UAE signs nuclear deal with US
January 21, 2009 1 min. read

The United States and the UAE now have an agreement wherein the UAE can utilize nuclear power reactors as a civilian energy source, but will import and export nuclear material and waste. Hmm. This means that the UAE is the first Arab state to develop nuclear capabilities. The NY editorial board points out the obvious: […]

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Azar Nafisi muses on reading
January 21, 2009 1 min. read

… and its potential to change the world at Goodreads.com (if you join, then we can be friends and you can see all the books I am reading). Dr.Nafisi is the author of Reading Lolita in Tehran and now her memoir, Things I’ve Been Silent About.  

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The Global Economic Crisis and Africa
January 21, 2009 1 min. read

South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, one of the country's most widely respected public figures, has made clear that the global financial crisis has hit Africa hard and warns that it will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future. How South Africa might fare will likely become clearer on February 11, when Manuel […]

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Optimism Meets Reality in the DRC
January 21, 2009 1 min. read

Last week dissident rebels declared an end to conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Despite optimism from many quarters, few believed the declaration, and rightfully so, as today Rwandan troops crossed into the DRC in order to disarm Hutu rebels.

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President Barack Hussein Obama
January 20, 2009 4 min. read

Some early, perhaps scattered, thoughts:Throughout today's monumental, historic, inspiring, and emotional events, my thoughts have continued to wander back to two individuals other, of course, than Barack Obama. I have written thousands of words about both and probably exhausted nearly as many hours thinking about them. One is Congressman John Lewis. The other, bizarrely, perhaps, […]

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On the Ground in Washington & Implications for Mexico
January 20, 2009 1 min. read

Today I had the chance to watch history unfold in Washington, DC as Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States.  Washington was jam-packed with people from all over.  President Obama's speech inspired the crowd in Washington and will lead to a worldwide outpouring of support.  For foreign policy, […]

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Omar Suleiman
January 20, 2009 2 min. read

We usually don't link to articles easily found on the web (unless written by FPA contributor Nate Field) but this Haaretz piece about Egyptian Intel Chief Omar Suleiman is tooooo much. Here's my favorite line:  “We met some years ago with CIA representatives in the lobby of a hotel,” recalled an Israeli intelligence man, “and […]

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Shameless Self Indulgence Alert!
January 20, 2009 1 min. read

I hope you will forgive the naked self-promotion. In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the University Press of Kentucky is having a special week-long sale on civil rights-related books. Included among these is my brand new book, Freedom's Main Line: The Journey of Reconciliation and the Freedom Rides, which is also available at […]

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The ANC, the NPA, and the Politics of Power
January 20, 2009 2 min. read

Anyone who has read this blog or many of my other writings for any length of time knows that I do not buy into the Afro-pessimism narrative, particularly when it comes to the African National Congress. Unlike some of the most intemperate critics, I do not see the ANC as going down the path of […]

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Rumsfled's Crusade Continues
January 19, 2009 2 min. read

Eurasianet writer Joshua Kucera reported on an interesting story involving former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's new foundation, which focuses on the Central Asian region.  Kucera starts out skeptical of Rumsfeld and his foundation's motivations at first, neoconservative policy pushers?, but his research seems to lead him to conclude that their goals are of a […]

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Learning To Love America Again?
January 19, 2009 2 min. read

It appears that the inauguration of Barack Obama is about to usher in a new era of good feelings toward America. Nowhere will Obama's ascension to the Oval Office mean more than in Kenya, where people feel a very real, if not particularly deep, connection with the President-Elect. In my own travels throughout the world, […]

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Faith and Faithlessness in Zimbabwe
January 19, 2009 1 min. read

Even as Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai has reached out to try to get negotiations with Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF going again, Mugabe has threatened to break off the talks if Tsvangirai does not agree to the next deal that comes his way. As usual the people of Zimbabwe are the ones […]

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