Like two evenly-matched bantam-weights tiring as they enter the final round of a matchup low on the global strategic undercard in which the crowd has long-since lost interest, NATO and Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi are staggering towards the final bell. NATO will keeping jabbing away and win the bout on points, no doubt, but it’s …
Envious Of U.S. Debt Ceiling Conflict, France Considers One Of Its Own
Were Paul Krugman to be inhabited by the not-so-kindred soul of Ronald Reagan, the Nobel prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist might be looking towards Europe airing the disapproving lament, “Well, there you go again”. And just who would the culpable “you” up to something iffy again be? French President Nicolas …
Out of Bounds: Illegal Land Drives China’s Golf Course Boom
In 2004, China outlawed the construction of new golf courses. The move was supposed to save a water-parched land and cut down on flashy displays of wealth by China’s nouveaux-riches. But you wouldn’t know about any such ban if you looked at the newly manicured greens ringing China’s growing cities. Indeed, the People’s Daily, …
Militant Groups Would Benefit if Pakistan is Blamed for Latest Mumbai Attacks
There’s no reason yet to believe the latest Mumbai terror attacks bear the same signature as the 2008 massacre that left 164 people dead. Wednesday’s multiple explosions appear from early reports to have involved small-scale and relatively crude bombs, even though they appear to have inflicted substantial casualties. That might point …
Three Bomb Blasts Hit Mumbai: Has Jihadi Terrorism Struck Again?
Mumbai was hit by three serial blasts in heavily populated areas during rush hour on Wednesday night. Confirmed details are scarce, but local television channels are reporting as many as 21 people killed and dozens, perhaps over 100, injured. Police so far have not made any clear announcements, and India’s Home Ministry has …
Thousands of Afghans Flee Shelling at Border, Leaving Worrying Vacuum Behind
The specter of unintended consequences has haunted most military decisions made since the U.S. declared its war on terror nearly a decade ago. And so it should not be surprising that the death of Osama bin Laden — once envisioned as the blow to end this now-global fight — may itself be causing a fresh and unforeseen aftershock in …
World’s Greatest Ongoing Humanitarian Disaster Reaches a Crisis Point
With more than 60,000 starving and thirsty Somalis camped outside of the world’s largest refugee camp, what some aid agencies deem the world’s worst humanitarian crisis is facing its “critical days,” according to a UNICEF spokesperson.
Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp, originally constructed to hold 90,000 people — making it the …
Mistrust Remains as U.S. and China Rebuild Military Ties
Military relations between the U.S. and China are a glaring weak spot in bilateral ties, something Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he hoped to improve during a trip to China this week. His visit was the first by the highest-ranking military officer in the U.S. since Mullen’s predecessor Gen. …
The Assassination of Ahmed Wali Karzai: Careful What You Wish For
It is no small irony that his morning’s assassination of Ahmed Wali Karzai, the Afghan president’s half brother, politician, and perennial thorn in the side to the U.S. counter-insurgency effort, could not have come at a worse time. For years U.S. and NATO officials have made their displeasure over his outsize political …
Is France Changing Its Tune as the Libya War Drags On?
There’s currently a lot of activity, a good measure of confusion, but no real sign of progress in France towards an eventual resolution to the NATO-led intervention in Libya that Paris was instrumental in launching. And it’s against that backdrop of somewhat chaotic operation slog that the French parliament is being asked Tuesday …
Afghan President’s Brother Assassinated
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assassination of Ahmed Wali Karzai, the younger brother of Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, according to news reports today. My colleague Joe Klein has a post up already on Swampland about the assassination, which is already a major news story around the world. The younger Karzai was well …
A Powerhouse Province Wants to Relax China’s One-Child Policy—But Don’t Bet on a Baby Boom
China’s richest and most populous province, Guangdong, has reportedly asked Beijing for permission to relax the one-child policy. Yesterday, Zhang Feng, the head of its population commission, revealed that the province is pitching a pilot project that would allow some families to have two children, reports the BBC. Under the …
TIME’s Pretty Young Cover Girl Who Wasn’t
The TIME cover showed a lissome young woman in a red cocktail dress—and it generated a firestorm. Twenty-year-old Guo Meimei became a lightning rod in China after she posted pictures of her white Maserati and orange Lamborghini online, along with images of her flying in business class and riding a horse. What, wondered China’s …
