At The New Republic Richard Just has a long and important review essay on the Darfur crisis. He uses ten books to explore western inaction in the face of what he argues might be the most well-covered ongoing genocide in history. The West is not alone in its inaction, of course. African leaders could have […]
Catch this post by R. Basas on the Latin America blog, which explores emigration patterns and Asian settlements in the Americas. Truly a timely piece with the steady streams of media infiltrating our inboxes, television sets, newspapers, and ipods – covering all things China.
US: 10 Gold, 8 Silver, 11 Bronze = 27 Medals PRC: 17 Gold, 5 Silver, 5 Bronze = 29 Medals Last night, China clinched the gymnastics gold from US in an unprecedented upset. US coach Bela Karolyi and Chinese coach Lu Shanzen went head-to-head in an unimpressive round of PR blows. US media outlets are […]
If the Georgian-Russian ceasefire takes hold — and CNN, WSJ and others are reporting right now that Russian troops continue to advance within Georgia proper — resolving who actually keeps the peace will be a challenging issue. Barack Obama called yesterday for “a genuine international peacekeeping force.” This would clearly be a step in the […]
Thankfully, a cease-fire in the Russian-Georgian conflict over the South Ossetia and Abkhazia territories has been agreed upon by both states, unfortunately fighting still seems to be occurring in the Georgian city of Gori. The conflict in Georgia has ramifications in Central Asia and for its nations’ governments in many important ways. As former Soviet […]
After parliament granting the cabinet confidence by exactly 100 votes on Tuesday, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora told reporters at the Grand Serail that he had been expecting an even higher margin.[NOW Lebanon] After four days of debate, only five members of parliament voted against the government, with two MPs abstaining. Not often did I see […]
Now that the artillery smoke has lifted and Sarkozy and Medvedev's 6 point ceasefire plan is imposed on Georgia, it's time to figure out: what the hell happened between last Thursday and now? Gary Brecher has the most elegant, if undeniably sociopathic, explanation: 1. The Georgians started it. 2. They lost. 3. What a beautiful […]
So much for optimism. In a move that embodies the man's hubris, Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party has negotiated a deal with the Movement for Democratic Change. The catch is that he brokered the agreement not with Morgan Tsvangirai's wing of the MDC, which represents the vast majority of the party (and thus at minimum […]
In The Star, Mosibudi Mangene wonders about the state of South Africa's democracy, with Zimbabwe as the looming warning post. The Zimbabwe analogy is, I suppose, a logical one (just as those who wanted to make sense of the Zimbabwe election fiasco looked to Kenya, and those wanting to understand Kenya looked elsewhere as well). […]
An optimistic narrative seems to have taken over the commentary and reporting on Zimbabwe. The Wall Street Journal, for example, trumpets how Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai, and the other participants in the ongoing talks are close to a power-sharing agreement. Some of the hardened cynics writing at The Mail & Guardian have even dared to […]
A picture of an Iraqi psychiatric hospital, now in disrepair. (NYTimes.com) (Note: we know that US troops are suffering from psychiatric disorders upon returning to the US, but what about the Iraqi people?) It seems that the US is bearing the brunt of reconstruction expenses in Iraq, even though the Iraqi government is projected to […]
As of this writing, Russia has declared a halt to its military offensive in Georgia, some 24 hours after Georgia declared a ceasefire of its own. The olive branch was waved in Moscow by President Medvedev, who stated that "the aggressor has been punished." If the ceasefire holds, the outside world may have an opportunity […]
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