Regions

These are heady days for both Afghan and American citizens.  Ballots continue to be counted and contested in Afghanistan’s 2nd presidential election, with Karzai in the lead, but not quite with the 50% he needs, and with Americans hearing in Gen. McChrystal’s recent assessment, a likely future request for more US troops and resources.  How […]

The climate of cooperation that followed the June parliamentary elections has evaporated and efforts to form a new government have come to a standstill. After the results of the elections were announced, the March 8 coalition graciously accepted its “defeat”, while Saad Hariri’s March 14 alliance promised to work closely with the new opposition. Now, […]

Pakistan’s former army chief Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg has said that late Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had asked the Air Force (PAF) to be ready to attack Indian nuclear facilities in 1990. The PAF was to mount an attack if India targeted Pakistan’s nuclear installations with the help of Israel and United States. It […]

In an update to Friday’s post on the Myanmar-Chinese border conflict, it appears the Burmese military has successfully routed the Kokang Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in Kokang, a predominately ethnic Chinese militia in the Kokang region of the Shan State.  This attack by central government forces was a violation of the 20 year […]

This past weekend President Chávez of Venezuela’s reiterated his commitment to maintaining “frozen relations” with the administration of Alvaro Uribe and Colombia. (You can read more at this link.) He stated that based on trade agreements with Brazil and Argentina, “we are not going to have problems with supplies”. This may be the plan, with […]

Here are a bunch of stories to start off your week: David Smith of The Mail & Guardian argues that District 9 represents the first in what we can expect to be a stream of post-Apartheid movies. Because of my own interest both in the negotiation process that led to the end of Apartheid and […]

Iranian political system is characterized by its duality of power: In the executive branch we have the dual offices of the President and the Supreme Leader, in the legislative branch we have the Parliament and the Council of Guardians, and in the military we have the regular forces and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).  […]

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu touted economic development in the West Bank as the strategy to obtain a political resolution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. By increasing the standard of living in the territories and focusing on economic stimulus, the peace process could progress even if political disputes, such as the status of Jerusalem, remain as significant hurdles. […]

Every time I write something about Asif Zardari, Pakistan’s current president, I get tons of e-mail condemning me for ‘supporting’ him. So, once again, I have to clarify something from the start. I am not a supporter of Zardari. However, if one looks at the history of President’s in Pakistan, Zardari will stand out as […]

– Strong 2nd Quarter economic growth was shown in the economies of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.   Singapore did especially well,  recovering  from the worst recession in its history.  The rebound in these states is  attributed to government stimulus, financial reforms, and strong industrial fundamentals.    However, exports still drag, largely due to weak […]

Today’s State Department press briefing included a light quip at the expense of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict following questions regarding the recent political instability in Honduras. After a few minutes of back-and-forth, State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly and reporters had the following exchange: QUESTION: Well, but by declaring it a military coup and, you know, taking […]

Today leaders met in Bariloche, Argentina, for a session of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). Atop the agenda was discussion of the military agreement between Colombia and the United States, signed to maintain efforts against drug-trafficking and terrorism in the region. See this BBC Mundo article for a preview of the meeting. As […]