The mourning of Ashura has come and gone, and not a whimper in Bangladesh. As readers of the New York Times and Guardian know Ashura is the commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. The events of that date in 680 AD are considered to have created the fault lines between […]
Oh, this is not good. Nigerian President Umaru Yar-Adua’s health is apparently a serious problem. He has effectively disappeared at a time when crisis in the country’s North and the tenuous cease-fire with the Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) require serious leadership and no one seems to have any serious grasp as to just how […]
An immediate reflection of this detachment is seen in the absence of a clerical figure leading today’s masses in the streets of Iran and the shrinkage of Mr. Moussavi and Mr. Karrubi into nothing more than symbolic figures with no significant impact on the movement’s direction.
I would like to draw your attention to two new websites from the same organization, Global Information Network. The first is their website, including their page for African affairs. This page carries news from their news partner – the IPS (Inter Press Service) wire which they edit for U.S. readers. Registration is free, but after a couple of […]
I am concerned with the effect of intra-party democracy and candidate selection on the quality of democratic policy making in Bangladesh. Though not as well-studied in politics as other more “titillating” topics like justice, candidate selection is the dominant issue in any practical study of a functioning democracy. To that end, it may serve us […]
The Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) has published its latest newsletter. I present it to you here (pdf).
Zainab Jeewanjee shares her experience in Pakistan and a couple BBC pieces documenting the horror of terrorist attacks carried out in Karachi Pakistan, in December 2009.
We are in the midst of a whole host of changes at the FPA’s blogging network. Much of our work will involve consolidating our many wonderful blogs into various categories. The Africa Blog will be part of a network of blogs in the “Africa and the Middle East” category, for which I will serve as […]
Hi. My name is Derek Catsam. I am the Senior Blogger for the Foreign Policy Association’s Africa Blog. We are undergoing immense growth and transition at the FPA Blogs. One of these is to consolidate our many fine blogs (which make up the largest network of foreign affairs blogs anywhere) into coherent, managable categories. This blog will be combined […]
One year ago, to the day, the Awami League swept back into power with an overwhelming majority of votes and corresponding seats in Parliament. Promising change and prosperity in Bangladesh, Awami League leader and former Prime Minister Begum Sheikh Hasina Wajed trounced her opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Begum Khaleda Zia, the […]
Tis the season for giving….and contributing to victory in Afghanistan?! Thanks to groups like Spirit of America we all have the opportunity to do both. Jim Hake, Spirit of America’s founder, implores all ‘ordinary’ citizens to help our soldiers in Afghanistan by helping the Afghan people. His group and many others have donated tons of […]
My FPA Blogging colleague Sean Patrick Murphy has featured the South African-set sci-fi movie District 9 at the Global Film Review blog. [I am working on a lengthy essay on the movie, which I will link once it is published.]
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