India and Maldives recently decided to expand defense cooperation between them. India is set to install a maritime surveillance system and provide two Coast guard helicopters in the near future. In 2006 it gifted a fast attack craft (INS Tillanchang) to Maldives’ Coast Guard. Defense and security cooperation also involves assistance in defense and police […]
The decriminalization of drug use in Mexico is bound to have unintended consequences. Beginning last Friday, possession of small amounts of drugs, including cocaine, heroine, LSD, marijuana and meth, is permitted. Such wholesale legalization is crude, but may prove beneficial to the Mexican economy. Having up to four joints on you (the legal limit is […]
Last week, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak masqueraded around Washington puffing up his chest as a major broker in the Middle East peace process. In interviews, he accentuated his role in attempting to forge an agreement to renew Israel-Palestinian peace talks, to secure the release of abducted IDF soldier GiladShalit, and broker reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. Mubarak intends on fixing the […]
– Asia Times has an article on how the Filipino economy has stayed afloat due to the prodigious amount of remittance it receives. In a sense, Filipinos are to parts of East Asia and the Middle East what Mexican and Central Americans are to the United States or to a lesser extent, Former Soviets […]
President Alvaro Uribe recently moved one step closer to running for a third term in office. The Colombian Senate voted 56-2 last week to approve a plan for legal changes that would enable him to be reelected a second time. The process must now be approved by the House of Representatives and pass a nationwide […]
Former leaders from Ayub Khan, Benazir Bhutto, and General Musharraf tried to address the issue of growing energy consumption and diminishing supplies which is now legitimately deemed a “crisis” in Pakistan. President Zardari had his hand in addressing this crisis last week during the quarterly visit to Beijing where he discussed China’s assistance on energy […]
If a newspaper has seen four of its journalists assassinated in 8 years for their investigative reporting about Russia’s power elite, would it launch a new series exploring the murky relationships between the Kremlin, big business and oil? If it’s Novaya Gazeta, it’s a yes. The latest article, called “Friends of the Premier”, charts Putin’s […]
Claims of fraud and victory have ringed throughout Afghanistan and in the international media since the first ballot was cast last week. Though the presidential election was deemed successful, yet far from perfect, by European and American officials, many feel that the election was too riddled with fraud to be considered legitimate. And though Karzai […]
As an avid Italian football team fan, it is very hard for me to praise the Brazilian team. But I will acknowledge this: No other team has the same global fan appeal as Brazil. Brazilian football players are revered all around the world and Iran is no exception. Brazilian football star Ronaldo, best known for […]
On August 24th HBO presented a new documentary titled “Which Way Home”. This film follows a number of children, as young as 9-years old, on their perilous journey from Central America into the United States. While seeking to enter the US illegally, they dream of building better lives. Venezuelan migrants do not live in the […]
The new semester has begun and I have less than an hour before the first meeting of my graduate seminar in Modern African History. I have time to roll off a few stories that warrant some discussion: Former Zambian President Frederick Chiluba has been acquitted of using his country’s treasury like his own personal bank […]
I’m going to wade into the controversy surrounding South African 800 meter runner and newly crowned world champion Caster Semenya. By now the story has made the rounds globally, with its equal parts prurience and controversy and politicization causing both track & field and Africa to draw attention in circles that ordinarily pay little attention […]
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