Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez brands himself the standard bearer of all things revolutionary in Latin America – including the Community of Latin American & Caribbean States (CELAC), the new hemispheric organization that …
After the Death of Key Leader, What’s the Future for India’s Maoist Rebellion?
The man known as “Kishenji” was chief ideologue, spokesman and military strategist for India’s Naxals, who have been waging a violent Maoist insurgency against the Indian state for decades. He was killed by Indian security forces …
Dispatch from Tahrir: For Egypt’s Liberals, Election Is a Hard Vote to Swallow
It’s been a topsy-turvy few days for the Tahrir Square youths who brought down Egypt’s dictatorship at the height of the Arab Spring. Last week, they returned to the square to save the revolution from being hijacked by the …
Clinton in Burma: As Ties with U.S. Strengthen, Will the Country’s Ethnic Minorities Be Forgotten?
Nestled next to a placid lake in Burma’s largest city, Rangoon, the villa of democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi is a pleasant spot—although no place can be so comfortable as to merit spending much of two decades under house arrest there. In 2009, before the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was released from villa detention by the ruling …
As Islamists Dominate Egypt’s Election, the Power Struggle with the Military Begins
The Muslim Brotherhood is Egypt’s political mainstream, and its most significant challengers are the more extreme Islamists of the Salafi movement rather than the secular liberal forces that dominate the Tahrir Square protest movement. That appears to be the not-exactly-surprising verdict of the electorate, according to reports from …
The Barefoot Diplomat: Hillary Clinton Begins Landmark Visit to Burma
One of the most surreal experiences in Burma is to leaf through the New Light of Myanmar. The English-language newspaper, which refers to the country by its official name, is among the most retrograde publications in the world. With tidbits like “True patriotism: It is very important for every one of the nation regardless of the …
Fareed Zakaria: How the U.S. Should Approach Pakistan
The discord underlying Washington’s troubled relationship with Islamabad reared its head again this week following the NATO bombing of Pakistani positions along the Afghan border. 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in a strike for which NATO has expressed regret, but reports suggest NATO and Afghan forces had taken fire from Pakistani …
After the Embassy Attack: Are Iran and the West Lurching Toward War?
The prospect of Iran and its Western adversaries stumbling into a military confrontation that neither side wants seems worryingly less improbable by the day. And if they do, each side will have plenty of evidence at hand to blame the other for instigating the conflagration. The latest round of brinkmanship, this week, came in the …
Congo’s Election Chaos: When Having the Vote Fixes Nothing
When the Democratic Republic of Congo held its first multiparty general election for 41 years in 2006, the event was hailed as a milestone on the slow march out of civil war and towards functionality for the world’s largest failed state. Five years later, as the country holds another poll, the naivete of the Western belief in …
As the Peace Process Goes Sideways, Gaza’s Economy Remains Stifled
Israel’s grip on the Palestinian economy amounts to business as usual. Palestinians carry shekels in their pockets, and most of what they buy with the Israeli currency comes from Israel, which is said to account for at least 80% of foreign trade with the occupied territories. That is a dependence that goes unremarked until something …
Austerity Nation: Britain Strikes as Government Extends Spending Cuts
In a nation where the weather changes by the hour, it’s useful to consult the morning forecast. For the two million public sector workers who walked out of their jobs across the U.K. this morning, today’s outlook likely seemed heavy with symbolism. Blustery winds across the northwest matched the chill of newly announced austerity …
Art Basel Miami: How the City on the Beach Became an International Cultural Hotspot
A decade ago, Miami was considered a tropical beach paradise but hardly an international arts oasis. In fact, after the violent Miami Vice-style scenes of the 1980s and 90s, followed by the Elián González fiasco and the Flori-duh images of the presidential vote recount in 2000, the Magic City was better known, fairly or not, as a …
The Road to Naypyidaw: What Hillary Clinton Will See in Burma
As U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton makes her historic visit to Burma from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, she will be touring two vastly different cities. Clinton, the first U.S. Secretary of State to visit the isolated nation in more than half a century, first stops in Naypyidaw, the country’s capital. The vast, surreal city, which …