Summit Struggle – Ahead of Wednesday’s crunch E.U. summit, Der Spiegel reports that new French President François Hollande will pressure German Chancellor Angela Merkel to agree to euro bonds, which she has so far strictly …
Russia
G-8 or G-Zero? Why the West No Longer Sets the Global Agenda
The spectacle of some of the most powerful leaders in the world gathering at Camp David on Friday for the G-8 summit and then for this weekend’s NATO anniversary in Chicago won’t disguise the fact that things seem to be gradually …
Must-Reads from Around the World, May 15, 2012
Deal in Nepal – The Kathmandu Post reports that Nepal’s major political parties have agreed to a future form of governance, with executive powers split between a directly elected president and a prime minister elected by parliament. “Negotiators from across party lines said that though the mixed model had some weak points, including a …
May Day Protests Around the Globe
Thousands around the world are marching through city streets in observance of May Day, the international workers’ holiday, shouting demands for greater equality and an end to government-imposed austerity measures.
Must-Reads from Around the World, May 1, 2012
Conduct Report – British MPs tasked with investigating allegations of phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch’s now-defunct tabloid, News of the World, have released a long-awaited final report on the matter. The Daily Telegraph is …
The U.S. and Brazil: Why the Two Hemispheric Giants Should Take Each Other More Seriously
After I and a number of colleagues wrote last month about possible U.S.-Brazil friction on the eve of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s visit to America, a Brazilian diplomat I respect contacted me about what he felt were …
Passenger Plane Crashes in Siberia, At Least 31 Dead
Accident raises yet more questions over transportation and security in Russia.
Why Syria’s Peace Process is a Continuation of War By Other Means
Skepticism by Syrian opposition groups and their foreign supporters over the Kofi Annan peace plan ostensibly accepted by President Bashar al-Assad is hardly surprising: The plan specifies no timetable or sequence for its …
Tibetan’s Self-Immolation Casts Shadow over BRICS Summit
The build-up to conclaves like the BRICS summit underway now in New Delhi usually generates lofty rhetoric about the shifting of global power and the emergence of a new world order. The geo-political grouping, which brings …
As Assad ‘Accepts’ Peace Plan, Can Syria Reset its Rebellion?
Three sets of meetings in different capitals on Tuesday offer a bleak reminder that Syria’s uprising against President Bashar al-Assad faces something of a do-over. Syrian opposition figures are gathered in Istanbul at the behest …
Why a U.N. Syria Peace Plan Poses a Challenge to Rebels
The Kofi Annan peace plan unanimously endorsed Wednesday by the U.N. Security Council may pose an even greater dilemma for the Syrian opposition than it does for the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. That’s because while it …
As Kofi Annan Arrives to Mediate, Syria’s Assad Regime is Far From Beaten
The defection of Syria’s deputy oil minister to the country’s year-old rebellion briefly captured headlines on Thursday, hailed in the West as a hopeful sign that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad may be starting to …
Putin’s Pitch: 5 Creepy Campaign Commercials
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin looks set to win his country’s March 4 presidential election. Drawing on his long-cultivated personality cult, Putin’s campaign conjured up a number of tawdry, creepy commercials.