Let's say that you want to be a dictator. You’re not Stalin or Hitler or Mao: You are not above some killing and even mass bloodshed, but you also are not planning on killing millions in five year plans or final solutions or great leaps forward. You just want a state you can control, steal […]
It was easy for upper-middle-class South Africans to wring their hands over the xenophobic violence that seized townships in recent week. But now that some of those victims are being treated as internal refugees and are being settled near leafy suburbs? Not in my back yard.
March 14 Secretariat would like Beirut to be declared a demilitarized city. It should actually start with Beirut and move to all towns and villages. There are institutions specially designed to protect the citizens, and the country. No need for militias roaming around. I remember seeing men in uniforms in Hizballah's controlled suburbs, and I […]
The number one rule of effective despotism? Crush the enemy before the election so that you don't have to crush them during the election. These are the rudiments. And Robert Mugabe is very, very good at the rudiments of despotism. Zimbabwean elections have appeared to be relatively clean in recent years because Mugabe and his […]
Hey, America! Think your Obama is so special?? A young charismatic man of African descent becomes a national icon, whose eloquence inspires a generation, whose dashing looks send girls fainting and whose liberal politics threaten to derail the establishment? That sort of thing might still be hot over here, but it is OLD NEWS in […]
So now we know the real reason behind the Federal hounding of the Exile, courtesy of good reporting by the Moscow Times: its associations with dissident leader Eduard Limonov. In my earlier post, I noted that Limonov was a columnist for the paper and that his radical opposition movement had had scores of its members […]
The Merida Initiative would provide $950 million dollars in two years to Mexican law enforcement agencies to support their efforts against resourceful and elusive criminal organizations. The Mexican government needs the aid and the executive branch in the US is willing to provide it. But the US Congress would only grant the funds conditional on […]
The country has a President, however the consultations to form a national unity government did not lead anywhere. Yet. March 14 accuses Michel Aoun for blocking the negotiations. You may ask, why is Aoun doing it? “According to Future and Amal members, Aoun is disingenuously engaging in the formation of the cabinet. He had no […]
Here is a Friday Link Laydown of hopefully some informative and interesting items: A. Iranian President Ahmadinejad recent visit to India is analyzed with a geopolitical mindset by MK Bhadrakumar, a former Indian diplomat. India and Iran's postures and interests in Central Asia are discussed, as is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Bhadrakumar gives a fresh […]
Being 4767 miles away from Manhattan, Moscow has had good reason to feel left out lately. With all the hullabaloo about ‘oversharing‘, media blogs and New York culture, culminating in the appearance of sultry literary saloniste Emily Gould on the cover of the New York Times Magazine, this Blog has been forced to mantain a […]
Just as a woman bows out of the race for the most powerful political office in the world, calls for a female leadership role in the European Union are swelling. Launched by Danish Socialist MEP, Christel Schaldemose, the ‘Females in Front’ initiative is looking to fill one of the key posts in the 27-member Union […]
This CFR article helps tally the stance of frontrunners on US policy toward China. Obama vs. McCain on: The best engagement strategy. BO. In a more outward assessment, O feels strongly about putting some teeth behind the words of the next American administration, and has been quoted saying: In Asia, the emergence of an economically […]
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