Yesterday the Associated Press ran an interesting article on President Obama’s plans to increase engagement with Africa in 2011. President Barack Obama is quietly but strategically stepping up his outreach to Africa, using this year to increase his engagement with a continent that is personally meaningful to him and important to U.S. interests. Expectations in […]
A development of interest over the Holidays was the leaking of a series of photographs purportedly taken of the Chengdu J-20, China’s fifth generation fighter aircraft. A competitor to the F-22 Raptor, the J-20 is expected to attain initial operating capability by 2018 as testified by officials of the National Air and Space Intelligence Center. […]
In 2010 as might be expected, justice was brought to some and impunity enjoyed by others. The Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court opened preliminary investigations into possible war crimes involving the March sinking of the South Korean warship, Cheonan, and the November artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island by North Korea; religious […]
The “land grab” of fertile farmland in Ethiopia was the subject of a recent post, but is not the only area of Africa that is being made available for foreign countries to buy up, sometimes with the blessing of the international community. The New York Times recently detailed the scope of land grabs across the […]
Congratulations! Brazil inaugurated its first woman president in history on the first of the year. Read her inaugural speech below. President Rousseff, a close ally of outgoing President Lula since 2000 and his anointed successor, lacks the charisma of her benefactor, but not the resume. Fighting as a Marxist urban guerrilla against Brazil’s military regime in […]
Pretzel contortions are part of the diplomatic game. In the Rising Powers Year in Review (read here), we called North Korea’s violence against the South and advanced uranium enrichment program the biggest surprise of 2010. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s New Year’s message today (see BBC article) has kept up the West’s diplomatic contortions — stand […]
Last night 60 Minutes (a TV news program in the U.S.) had an excellent two-part presentation on Wynton Marsalis and his Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) Orchestra. The followed the band’s trips to London and Havana, where they engaged in cultural diplomacy of the highest order. What made the JALC trip to Havana so interesting […]
by Cate Mackenzie *For many, the 1st of January heralds a new start, and it’s not uncommon for weight loss to top the New Year’s resolutions list. Sense About Science, a London-based nonprofit has released its Celebrities and Science 2010 Review, which counters the more unusual diet and nutrition tips that have appeared in magazines […]
The cholera outbreak that has been ravaging Haiti since November 2010 is having a lasting effect on Haiti’s rice crop, according to CNN. “A chunk of Haiti’s rice harvest will probably be lost because of farmers’ fears of cholera contamination, the United Nations said Wednesday. On top of that, consumers are afraid to buy rice […]
I saw yesterday that an item I wrote in early December, Nuclear Power: Running on fumes?, was re-posted the other day at Climate Progress. If you don’t know Joe Romm and his and his colleagues’ important writing at Climate Progress, do yourself a favor and get over there and subscribe. Joe is a senior fellow […]
Today we woke to not only a new year, but a new decade, and renewed hope for both our own lives and children across the globe. Now you have finished cleaning up from the nights fun and merriment, and its time to set foot firmly into the new year. Its time to sit down and […]
“Our own national security toolbox must be well-equipped with more than just hammers.” Robert Gates, US Secretary of Defense US Defense Secretary Robert Gates understands that the challenges America will face in an increasingly multi-polar 21st century require capabilities that extend beyond traditional combat operations. The U.S. military increasingly finds itself ordered to support peacekeeping, […]
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