“If there is going to be a big new lift to global democratic prospects in this decade, the region from which it will emanate is most likely to be East Asia.”
Must Reads from Around the World: Jan. 25, 2012
Daring Raid — U.S. Special Forces swooped into Somalia on Wednesday, and rescued two hostages, including an American woman, who had been kidnapped by pirates. The New York Times pieces together the details, noting that it …
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 …
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French Draft Law On Armenian Genocide Rocks Franco-Turkish Relations
Anyone who hoped that calm and harmony might somehow prevail after the passage of a French bill criminalizing denial of the 1915 genocide of Armenians by Ottoman Turks was mightily disappointed Monday night. Adoption of that …
Trouble Down South: Why Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese Aren’t Getting Along
The traditional distance between Hong Kong Chinese and their mainland counterparts was thrown into sharp relief recently, after two widely seen videos dramatized the cultural gulf that still exist between the two sides nearly 15 …
Why China’s Future Leader Is Going to Iowa
The White House announced on Monday that Vice President Xi Jinping, the man most likely to be China’s next President, will visit Washington, D.C., and California next month. Also on his itinerary: Iowa. Washington is, of course, …
Global Briefing, Jan. 24, 2012: POTUS, Problems and Progressive Politics
POTUS Probs — Hot on the heels of Fareed Zakaria’s TIME cover analysis of the U.S. president’s international agenda, Foreign Policy‘s Rosa Brooks delves into whether there’s an emerging Obama doctrine. The conclusion: “President …
“It's not great, but it's legal.”
The Challenge at Davos: A Crisis of Global Politics, Not Just the Economy
Despite its rugged alpine beauty, there are few places where the world seems more flat than Davos, Switzerland. The World Economic Forum’s grand annual conclave, set to kick off this Wednesday, draws myriad heads of state, global …
An Unhappy Chinese New Year: Chinese Forces Shoot Tibetan Protesters, with At Least One Dead
Chinese New Year is a raucous time, with celebrants detonating firecrackers late into the night to scare off evil spirits. But in the remote Tibetan-dominated reaches of Sichuan province, in China’s far west, the crackles …
A Decision in The Hague Sends Tribal Tremors Through Kenya
With its ruling Monday that Kenya’s deputy prime minister and richest man must stand trial for crimes against humanity, the International Criminal Court delivered a body blow to the impunity enjoyed by the elites who all too …
At India’s Jaipur Literary Festival, Oprah and the Tiger Mom, But No Salman Rushdie
Thick with palaces, elephants and crowded old bazaars, the Pink City of Jaipur is a postcard from ‘exotic India’ brought vividly to life. Its annual literary festival may be only six years old, but it tries to live up to its …