IRIN has this important “Backgrounder” feature (with lots of useful links) on the Sahel, the poorest region in one of the poorest parts of the world. Global climate change is only likely to exacerbate matters.
Dmitry Medvedev has dropped a proposed libel law that would have shut down publications accused of libel without a court order, reports the liberal radio station Ekho Moskvy. Mikhail Fedotov, head of the Russian Union of Journalists, welcomed the move, and said that he was sure that Medvedev, a lawyer by training, would have been […]
Drug-related murders in Mexico have soared in the last two months. Municipal, state, and federal police officers have died in clashes against heavily armed commandos or have been assassinated on the orders of drug bosses. It has been argued that this rise in violence is a signal of the Mexican government's progress in the War […]
Australian soldiers are leaving Iraq as of Sunday, June 1, which fulfills the election promises of the current government. This comes on the heels of an interesting article in The Times last week, where Australian soldiers said they were ‘ashamed’ at their lack of frontline role in both Afghanistan and Iraq. The article comes from […]
On May 29th the French Assemblée Nationale took a vote that might have profound impact on whether Turkey joins the European Union in a few years, or not. Making good on what his predecessor Jacques Chirac had promised all along, President Sarkozy and his ruling UMP party introduced a constitutional amendment, which would put future […]
On this blog, we have discussed India's increasing economic and strategic presence in Central Asia. The reasons for this are many, as are the implications for the region. I have written a short piece describing and analyzing this geopolitical occurrence for the Foreign Policy Association that you can find on its homepage. Here is the […]
Since its birth, Hizballah sabotages the state of Lebanon, in all possible shapes and forms. That is why, Hizballah's latest stunt did not come as a surprise. Nassim Nisr, who served a six-year prison sentence in Israel on charges of spying for Hezbollah, is now a free man. After being released earlier today, he was […]
The United States has announced a fairly serious scaling-back of its plans for AFRICOM, the American African Command. Is the US finally responding to the will of Africans on the ground? Or is it merely taking the most expedient path? The answer is probably a combination of factors, but it is clear that the ambitious […]
Amidst Thabo Mbeki's very bad few weeks let us not forget that Jacob Zuma has troubles of his own. The latest? Zuma's presumed choice for the country's chief justice slot, Cape Judge President John Hlophe, faces accusations that he lobbied at least two Constitutional Court judges for a pro-Zuma ruling. Hlophe now faces possible impeachment. He also […]
In a short “Editorial Notebook” piece in The Boston Globe Donald MacGillis explores the problem of brain drain in Uganda, which is a nearly universal problem across the continent, and what the west might be able yo do to stanch the flow of talented doctors (and others) without limiting personal freedoms of those who so […]
Earlier I had written about the Russian aversion to seriousness, and now there is a pertinent article in the FT about the fine time-honoured tradition of Soviet gallows humour and its apogee, the Political Anekdot. Have a read… (Courtesy of the ever-intrepid Bradley Hope, founder-editor of the New York Moon)
More than a week ago I wrote the following: Yet another indicator of how bad things are in Zimbabwe? Even with the recent explosions of xenophobic violence aimed at foreigners and especially Zimbabweans in South Africa, huge numbers of immigrants continue to cross the border and head directly for the maelstrom in Johannesburg and its […]
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