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Last week, the Polish government raised the ante to allow the US to place its missile defense shield in their country. Why all of a sudden would Poland renege on hosting the shield at the last minute when talks have been going on for years? Were they successfully pressured by Russia?   And is the same […]

Should we talk to Iran? The U.S. has not had diplomatic relations with Iran since the Hostage Crisis of 1979 (holding the diplomatic staff hostage is generally not conducive to good relations) and the U.S. has used intermediaries ever since rather than risk sending personnel to a country where citizens still routinely gather to chant […]

As you no doubt know by now, transportation accounts for about 13% of worldwide GHG. Figure SPM.3. (a) Global annual emissions of anthropogenic GHGs from 1970 to 2004.5(b) Share of different anthropogenic GHGs in total emissions in 2004 in terms of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2-eq). (c) Share of different sectors in total anthropogenic GHG emissions […]

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Al-Jazeera.net is conducting an interesting survey. In light of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates’ recent decision to name ambassadors to Iraq, the network's website is asking for feedback from its viewers on the issue. While sending ambassadors to a fellow Arab nation may not seem controversial at first, the questions being asked in the […]

Thanks to Steven Corman for his insightful response to my recent post about Undersecretary Glassman's remarks about the “War of Ideas” (WoI). He made some very good points. But I am disheartened by the argument that there is no way to changes people's attitudes about the US unless we change our policies. Changing our policies is no doubt the way […]

  The New York Times reported today that a resurgent Taliban is staging new and daring attacks in Afghanistan (9 Americans Die in Afghan Attack): This year of the Afghanistan war is already proving to be the deadliest since the American-led invasion. Bush administration officials are now considering a redeployment of troops to Afghanistan from […]

We noted Friday that reports were circulating that ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo would ask the Court to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. CNN reports that Moreno-Ocampo sought an indictment this morning. In it, the Prosecutor's Office alleges that the Sudanese military coordinated […]

On Sunday, July 13, the Dalai Lama gave a public talk at Lehigh University as part of a "series of teachings," which takes place from July 10-15. The public talk, held yesterday (on the topic of "Generating a Good Heart"), also allowed the Dalai Lama to answer questions from the audience, which had been earlier […]

In wake of the elections in Kenya reports have noted an increase of children in the sex trade. Agnetta Mirikau, a child protection specialist with UNICEF Kenya, stated that they had received numerous reports that children in sex trade had rapidly increased since the election. This post-violence sex work boom is fueled as the displaced […]

Energy and Commerce Committee – We all seem agreed that substantive federal legislation addressing climate change will emerge from the 111th Congress. It seems entirely likely that the new Congress will have a measurably higher Democratic component than now, in both houses. (See this from PollingReport.com and this from the “NY Times” which reports that […]

I came across a video produced by Al-Qaeda in Iraq's al-Furqan media group this weekend. It was posted earlier this week in a jihadist internet forum, but is now also available on YouTube. The video is the third part of a series entitled, “The Knights of Martyrdom”. While I haven't seen part 2, I have […]