The Greek Way of Life – Austerity measures aimed at rescuing Greece have hammered the economy, the Washington Post reports. Figures released Tuesday show the GDP dropped by 7% for the final quarter of 2011. Response to the …
Terrorism
Must-Reads from Around the World: Feb. 8, 2012
Iowa Beckons – Communist Party mouthpiece China Daily muses the impact of Vice-President Xi Jinping’s U.S. visit next week. While its news story quotes experts saying it “will help China-U.S. ties fly clear of U.S. election year …
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 …
Must Reads from Around the World: Feb. 1, 2012
Found Wanting – Foreign Policy has exclusive details from a leaked report on the failed Arab League monitoring mission in Syria – and it’s grim reading for the organization. “Regrettably, some observers thought that their visit …
Must Reads from Around the World: Jan. 30, 2012
France Not Quitting Afghan Campaign After All
Okay, so not leaving Afghanistan—yet, anyway.
Despite suggestions-cum-threats by French President Nicolas Sarkozy last week that he’d consider pulling France’s nearly 3,900 forces out of Afghanistan in response to the …
Human Rights Under Threat: Five Not-So-Usual Suspects
Human Rights Watch this week released its 2012 World Report. The 676-page write-up covers some of the biggest stories of the year, including China’s crackdown on dissent, ongoing attacks on civilians in the Democratic Republic …
Series of Bombings Rocks Baghdad
A wave of attacks kills dozens
Case of Scottish Hacker Illustrates Divide Between U.S. and U.K. Extradition Laws
Sometimes the bleakest of battles can find some unexpected support.
In 2002, a Scottish man living in North London found himself under suspicion for hacking into dozens of Pentagon and NASA databases from his home computer. …
Bombs Explode in Afghanistan, While Seats Go Empty in Bonn
When Afghan President Hamid Karzai, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, along with some 100 high-level Afghan and International delegations, met in Bonn for a conference on Afghanistan’s …
The Bonn Conference: Can Afghanistan Be Saved Without Pakistan On Board?
It’s rarely a good sign these days when a summit gets referenced by the city that hosts it: Kyoto is now synonymous with the international community’s failures dealing with climate change; Oslo has become another watchword for …
Hamas Edges Closer to the Mainstream: Agreeing to Nonviolence, Opening the Door to Recognizing Israel
The leaders of the two biggest Palestinian parties met in Cairo on Thanksgiving, and just going by the headlines afterward, you’d have thought nothing had happened. “Palestinians talk unity, no sign of progress,” said Reuters. AP: “Palestinian rivals talk, but fail to resolve rifts.” But read the stories, and it becomes clear that a …
Israel Frets as Cairo Smolders and the Sinai Goes Qaeda
Imagine the tribal areas of Pakistan wedged snug against, say, Belgium instead of against Afghanistan. Next imagine that Belgium, usually so good about these sorts of details, hadn’t bothered to erect a border fence to at least try to keep the jihadis in their own yard. This is approximately the situation Israel suddenly faces with …