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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Yulia Tymoshenko, are set to meet on 29 April. The meeting comes nearly four months after disagreements over gas prices led to a standoff between the two nations, leaving a good portion of the continent without gas supplies in the dead of winter. Fortunately, the price […]

The FPA Children’s blog is looking for kids views on today’s human rights issues, such as; peace, war, poverty, education, etc. Every Friday we post a “notable quotes about children” piece in which a quote is posted by a notable activist, politician, historical or literary figure, however we would like If you are a teacher […]

The Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad included the much-publicized American initiative to open up to Cuba.  President Obama continued to present his new, more acceptable face of America, put forth with grace since his inauguration in January.  He even unleashed his charm offensive against Venezuela’s irascible and mercurial Hugo Chavez, joking and smiling with him […]

Jon Lee Anderson is a staff writer for The New Yorker and author of the “The Fall of Baghdad” and “The Lion’s Grave: Dispatches from Afghanistan”. Anderson is an accomplished journalist who has reported on Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran extensively. His most recent work for The New Yorker is entitled Can Iran Change?. I had […]

This weekend US President Barack Obama was the center of attention at the 5th Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.  Obama even eclipsed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s entrance with, according to the Associated Press, “thundering applause and a few whoops” from the heads of state at the summit. Reviews of […]

I have a very high regard for the reporting at the venerable “Economist.”  (Somewhat less so for the editorial writers.)  In a perfectly informative, relatively important article recently on water quality and quantity issues worldwide, I thought the writer overstepped the bounds of reason on one particular point.  For the record, here is my letter […]

My colleague, Elizabeth Balkan, writing the other day at the FPA blog on Energy, had a good update on the state of affairs on REDD, forestry and climate change:  Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Shaping Financing to Prevent Deforestation.  She looks particularly at the Waxman-Markey draft and how it embraces this critical aspect of […]

We are happy to inform you that the Foreign Policy Association’s Children’s Rights Writer/Blogger, Cassandra Clifford, will now also be writing on Human Rights for the Examiner. Cassandra will not be leaving the FPA, but working with the Examiner to expand upon the reach and awareness of Human Rights using a unique local perspective. Cassandra […]

As you remember, Dorothy and Toto got blown a little off course.  Some coal-fired power plants have had a similar trial.  See Coal Plants Blocked here from October 2007 and a follow-up story at Coal Takes Some Lumps from a year ago. It turns out that the company trying so desperately to site its plants […]

Jonathan Holslag, an expert on China’s foreign policy, says that Asia will be the “most dramatic theater” for rivalry between great powers. Mr. Holslag is the head of research for the Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies and I interviewed him about the changing global balance of power and China’s rise. He argues that “America […]

1.4 Billion. Together, the populations of India (nearly 1.2 billion) and Indonesia (more than 240 million) equal 1.4 billion. Leaders selected during the ongoing elections will represent over 20 percent of the world’s population. Photo from Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images.

Last Thursday, Indonesians headed to the polls and today India’s election gets underway. With South Africans voting next week, we are in the midst of an election season for the world’s rising powers. Results of the upcoming ballots will have international implications. Here is a rundown of several critical elections this year. Indonesia – April […]