Will the IAEA some day have to shift its attention to northern South America? In a move bound to attract US attention, Venezuelan officials have declared that they are conducting further exploration for uranium deposits. This, combined with President Hugo Chávez’s close ties with Iran and Russia, leads to concerns about transfer of the material […]
Yesterday, President Hugo Chávez continued his travels overseas, spending the day in Russia. During his time there he announced that Venezuela will recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. A brief war with between Russia and Georgia in August 2008 led to the separation of these two regions. More information is available in today’s […]
President Hugo Chávez is on a weeklong trip overseas, to strengthen alliances in “the fight against imperialism”. His itinerary includes stops in Libya, Syria, Iran, Algeria, Belarus, and Russia. Freedom House, a US-based non-profit (and declaredly non-partisan) publishes “Freedom in the World, the annual survey of global political rights and civil liberties”. It ranked each […]
In an editorial within today’s Washington Post, Edward Schumacher-Matos presents a nice summary of what might be considered a waning in the power of Venezuelan President, Hugo Chávez. As Schumacher-Matos describes, on a number of fronts other South American nations have been acting counter to Chávez’s wishes. Ecuador, though considered an ally, has reached out […]
These are trying, heady times in Afghanistan. We are nearly on the eve of the nation’s second presidential election since the overthrow of the Taliban and much is at stake. The Afghan government has ordered a halt to reports of violence, the Taliban have made sure there has been violence to report, and the candidates […]
In starting a new blog on Venezuela perhaps the first question that comes to mind is: why should those of us drawn to international relations dedicate attention to this country? Perhaps known immediately for an often boisterous president, importance in global oil production, and its array of international beauty queens, Venezuela also holds much more […]
We usually only post once a day here at the Human Rights Blog, which means we can only cover so many human rights stories. But to keep you informed, here are some of the other stories that came across my desk this past week. Niger: For the People, By the people . . . Niger’s […]
By Klara Moradkhan Imagine having a strong desire to help others, and finally getting the opportunity to do so in the country you take pride in and love. Then imagine that same country suddenly imprisoning you, taking you away from your family, your friends and your humanitarian work. This happened to my dear cousin and […]
Rashid, a highly touted Pakistani journalist, begins the final chapter of his 2000 ‘Taliban’ by calling the country one of world’s ‘orphaned conflict’s’. The country would quickly change from being orphaned to a month after 9/11 being the center of global politics, as the United States uprooted the Taliban government and sent them packing, unfortunately […]
US Defense (or is it War) Secretary Robert Gates spoke candidly about the war in Afghanistan to group of reporters yesterday aboard an Air Force plane. Gates, who has gone from a seemingly short, holdover type term to one filled with significance, warned that unless “a perceptible shift in momentum” occurs with the Obama administration’s […]
OPEC reported a rise in output despite a pledge from the organization’s member to reduce production to meet quotas agreed to in December. Five members (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Nigeria and Angola) increased production over the past month by a total of 180,000 bbls/day, although Saudi Arabia remains within its quota of roughly 8 mln […]
Two items of note: Weak Opposition to Karzai, So Far… The Afghan Election Commission started excepting nominations for presidential and provincial offices for the upcoming August elections and one thing seems clear, incumbent President Hamid Karzai appears to have a strong chance at retaining his position. No other major candidate has so far put in […]
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