Regions

It is being reported that the United States is planning on starting a major “psychological operation” that would seek to disrupt and curtail Taliban use of radio and Internet communication in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. The aim would be to hurt the insurgents’ ability to coordinate attacks and strategy, as well as their propaganda efforts […]

Delegates from multiple Western countries walked-out of the UN anti-racism Durban II conference in the midst of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s comments condemning Israel. Representatives from at least England, France, and Canada left the room.

As the Durban II anti-racism conference kicks off on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day, tensions already accelerated between Israel and some nations. Following a meeting between the Swiss president and Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Israeli government recalled its ambassador to Switzerland, citing the meeting with the Iranian holocaust denier as cause. The Swiss government […]

The government of Japan has submitted its application for observer status in the Arctic Council to its current chair, Norway. Though Japan does not possess any Arctic claims, the government is interested in gaining greater access to discussions and negotiations on the Arctic. Japan could benefit heavily from the opening of the Northwest Passage, which […]

Russia, China, and all the Central Asian states except Uzbekistan took part in war exercises south of Dushanbe. About 1,000 soldiers took part in a staged factory take-over with hostages. The only truly remarkable fact about this event is this quote from Radio Liberty: During the exercises, Tajik soldiers demonstrated their ability to tear apart […]

IS EUROVISION THE NEW STALINGRAD? For whatever reason, in Russia this contest is taken very seriously… people feel that the Eurovision Song Contest is like an annual Stalingrad battle.” THE RUSSIA-GEORGIA SPLIT AS PLAYGROUND POLITICS: Saakashvili supposedly lost track of time while doing laps in his hotel pool, arriving at the Kremlin half an hour […]

On April 15, Henry E. Hale, Ph.D. Harvard 1998, an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington (GW) University in Washington, DC, who specializes in the comparative study of democratization, federalism, ethnic politics, and international integration, came to speak at the University of Washington at Seattle on the “Logic of Regime […]

The Palestinian Authority refuses to acknowledge Israel’s right to a Jewish state while Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu mandates the statement prior to the resumption of any peace process. Palestinian officials contend that the PLO already acknowledged Israel’s right to exist in the Declaration of Principles while Netanyahu refuses to support the Palestinians’ right to a state. […]

IN this wretched, unfortunate land, anger and despair have been wasted emotions. After all, while we may never have known how to fix things, at least we could be relatively sure that they wouldn’t get much worse. But as things begin to fall apart, the assumptions of yore are crumbling before our eyes. And the […]

Less than two months before the parliamentary elections and things seem relatively calm. Posturing and overt displays of force and support have been absent, as are incidents of confrontation and violence. There has been some engagement of the Lebanese Armed Forces with a drug cartel operating in the south, but that situation seems contained to […]

TOKYO – International donors, led by the United States and Japan, pledged more than $5 billion Friday to stabilize Pakistan’s troubled economy and fight the spread of terrorism in the Islamic nation and neighboring Afghanistan. The U.S. and Japan started off the one-day conference by pledging $1 billion each. Saudi Arabia added $700 million and […]

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The Taliban have advanced deeper into Pakistan by engineering a class revolt that exploits profound fissures between a small group of wealthy landlords and their landless tenants, according to government officials and analysts here. The strategy cleared a path to power for the Taliban in the Swat Valley, where the government allowed […]