Of course, the Kurds and the Sunnis feel jointly oppressed by the Shia majority, particularly given the Sunni's several decades on top under Sadaam Hussein. Kurdish and Sunni politicians quickly rallied behind Al-Hashimi. This is disturbing. Political leaders cannot unite by virtue of their faiths, when those very faiths are tearing Iraq apart and killing hundreds.
Read MoreThis aloofness is not reserved for Israel alone; the cold, piercing analysis with which Obama approaches every issue is evidence that this aloofness and sternness is very much the Obama style.
Read MoreThe root of the problem, therefore, lies in limited opportunities for the countries’ youth in face of the thrilling alternative of gang life and its economic incentives. Education is the true solution, and the gang’s promise not to recruit in schools, so long as it lasts, is the real victory.
Read MoreWith Israelis and Egyptians still not trusting each other, the treaty needs to be made relevant for the 21st century. This month’s security problems prove that Israeli-Egyptian cooperation is a strategic necessity; the Sinai should therefore become a model of collaboration, not of confrontation
Read MoreKony 2012 gave massive attention Invisible Children. It also distracted from the manifold issues at hand – tribal conflicts, warlordism, the victimization of indigenous civilians, government corruption, and control of mining and drilling rights – and attributed all of Uganda’s problems to one man.
Read MoreThe work of groups like the National Front, which includes renowned Egyptian journalists, academics, and political analysts, keeps Morsi’s powers in check. Hopefully, his quasi-dictatorial powers won’t last long.
Read MoreImpotent or not, Orwell teaches me, it is writing about the hard topics, speaking out on Syria, that automatically breathes life into my words. Political purpose, it turns out, is nothing less than a writer’s very oxygen.
Read MoreIf anything, our track record in Libya is cause to never support rebel factions again. Overthrowing a tyrant like Qaddafi is something to be proud of, to be sure, but our work in Libya helped create a far larger mess.
Read MoreLegalization may or may not be the answer, but one has to admire President’s Mujica’s courage. Perhaps this will break the taboo on alternatives to prohibition and open up an intelligent debate.
Read MoreThe Olympics are not a reflection of who we are as global community. Instead, they have become the world’s most expensive cocktail party. So much for “sport at the service of mankind.”
Read MoreCertainly an organization representing a global unified body would have the most legitimacy. The UN was formed with the core principles of peace and security in mind, but a lack of unity of member states only allows magnifies the problems on the ground.
Read MoreThese “smart” sanctions have, in fact, done much to starve the very people they were supposed to protect.
Read MoreThe Nasa people, an indigenous group from the region whose numbers are up to 100,000, decided to take the matters into their own hands and rose against both the government and the leftist guerrillas.
Read MoreThink about the outcry for Romney to release his tax returns (the Obama campaign’s widest, and most effective avenue of attack) seen in a totally different light. Romney might still have something to hide, but looking at his record, it seems he just doesn’t like talking about himself.
Read MoreFighting has spread to Damascus, the capital, and to the largest city, Aleppo. This is not just sporadic gunfire, but real, bloody, daily fighting. Border crossing stations are being seized by the rebels, letting more lethal weapons seep through the porous Turkish border. Hundreds of defectors join the resistance every day. On all fronts, the rebels are advancing.
Read MoreDespite changing governance in the region, the United States will uphold its policies of the past three decades so long as it continues offering aid to the Egyptian military and the military respects its peace treaty with Israel.
Read MoreThis report seems to think—or wish—that legalizing the settlements makes them morally correct, too. But while land can be politicized and subjected to legal dispute, the Palestinian people should not be politicized and subjected to hardship because of legal minutia. And the hardships that Palestinians have to live through daily in the West Bank outweigh any legal conclusions. The law becomes less interesting when people are suffering.
Read MoreLugo failed to work hand in hand with a powerful Congress and his burdensome Liberal “allies” and managed to unite most of Paraguay’s political system against him. Though the proceedings for his impeachment were perfectly legal, they leave Paraguay’s democracy weakened, its leaders diplomatically isolated, and its poor unattended.
Read MoreStill battling the disdain for his Mormon faith from hardcore religious-right groups, Romney can benefit from getting on the good side of the Christian friends of the Holy Land.
Read MoreThe crux of Waltz’s argument is that “power begs to be balanced.” He suggests that “Israel’s nuclear monopoly has long fueled instability in the Middle East." I’m no fan of Israeli nukes, but I don’t think the warheads are the primary source of Israeli unpopularity.
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