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The Center for American Progress and Foreign Policy magazine released their fourth annual Terrorism Index yesterday. An article about the study has been published in the Sept/Oct issue of Foreign Policy Magazine, it can also can be read here. View the complete topline results here. The study surveyed American foreign policy experts on a slew […]

Have you read any good books lately? If you are looking for the next book (or three) to add to your reading list, the State Department has some suggestions (AFSA Reading List): The Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and the President of the American Foreign Service Association have co-sponsored the creation of a […]

This past week SpiegelOnline published an interview with Kurt Westergaard, the cartoonist, who drew a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005 (the simplistic one with the bomb placed on his head). The interview was based around the new development in the saga that the prosecutor general in Jordan has issued a subpoena against Westergaard. […]

The Democratic Party just released its party platform titled “Renewing America's Promise.” It will officially be released at the Democratic national Convention in Denver next week. This report encompasses the party's approach to a whole slew of issues affecting the nation. Watch a party representative discuss the report at an event held at the New […]

  I’ve been searching for an authoritative review of U.S. options in the Russia-Georgia Crisis, but so far I’ve not found one. The blogosphere is filled with wild speculation and suggestions from both the left and the right, and I share the dismay voiced by Michael Cohen of Democracy Arsenal, that commentators seem quick to […]

We were in St. Martin for vacation.  The southern part is Dutch and the northern part is French.  The whole island uses desalinated water, so I've been thinking about that some more. Here's a succinct piece from "Scientific American" on desalination:  Why don't we get our drinking water from the ocean by taking the salt […]

Nine years after the Jordanian government broke off its ties with Hamas, the independent Jordanian AmmonNews agency reported on Sunday that the evolving regional situation, and the kingdom's desire to ease tensions with the Muslim Brotherhood , are pushing the Hashemite regime to normalize relations with the Palestinian group. However, the article states that this […]

As Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announces he will punish Georgia, reports from the war-torn country suggest that Russia may not be fully withdrawing. Both France – the current president of the European Union – and the United States cautioned Russia to abide by the terms of the ceasefire. Meanwhile, the Manchester Guardian notes that Georgia's […]

Future historians may look back on the Georgian Crisis and define the attack on South Ossetia by Georgia as the proximate cause of the conflict while finding that several factors, including oil, ethnicity, nationalism, and alliances were the ultimate causes of the conflict. In Cracks in the Foundation: NATO's New Troubles, Cato Institute Research Fellow […]

Here are some items to begin to pick up some of the slack from the past two weeks.  We've been away , and there's some interesting stuff to say about that in a day or two.  For now, here are some morsels, I hope, for your delectation. More Renewable Stories , I wrote last week […]

BAGHDAD, Aug. 18 (UPI) — An Iraqi court resumed session Monday in the case against former Iraqi Deputy Premier Tariq Aziz for the execution of several merchants in 1992. Aziz, a Christian, and seven other defendants face war crimes charges in an Iraqi court for ordering the execution of several businessmen who had protested rising […]

Rwanda has cast a long shadow over France. Within that darkness lurks a web of lies and deceit.  If justice prevails then French ministers and military officers will stand trial at the International Criminal Court. On Tuesday morning, August 5th, the Mucyo commission publicly released a 337-page report accusing France of complicity and participation in […]