Regions

Kurt Campbell, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last Friday. His words offer up a broad assessment of the regional challenges confronting the US and adumbrate, in broad strokes, the “principles of US engagement in the Asia-Pacific.” In one revealing passage, Campbell states, “the […]

If you’re in D.C. in the next few weeks, there are a couple of Israel-related events you could find interesting. On Feb. 1, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is sponsoring a human rights film festival at the Georgetown University Law Center. Of note is: “Jerusalem: War in My Land” by Arturo Perez, Jr., winner […]

Sean Patrick Murphy of the FPA’s Global Film Blog has posted another review of an African-themed film. His latest post looks at the 2007 film War Dance, which tells the story of internally displaced Ugandan children who make their way to a national music festival. He gives it two thumbs up.

I usually have mixed reactions to the bulk of travel articles on Africa, which too often tend to re-enforce various stereotypes and present cardboard views of the continent (does the world really need another breathless travel section article on safaris in Kanya, Tanzania, or South Africa?). But this Helene Cooper piece on surfing in Liberia […]

I am not certain if the decision of a British company to market “stab-proof vests” for those folks planning on attending this year’s World Cup in South Africa qualifies as racist or merely as run-of-the-mill fear mongering. I suspect that making a distinction would not be worth anyone’s time. I suppose it is best not […]

In a Congressional Research Service report published on 09/28/2009, If the current administration’s FY2010 war request is approved and enacted, Total war-related funding would reach $1.08 trillion since 2001, including $ 748 billion for Iraq, $ 300 billion for Afghanistan, $ 29 billion for enhanced security and $ 5 billion that cannot be allocated. This […]

She drinks tequila, smokes pot, and is worshipped by perhaps two million throughout Mexico. Santa Muerte, or Saint Death, is showing some wear from her years of hard living: instead of the angelic likening usually afforded to saints, her depiction is a hooded skeleton, often accompanied by a globe and scythe. The message of her […]

President Hugo Chávez is a fan of some books, and an opponent of others. In April of last year he made a very public presentation of Eduardo Galleano’s Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, gifting it to President Barack Obama at the Summit of the Americas. On the […]

I’d like to alert you, my readers to two recent pieces published in the British media on better business and economic growth in Bangladesh.  The first is a piece published by BBC 4, In Business.   A story of a garment factory in Bangladesh resurrected under pressure, shows the ways and means of becoming an […]

Danish journalist Michael Andersen argues yes. His new documentary, available via youtube, here: Documentary His interview can be found on ferghana.ru’s website, http://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2604 Radio Liberty comments here on official Islam. Overall, I agree with Andersen. He can be reached at [email protected]

Source AP At the World Report 2010 conference in Dubai on Sunday the Human Rights Watch unveiled its report regarding the top human rights violators of 2009, Iran was among the countries named as the worst offenders. The Human Rights Watch named a number of key developments in Iran over the past year that were […]

The newspaper business in the United States is widely regarded as terminally ill. Or, at the bare minimum, in need of major re-constructive surgery. That phenomenon isn’t limited to U.S. media. The major Israeli daily Maariv is seeking investors to fund the publication to keep it alive. Most Israelis read either Yediot Achronot (Ynet) or Maariv. Haaretz […]