barely possible.” Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s 1971 book Dependency and Development in Latin America (co-written with Enzo Faletto), […]
Today’s news of the friendly fire incident reported by the New York Times could not have come at a more inopportune time. Of course, bad news seldom arrives at one’s doorstep at an opportune time. Afghan soldiers waiting to ambush Taliban militants were bombed by NATO war planes. No doubt a grievous result of […]
Cambodia – My colleague, Sean Patrick Murphy, over at FB’s Global Film Review blog, has an interesting post about a new documentary, “S21, The Khmer Rogue Killing Machine”. The documentary interviews former Khmer Rogue members who worked at the infamous S21 prison camp, where various crimes against humanity were committed during the reign of Pol […]
Tensions have mounted in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) during the past month. The people’s protests became unmanageable for the state government and the Army was called in to flag march in the state on July 7th. The recent round of anti-India protests were triggered by the killing of 15 people by […]
On September 1, the US mission will get a new name: “Operation Iraqi Freedom” will be reconstituted as “Operation New Dawn” as America’s involvement trends further away from combat duties. Let’s hope Biden’s trip marks the first crack of daybreak.
Popular from Press
