Mladic, Behind Bars — General Ratko Mladic, the alleged architect of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, was arrested yesterday. Dejan Anastasijevic explains why it took so long; The Atlantic mulls parallels with Pakistan and Osama bin Laden raid; The Christian Science Monitor features their Pulitzer Prize winning coverage of the massacre. …
Li Tiantian, a Chinese human rights lawyer who went missing in February, re-emerged this week. She announced her release in this evocative (if entirely allegorical) post:
It’s been a while since I’ve been in touch. First, let me tell you a story.
One day, a hornet worried unreasonably that a little bird would stir up its nest. (As
…
Neo-Isolationism — Clyde V. Prestowitz asks why America is upset by China’s overtures in Pakistan. Let them have it, he argues at Foreign Policy. Instead of trying to increase its geo-political influence, America ought to invest in education at home, retrain workers and encourage FDI, he says.
Dear Visitor — So, what was Kim Jong …
Talking Torture — Sen. John McCain condemns the use of so-called ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ in an important, if overwrought, op-ed for the Washington Post.
Common Ground — In Foreign Affairs Jonathan Kay explains why Americans should care about the Canadian election. His take: “Canada will align more closely with the …
Osama’s Irrelevance — The Taliban won’t miss bin Laden, observes Julius Cavendish in a dispatch from Kabul. The goals of Afghanistan’s insurgency are national, and even many Taliban leaders resented al-Qaeda’s presence on their turf.
Pots and Kettles — In an interview with the Atlantic, Hilary Clinton lashes out at China, calling …
The Obama Doctrine(s) — The American Prospect critiques President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. “Obama doesn’t have a doctrine of foreign policy; he has a style,” writes Joshua Foust. “As a result, his decisions are often constrained not by guiding principles but by circumstances.”
Pyrrhic Victory — Will Osama bin Laden’s …
Just over a week after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden, pundits seem keen to tout the end of “Bin Ladenism,” too. The mastermind of the 9/11 attacks “lived long enough to see so many young Arabs repudiate his ideology,” observed the Times‘ Thomas Friedman. Although he and others are right to celebrate the ‘Arab Spring,’ it seems …
Lessons Learned — On Battleland, Mark Thompson mulls the most important lessons of the OBL saga; TIME editors Nancy Gibbs and Bobby Ghosh and political columnist Joe Klein discuss the implications — short-term and long — of the killing.
Open Doors —In the Hindu, Nirupama Subramanian urges India to take advantage of the …
My neighborhood has changed. The street’s sole piece of graffiti — a spray-painted picture of Hello Kitty defecating — has vanished. In its place: a portrait of missing Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei.
It’s been more than a month since Ai was seen in mainland China. But, suddenly, he’s everywhere in Hong Kong. I’ve seen his face …
Rules of Engagement — “To accept that the bin Laden raid was legal, is, in effect, to acknowledge publically that what we are actually conducting in Pakistan is a kind of war,” writes Raffi Khatchadourian for the New Yorker. “In his death, bin Laden has forced this admission from us.”
Closed Doors— As migrants continue to flee the …
Friends or Foes — The fact that Pakistani officials weren’t informed of the U.S. operation carried out on their soil, is the strongest sign yet that Washington no longer trusts its ally, writes Omar Waraich from Islamabad; In the Telegraph, Praveen Swami says Pakistan “conned” the West on Bin Laden.
Asian Implications — In the Jakarta …
A year after a violent crackdown on anti-government protesters in Bangkok that killed at least 90 people, not a single official has been charged. Now, Human Rights Watch, an influential American NGO, says they’ve collected evidence that government snipers targeted civilians, including unarmed medical personnel. Their claims are laid out …
After Osama — U.S. Presidents are tasked with telling the national story in times of tragedy and victory. For President Obama, today’s story is about a nation coming out of decline, writes TIME’s Michael Scherer.
The Scene — Omar Waraich visits Abbottabad, Pakistan, where Bin Laden was killed; TIME’s Ishaan Tharoor explores the …
