Regions

Kenyan runner Robert Cheruiyot's victory in Monday's Boston Marathon may represent one of those moments when sport can serve to unite rather than divide. At least that is the hope among Kenyans, where the country's world class distance runners are heroes to millions.

The head coach of Bafana Bafana, Alberto Parreira, has resigned to spend time with his sick wife. When officials from the South African Football Association (SAFA) announce Parreira's successor on May 6, many expect that they will settle on another Brazilian, Joel Santana. Naturally SAFA and the country's rabid fan base hope to ease the […]

Combine Nigeria's vast oil reserves and the instability those riches have brought with China's avarice and rapaciousness when it comes to its thirst for oil and it seems to me that a recipe for disaster is simmering. China is prepared to loan Nigeria billions that in turn will grant the Chinese access to Nigeria's reserves […]

The American Commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, Gen. Dan K. McNeill, gave an optimistic appraisal of Afghanistan's stability on Sunday, stating that the Afghan army and police forces should be able to secure most of the country by 2011. McNeill argued that Afghan forces have done an effective job managing security for Kabul, although […]

The multiplier effect of Robert Mugabe's destabilization of Zimbabwe is taking effect. The country desperately needs humanitarian aid, but the increasing violence of recent days has made the already wretched food situation even worse and has encroached upon the ability of humanitarian groups to help deliver foodstuffs to the third of the population that needs it. This […]

On April 11, I reported on the EU Troika-Central Asian summit held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. The post and most media outlets focused on energy relations and human rights issues between the EU representatives and all of the CA leaders present. It was reported that during the summit there was talk of a growing relationship between […]

Chaos continues to reign in Somalia, the apodictic example of an ungoverned, and seemingly ungovernable, country. Politics, sectarianism, ethnicity, and perhaps most importantly simple naked avarice and powerlust contibue to fuel what may well be the least stable nation state in the world.  

The story of Nojoud, the serial-raped 8-year-old forced bride in Yemen, has a happy ending.   Someone paid her wretched husband for a divorce, and she is now free and something of a celebrity, taken care of and showered with affection.  Unfortunately, many girls in similar situations still face the same problem.  From the Yemen Times: […]

Iraq awoke to a statement by the Multi National Forces that Al-Qaeda in Iraq is planning more and more suicide and car bombings, specifically stolen ambulances. The one district that is specifically mentioned is the Karakh district of Baghdad. The US military has announced that it has intelligence to this effect. This is the day […]

Because, between the PKK, both in-country and in Northern Iraq, the constant headscarf issue, the debate over its European or Islamist future, and debates, both philosophical and legal, over its Islamic-governed present, the last thing Turkey needs is al-Qaeda activity in the country.   But there has been a lot of high-level chatter recently that such an event […]

On April 8th, Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher testified before the House's subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment. His testimony mainly focused on Kazakhstan's upcoming chairmanship of the OSCE in 2010 and how the US had put pressure on its current regime […]

Gregory D Johnsen, despite his snide comment on the marriage post, has an excellent article in the new Sentinel, the journal of the Combating Terrorism Center, out of West Point.   It is on Yemen, and provides an excellent overlook of what is happening in Yemen right now, and why.  This is as good a piece […]