One of the world’s longest civil conflicts may finally be over. On Jan. 12, a “peace delegation” from the quasi-civilian government of Burma signed a cease-fire agreement with ethnic Karen rebels who have been waging battle …
The Fate of Bashar Assad: Will He Be the Next Gaddafi or the Next Milosevic?
The fighting words from Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, who vowed Tuesday to hold on to power and crush his opponents with “an iron fist”, were optimistically interpreted by some as the bluster of a doomed man. To be sure, the …
Fareed Zakaria: It’s Not the Islamists You Should Worry About
In his column in the latest issue of TIME magazine, Fareed Zakaria points to the specter seemingly hanging over the Middle East — the rise of Islamist political parties in Arab Spring countries like Egypt — and dispels its menace. Groups like the Muslim Brotherhood appear genuine in their commitments to democratic and constitutional …
China Grumbles as the U.S. Expresses Concern over Self-Immolations in Tibetan Regions
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has some advice for its U.S. counterpart: Stop meddling in Tibetan affairs. Earlier this week, a U.S. State Department spokesperson expressed “serious concern” over a series of self-immolations in …
The New Braveheart? Scotland’s Salmond Eyes Independence from the U.K.
What would independence mean for Scotland? On Jan. 10, the country’s First Minister Alex Salmond pledged that a referendum on Scottish secession from the United Kingdom would take place in 2014. Here’s an expert, Professor Henry …
A Peeved Australia Sends Boat to Fetch Anti-Whaling Activists
It probably wasn’t how certain members of the Australian government pictured spending their week. But since three Australian activists traveling with the anti-whaling Sea Shepherd Conservation Society illegally boarded a …
Faces of Guantanamo: Detainees Who Were Unjustly Imprisoned
Jan. 11 marks ten years since the first detainees arrived at the U.S. facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Of the 779 imprisoned there since January 2002, only a small minority had any real ties to al-Qaeda. Many were arrested …
French Inquiry Clears Rwanda’s Kagame Of the Attack That Sparked a Genocide
Findings revealed on Tuesday from a new French inquiry into events that preceded the 1994 Rwandan genocide reverse the conclusions of a previous investigation that held Tutsi forces and individuals now part of Rwanda’s …
What the Controversy Behind Salman Rushdie’s India Visit Says About the Author’s Country of Origin
It still surprises me how easily it is to stir up controversy over Salman Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses in India. Rushdie is due to visit the Jaipur Literature Festival next week, and his trip coincides with all-out …
Soccer Legend Eric Cantona’s New Goal? The French Presidency
During his varied and fruitful life, Frenchman Eric Cantona has been a soccer hero, ad man, philosopher, kung-fu enthusiast, actor and musician, living legend, and even a king. Were that not enough, the 45 year-old Cantona is …
Ahmadinejad Goes on Tour: What’s Iran’s Agenda in Latin America?
In 2006, the same year Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez called then U.S. President George W. Bush “the devil” at the U.N., Chávez and his oil-rich, anti-U.S. revolution were looking for new ways to kick Washington in the …
Can Diplomacy Save an American Condemned to Death in Iran?
The bad news for Amir Mirzai Hekmati, the 28-year-old American sentenced to death in Tehran on Monday for allegedly spying for the CIA, is that the state of relations between Iran and the U.S. makes Iran’s leaders indifferent, at …
Jordan Allows Hamas to Take Up Residence on Its Soil
In what sure looks like further evidence of diminishing American influence in the Middle East, the country that summarily ejected Hamas a dozen years ago is opening its doors to senior leaders of the group Washington and Israel …