“Hamas has not started the war to liberate either Jerusalem or the Palestinian lands. This round of the conflict, as others before it, is bigger than Hamas and the goal it so passionately pursues, that of eliminating Israel.” “The battle is part of the intra-regional broader conflict linked with what appears to be a perpetual, […]
It is easy to identify the worst of Somalia's seemingly innumerable problems. The country embodies the concept of the failed state. Much harder is identifying viable solutions. One possibility — and the one that may well gain the most traction and ultimately lead to hope for some sort of resolution — is the dissolution of Somalia, a […]
Yesterday, I was able to attend a lecture and Q & A by Professor William Wood from Point Loma Nazarene University hosted by the World Affairs Council of San Diego. Wood is a Central Asian regional expert who has done much research throughout the region, including during the period just before the CA states gained […]
Not really. However, this is not Mexico's fault. Mexico just happened to be elected into one of the most ineffective international institutions of the 20th Century: the UN Security Council. Many could argue that the Security Council is great at investigating, recommending, formulating, determining, calling, and exercising a number of functions. Unfortunately, the Security Council […]
Hamas: “Death to Israel! Death to America!”
Michael Young: Tiptoeing around death in South Lebanon Elie Fawaz: Who and why now? Tony Badran: Assad,Jalili, PFLP-GC, and the Rockets from Lebanon NOW Lebanon: Hamas rejects UNSCR 1860, says it does not suit Palestinians Manuela Paraipan: Is this Leadership? Khaled Abu Toameh: Hamas: Abbas no longer heads PA NOW Lebanon: Eddé says holding Arab […]
Samuel Huntington, political scientist and author of the influential and controversial book/Foreign Affairs article Clash of Civilizations, died on Christmas Eve 2008. Many thoughtful obituaries in major news outlets recognize his accomplishments and contributions, including the Economist, the Associated Press, the UK's Independent and the UAE's National.
Casualties since the ground offensive are up to 765 Palestinians and 14 Israelis, so the UN has drafted a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, after intense lobbying by Arab states. The Los Angeles Times has two articles, each carefully including one Jewish-sounding name and one Muslim-sounding name in the bylines, on the media coverage […]
South Africans are gearing up for many fights in 2009. It increasingly appears that one of these, sure to be among the most explosive, may be a serious reconsideration of the role, efficacy, and direction of affirmative action. The Congress of the People (COPE) has made clear its serious concerns over the nature of affirmative […]
A lack of economic diversification has long plagued much of Africa. During the colonial era and well beyond mono-crop agriculture did demonstrable harm to numerous societies. One of the destabilizing factors that fueled the conditions that created the Rwandan genocide, for example, was the collapse of coffee prices in a country dependent upon exporting coffee beans. Increasingly the […]
“Everything is fine, until the moment when it is not. And when that moment comes it can be very quick and very bad.” — Aiméry Mbounkap, a site planner for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The New Yorker has a lengthy feature revealing just how difficult it is to be a humanitarian aid […]
I do not watch the American network news programs. There are too many better options and the quality of the evening news programs, while rarely awful, is pretty shallow. I was not surprised, then, to find out that the coverage of international affairs on the network news programs reached a record low in 2008. I would surmise, […]
Popular from Press
