The Washington Post President Barack Obama to permit “natural growth” in settlements, the generally left-wing newspaper wrote in an editorial today. The Obama administration recently called for an end to all settlement activity, but Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu insists on maintaining natural growth in existing settlements. The newspaper asserts that Obama can accept the […]
I apologize for my absence as we have been having good ol’fashioned technical difficulties. There are many Afghan-related in the past week and I hope to catch up and comment on at least a few of them (McChrystal’s testimony, airstrikes and civilian casualties, poppies, etc.), but for now let’s discuss what President Obama said in […]
All of my colleagues at the various Foreign Policy Association Blogs are doing wonderful work and I hope that you are reading all of them regularly even if your main interests lie in African affairs. (And I want to thank you if your interests lie elsewhere but you came over here anyway.) In recent weeks […]
See a post from FPA Global Films blogger Sean Patrick Murphy on a 2004 movie regarding the Gaza Strip. The footage was taken prior to the Hamas coup on the Gaza Strip following the IDF pullout and seems to show how Hamas handily won the 2006 elections while maintaining support in the Strip. From the […]
Talking to reporters, Richard C. Holbrooke confirmed that indeed American weapons are being smuggled to Pakistani Taliban from Afghanistan. Of course this admission does not mean that there is an effort by the Americans to help anti Pakistan forces. This actually confirms that some of the weaponry gets looted and this is guerilla war fare is […]
On Wednesday, Greenland’s left-wing opposition party, Inuit Ataqatigiit, won the elections with 44% of the vote. It will control 14/31 seats in the Greenlandic Parliament, the Landsting. The Siumut Party, which has ruled Greenland for the past thirty years, was ousted. The new government will form in time for expanded home rule, which begins on […]
In the wake of President Barack Obama’s “groundbrealking” speech in Cairo about a new U.S. posture towards the Middle East, pundits, activists, and politicians alike provided mixed reviews either heralding the speech as a “home run” or condemning it for bias. The Palestinian leadership lauded the speech as a “good start”; the Israeli government released […]
Obama’s Speech in Cairo Wow, yes, wow, what a speech. Obama’s speech in Cairo was truly an astonishingly refreshing speech by Obama, President of the United States of America. I honestly believe that Obama’s words should give comfort to those who are suspicious of America. Obama was honest, open and he is genuine. After listening […]
More than two months ago, your humble Russia Blog predicted a bloody end to an industrial protest in a small town called Pikalevo. After all, here was a rag tag band of laid off workers up against not only the state but also one of its richest and most loyal oligarchs, Oleg Deripaska, who owns […]
In ten days Zimbabwe will embark on the process of writing a new constitution. This process will either represent a great step forward for Zimbabwe’s future or will mark President Robert Mugabe’s last intransigent stand. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai knows that his fellow Zimbabweans still live in fear. The question is whether the constitution-writing process […]
Refugees are fleeing strife-torn Somalia for Kenya by the thousands. This strikes me as a recipe for chaos. Kenya’s vast refugee camps, already stretched, will absorb them, but at a tremendous potential cost in health, safety, and lawfulness. The United Nations worries that its food supplies will not be sufficient to cover the needs of […]
President Obama’s speech in Cairo today revealed the difficult balancing act he faces in trying to address conflicts that have generally eluded most American presidents. Reaching out to the Muslim World while condemning Islamic extremism, shoring up alliances while pressing for greater democratization and freedoms, and generally wielding both carrots and sticks is always a […]
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