Regions

  “Americans Chose Perestroika” was the headline splashed across Russia's leading tabloid, the Komsomolskaya Pravda, on November 5th. Indeed, the scenes of solidarity, jubilation and catharsis that I witnessed in downtown Washington DC  around 11pm on November 4 could have come from a documentary about the fall of the Berlin Wall, or the immediate aftermath […]

The so-called Shikota Movement of ANC dissidents met this past weekend to continue the process of forming a new political party, the South African Democratic Congress, or Congress of the People. The end result was an announcement that the new party will launch officially on December 16, South Africa's Day or Reconciliation (and once the […]

It is quite clear that the misery of Zimbabweans has not provided much impetus to push the negotiations forward in Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe has not much cared about the suffering of his citizenry over the course of the last decade and more. There is no reason to believe he would start now. And let there […]

Forgive the light posting of late. Between traveling a great deal lately and obsessing about the historic American presidential election there simply has been little time. Hopefully it is not too untoward to declare that I celebrate Barack Obama's epochal victory much as Nelson Mandela does.

Expectedly, reactions to the election of Sen. Barack Obama as the 44th US President were overwhelmingly positive across Europe. But in between the congratulatory lines dictated by diplomatic protocol shown the expectations European leaders have of this new President. Quentin Peel, International Affairs editor of the Financial Times believes these expectations might mean Obama is […]

WASHINGTON, Nov 5: A deadly attack on a US outpost in eastern Afghanistan in July was executed with the support of local police and government leaders as well as villagers there, according to an internal US military report. The report, released on Tuesday, recommended that the district's Afghan police chief and governor be replaced, if […]

Condoleezza Rice leaves today for Israel/Palestine/Egypt/Jordan. Before her departure she took the mike at the Washington DoS briefing, usually run by Sean McCormack, to join the Obama lovefest. She's heading into a hornet's nest: Israel's recent military excursion into Gaza has prompted retaliation. Both sides say they’d prefer to adhere to the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire of […]

The National reports on the oil industry's reaction to the US elections. Excerpt: "The Gulf states will be unaffected by any new US energy policy because of their huge reserves, and their importance is bound to increase as production drops in other regions," Mr Bukhdur said. Hajjaj Bukhdur is an energy expert and economist based […]

Two days ago, a French aid worker was the latest to be targeted by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. In this case the aid worker, who was reportedly an education specialist from an unknown NGO, was kidnapped by a small group of Taliban members, who in the process killed a young Afghan civilian. Reportedly 19 humanitarian […]

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools […]

Samar Fatany, a Saudi woman visiting America to witness this election as part of a State Department program to prepare Middle Eastern women to run for office in their home countries, writes home from the US: In the Arab world, limited elections … hardly give one a taste of the incredible power of democracy as […]

Iraq is going to cut Awakening salaries from about$300 a month to $250. That's a 17% cut. The US can either step in and cover the difference or wait to see if there is any fallout.