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The staggering amount of public resentment, outrage, and hostility towards the military facilities at Guantanamo Bay has always been disproportionate.   It always seemed, at least personally, the most logical choice in housing detained enemy combatants; it was located off shore, surrounded by natural and political barriers, run by the United States Military, and situated in […]

On Tuesday, Russian and Chinese leaders signed a massive $25 billion energy deal.  The agreement sees Russia providing energy-hungry China with secure oil supplies (300,000 barrels per day) for the next 20 years.  In return, China will provide Russia with advantageous loans with $15 billion to Rosneft (the state-owned oil company) and $10 billion to […]

Sudan and the largest rebel group in Darfur, the Justice and Equality Movement, signed a preliminary deal today. As the New York Times notes, the agreement commits the parties only to continue peace talks in Doha, Qatar, with the goal of developing a final status agreement. Because the current preliminary agreement requires so little, Voice […]

It is the mission of the Foreign Policy Association to engage and educate the public on international issues.  This blog has tried to play its part by disseminating information on the science, politics, policy and business of energy, the environment and climate change.  Hopefully, it has stimulated some thinking and, ideally, some action. But the […]

This documentary doesn’t quite live up to its name. Filmed entirely in black and white, it combines photographs and films to tell the story of revolutionary Che Guevara. At little less than an hour, “Che Guevara: Where You’d Never Imagine Him” covers the high points of Guevara’s life as a rebel. Director Manuel Perez shows […]

It doesn’t count as public diplomacy — not yet. But the way in which the Iranian authorities have permitted foreign media visits, especially coverage by major American media (e.g., NPR and the NYT) , not to mention official Iranian comments on bilateral relations, suggests a whiff of change toward caring what the Western world thinks. […]

Russia’s recent increased ties with Latin American countries can hardly go unnoticed.  In late 2008, Russian President Dimitry Medvedev paid visits to Venezuela and Cuba, Peru and Brazil, securing a host of bilateral deals.  Medvedev concluded his visit by stating: “Russia has already returned to Latin America, including Cuba”.  Read more about his visit here.  […]

Kaing Guek Eav – known simply as Duch – begged for forgiveness Monday on the eve of his war crimes tribunal for atrocities committed under the Khmer Rouge. “He said to the victims, I ask your forgiveness, I ask your forgiveness,” said his lawyer, Francois Roux. Duch, who faces charges for crimes against humanity, had […]

Tom Friedman wrote an Op-Ed in the New York Times today casting some light on various green enterprises in India, focusing on the specific example of a solar-powered car made by India’s Reva Electric Car Company and driven by 2 American women across the Subcontinent.  Other than referencing the Indian Youth Climate Network, Friedman’s piece […]

Al-Qaeda. Taliban. Hezbollah. Hamas. Jamaah Islamiyah. Islamic Courts Union. al-Shabaab. Fatah al-Islam. The Muslim Brotherhood. Abu Sayyaf. Lakhshar-e-Taiba… the list goes on. These are just a few of the many organizations that can be described as “Islamist Groups”. Though Wikipedia is not a proven reliable source for facts, it does have a list of many […]

I’ve been blogging on climate change for almost two years here – and having a great time, don’t get me wrong.  But there are some new FPA sister blogs that are looking at this issue as well.  Welcome aboard. Check out, for instance, Thawing Permafrost Could Accelerate Global Warming from Mia Bennett at the blog […]

As the day dawns on love, millions of couples are exchanging gifts which symbolize their love for each other. The commercialization of this day of love leaves many emptying their pockets, however those who pay the true cost for Valentines is often applied the, some 27 million people round the globe who are enslaved. “The estimated […]