David Cameron cares as deeply about college hoops as Barack Obama takes an interest in English county cricket. Yet it’s a safe bet that the briefing documents Britain’s Prime Minister studied on his March 13 charter flight to …
Afghanistan
Must-Reads from Around the World: March 13, 2012
Must-Reads from Around the World: March 9, 2012
Failed Rescue — An attempt to rescue two men held captive by the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram failed Thursday, the Guardian reports. The hostages, Briton Chris McManus and Italian Franco Lamolinara, had been held by the al-Qaeda-linked group since May 2011. Their deaths came hours after U.K. Prime Minster David Cameron authorized …
Must-Reads From Around the World: March 8, 2012
Nuclear North Korea — Based on newly released satellite images, the Washington-based Institute of Science and International Security says North Korea has made progress in building a light-water reactor to expand its nuclear program, The Guardian reports. (North Korea says the reactor is for electricity generation.) This information …
Must-Reads from Around the World: February 28, 2012
Electioneering – The New York Times casts skepticism on revelations Monday that Ukrainian and Russian intelligence services have thwarted an assassination attempt on Vladimir Putin. “The report came less than a week before the …
Must-Reads from Around the World: February 24, 2012
Fighting Failure – Foreign Policy‘s Douglas Wissing posts a damning indictment of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan amid continuing violence over the burning of copies of the Koran. “This wave of protest is just the latest example of …
Afghans Protest Against Alleged Koran Desecration
Crowds gather for a fourth day in anger over NATO’s plans for disposing copies of Islamic texts
Must-Reads From Around the World: February 22, 2012
Tribute to a Legend – Intense shelling Wednesday claimed the lives of American journalist Marie Colvin and French photojournalist Remi Ochlik. Colvin, 56, a long-time correspondent for the Sunday Times of London, was the only …
Talks with the Taliban Are Inevitable, but Who Will Be at the Table?
The fact that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has told the Wall Street Journal he’s held three-way negotiations with the U.S. and the Taliban should come as no surprise: the U.S. has said that within two years it will end its …
Must-Reads from Around the World: February 16, 2012
Jobless Woes—Unemployment in the U.K. rose by 48,000 to 2.67 million in the three months to December, official figures show. The BBC reports that while this is the smallest increase in over a year, the country’s unemployment …
The Anti-Sarkozy: How French Socialist Presidential Candidate François Hollande Would Lead
The Socialist front runner in France’s current presidential campaign promises big changes if he wins elections a bit over two months away. Yet not only does François Hollande remain rather vague about just how he’d do things …
Must Reads from Around the World: Feb. 2, 2012
Taliban Update – The New York Times follows up on findings in a NATO report, “State of the Taliban 2012” – based on 27,000 interrogations of 4,000 insurgents in Afghanistan – showing resilient fighters “convinced that they …
Sarkozy Unexpectedly Calls Earlier French Troop Exit From Afghanistan
So it turns out France is indeed leaving Afghanistan earlier than planned, and will seek to bring the last of its current 3,900 troops home by the end of 2013. Despite signs earlier in the week from French government officials …