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Finally the topic of foreign policy will be confronted. So far it has been a drought for U.S. foreign policy experts and lovers. The question about the attack on the U.S. embassy in Libya causing the killing of four American diplomats has been one of the very few foreign policy themes tackled so far. However, […]

Today, I’d like to share a few updates on HIV/AIDS. Uganda has backslid against the epidemic, according to advocacy organizations in the country. A review published in the British Medical Journal finds that methadone therapy for injecting drug users more than halves the risk of HIV transmission. And we are about to face a new challenge: […]

  Gone are the days when avoidance of religious and political discussions was essential to retaining friendships. Today discussing these two topics in the public and private squares is essential to peace, coexistence, development and progress! At hand is the most misunderstood and indeed most abused moral concept of the 21st century: the doctrine of […]

  I’m looking forward to the upcoming presidential debate on foreign policy. This will be the final debate before election day and will be held in Florida on Monday night at 9pm ET and hosted by Bob Schieffer of CBS News. According to the  Commission on Presidential Debates we can expect the debate to cover […]

  During Monday night’s town hall style debate between President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney, the domestic issues once again seem poised to take the spotlight until one Mr. Kerry Ladka took to the microphone.  Asking President Obama about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Ladka said: This question actually comes from a […]

While climate change is an established reality in much of the world, the United States continues to lag behind in recognizing the truth, despite recent gains. The U.S. is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind China, but it does not have an official dedicated policy to confront that fact. One need not look […]

Global Brief, Canada’s leading geopolitical magazine, asks four writers in different policy fields what they think key questions for the next U.S. president should be. Responses given by the four writers range from fiscal policy (M. Stabile) to the potential for a new war in the Middle East (M. Fitzpatrick), to approaches to Iran’s nuclear […]

Philip Gordon, the U.S. Department of State’s Assistant Secretary for Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, spoke September 21st on the 20th anniversary of the U.S.’s FREEDOM Support Act (FSA), which has provided democracy and market-reform assistance to eastern Europe and former Soviet states. The FSA has been responsible for training thousands of current and […]

In the difficult and often futile attempts by the human rights community to hierarchize rights for academic reasons or for the purpose of prioritizing implementation, free speech rights have always been given the highest priority. The content of expressive rights has been classified as “first-generation,” signaling a larger sense of fundamental importance than other rights […]

  Among an avalanche of 33 resolutions adopted last month by the U.N. was one calling for the protection of journalists around the globe. The Council’s 21st session was suspended, but not before they made a clear defense of the press. The council condemned attacks and violence against the press, particularly at the hands of […]

Image lifted from http://paknews.pk The first thing that struck me as I read reports on Malala’s shooting was the village name: Saidu Shareef. Living in Pakistan, we have been conditioned to hear of shootings, bombings and barbarity across the country and get on with our day; unless you know someone who lives where today’s incidents took […]

Today is the first ever International Day of the Girl. So, get out a pen and mark it in your calendar for next year already! My colleague Cassandra Clifford wrote a piece earlier today looking at the theme of this year’s Day of the Girl, child marriage. It’s just one of many issues activist, advocacy […]