Regions

New Commerce Secretary with ties to China President Obama’s new nominee for the position of commerce secretary, Gary Locke, could help strengthen economic ties between China and the U.S. Locke, son of Chinese immigrants, has shown extensive commitment to U.S.-China relations during his two terms in office as governor of Washington state. The nomination of […]

U.S. officials intend on continuing pressuring Israel to improve aid shipments and living conditions in the Gaza Strip. Along with the type of aid permitted into Gaza, U.S. officials criticized the number of aid trucks allowed daily into the Strip, urging 500 shipments instead of the current 200 daily. Moreover, the proposed $900 million aid […]

“Detlev Mehlis, former head of the U.N. commission investigating ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination, said that he has a “very clear picture” of the murder, stressing he has evidence of Lebanese and Syrian involvement in the bombing attack.” Read more here. “An administrative committee has been formed to “ward off” any pressure on the Special Tribunal […]

Yesterday the acting spokesperson for the State Department emphatically stated what Dennis Ross will not be doing: Let me be clear, he’s not an envoy. He will not be negotiating. He’ll be working on regional issues. He will not be – in terms of negotiating, will not be involved in the peace process. But again, […]

Russia is closely watching the process of militarization in the Arctic and will respond accordingly. At an international arms conference in Abu Dhabi, General Nikolai Makarov, the head of Russia’s General staff, stated, “Overall, we are looking at how far the region will be militarized. Depending on that, we’ll then decide what to do.” Policymakers […]

Chinese trade delegation to Europe A trade delegation of about 200 Chinese entrepreneurs led by Commerce Minister Chen Deming arrived in Germany yesterday as the first leg of their four country tour. Following Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s Europe tour earlier this month the trade delegation will also visit Switzerland, Spain and Britain and is expected […]

Kadima number two Shaul Mofaz harshly criticized party Chairman Tzipi Livni yesterday for refusing Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu’s initial call for a unity government. Netanyahu offered Kadima prime ministerial portfolios and Kadima officials desire these positions as opposed to being relegated to the opposition. Netanyahu may tap Nathan Sharansky for Foreign Minister if Kadima and […]

Recently, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gillani lauded the role Sufi Islam could play in keeping the society away from religious extremism. Lest we consider this a personal bias, since he represents the Sufi tradition himself, similar sentiments were expressed by others as well. One such example is the 2007 RAND Corporation paper, Building Moderate […]

Adeeb Khalid, a professor of history at Carleton College and Central Asian expert, wrote ‘Islam after Communism‘ in an attempt to educate those who view Central Asian Muslims through the prism of Muslims in the Middle East, in effect, ignoring their own history and societal changes and make up. Khalid effectively hammers down the point […]

“EU leaders yesterday (22 February) agreed to back oversight of the world’s financial markets and products, including hedge funds, calling for a clampdown on tax havens as they forged a common position on global financial reform ahead of a summit of the G20 group of leading industrial powers in April.” (Euractiv)

The Egyptian Stock Exchange’s main index rose a bit over 1% today, one day after a terrorist attack targeted tourists in Cairo. Perhaps investors judge the attack an aberration and are confident that the government will stabilize the situation and reassure tourists. On the other hand, investors could be responding to a $10B bond purchase […]

Toby Jones, history professor at Rutgers and expert on Saudi Arabia, assesses King Abdullah’s cabinet shakeup of last week in Foreign Policy. Jones argues that the King’s sacking of the head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice – i.e. the morality police, or mutawa’een – and his appointment […]