Of late, Pakistani politicians could best be described as roulette players, betting the bank on singular gambits designed to win big political concessions, or at least the momentary attention of a rabid electronic media. But on …
Global Briefing, Jan. 19, 2012: Asia, Abortion and Afghanistan
Imagining Asia — Foreign Policy uses the case of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrihim to challenge the enduring myth that so-called “Asian values” are a barrier to democratization in the countries of East and Southeast
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Why the World Should Ignore the Presidential Campaign Foreign Policy Debates
As Republican presidential contenders prepare for yet another televised primary debate in South Carolina on Thursday, much of the world may be wondering who’ll be the next victim of some ignorant insult. Already, the GOP primary …
From Darkness to Light: How One Afghan Girl Struggled for a Better Future
Meet Nilab Nusrat, a courageous and talented teenager from Afghanistan with a powerful story to tell
Author Who Fled China Details Abuse by Authorities
Dissident Chinese writer Yu Jie held a press conference Wednesday in Washington, D.C., to describe the abuse that drove him to flee to the U.S. with his family last week. Yu, the author of more than a dozen books including the …
Sarkozy Hopes To Lift Grim Re-Election Odds with Unexpected Reform Drive
For readers following the up-hill re-election efforts ofFrench President Nicolas Sarkozy, I’d like to point out a couple of good pieces on the “social summit” the Elysée is hosting Wednesday in its attempts to push through …
Fatal Failure: Did Aid Agencies Let Up To 100,000 Somalis Die in 2011?
Even the best aid agencies find they can rarely admit their faults. Aid depends on donations, and donors need to feel confidence and trust to hand over money to an aid agency, which means the $126-billion-a-year foreign aid …
North Korea’s Runaway Sushi Chef Remembers Kim Jong Un
Kenji Fujimoto is easy to recognize, if only because of the trademark disguise he has been wearing for the past decade or so. The longtime sushi chef to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, Fujimoto has been laying low since …
Global Briefing, Jan. 18, 2012; Intervention, Inaction, Independence, Iran — and Iceland’s Funnyman Mayor
“It’s Time to Think Seriously About Intervening in Syria”— CFR fellow Steven A. Cook argues in the Atlantic the West must reconsider the assumption Bashar al-Assad’s regime will fall on its own. Meanwhile, the Guardian‘s Middle …
This Is What Propaganda Looks Like: the Kim Jong Un Show
I don’t speak Korean. But you don’t really need to understand it to figure out what’s going on in this North Korean “documentary” eulogizing the new top man in Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un. In fact, given the grating style of its female narrator — who rapturously quivers and exclaims through the hour-long segment like a …
Not Just a Pakistani Problem: India’s Army Chief Challenges His Own Government
Side by side on the front page of today’s Hindu newspaper are two stories about conflict between the Army and the civilian government in two South Asian countries. One of them, of course, is Pakistan, a country whose political …
Global Briefing, Jan. 17, 2011: Assassinations, Appeals and Air France
Pollution Police —The Guardian assesses China’s level of environmental transparency, noting NGOs are increasingly upbeat after public campaigns forced major players, including Apple and the Beijing government, to release sensitive information on pollution and its origins.
The Tempest – The New York Times‘ new Pakistan bureau …
War with Iran: A Conflict Obama Hopes to Avoid May Be Imposed on Him
It’s unlikely that President Barack Obama intends to go to the polls in November with the United States engaged in a hot war with Iran, but there is a growing danger that events could conspire to make the decision for him. The …