Clinton announces first ever human-rights-based sanctions against Iran | Madam Secretary

Clinton announces first ever human-rights-based sanctions against Iran | Madam Secretary. As the saying goes, there is a first time for everything. Secretary Clinton announced yesterday that for the first time ever, the United States is imposing sanctions against Iran based on human rights abuses. She said that President Obama signed an executive order on Sept. [...]

Read Full Post »

The Development of Rising Powers

Fareed Zakaria – Rising powers need to rise up Some food for thought from Fareed Zakaria.  As the rest rise, how will they be socialized to new roles in the international system?  Arguably, the U.S. had a century of British tutelage to prepare for its period of dominance. The newly rising powers — China, India, [...]

Read Full Post »

Chaos between boarders

I once read in an article a line about Somalia that has stuck with me. It went something like this “to call Somalia a failed state would be generous, the DRC is a failed state, Somalia is chaos between borders.” The constant state of war is unimaginable, we hear about it but yet I believe [...]

Read Full Post »

Haitians Cry in Letters: ‘Please — Do Something!’

In our own backyard, and people are still suffering. Although some women have taken it to the extreme claiming that their husbands died during the earthquake, these people still need help. So how long does a natural disaster last in the media? The Haitians are need of food and supplies, parents still want their children [...]

Read Full Post »

China’s maritime aggression should be wake-up call to Japan | Shadow Government

China’s maritime aggression should be wake-up call to Japan | Shadow Government. “Japan is developing new defense guidelines that must factor in China’s increasing military challenge — and provide budget support for the development of new capabilities to protect Japan against Chinese bullying. Many DPJ members support the notion of a more equal U.S.-Japan alliance [...]

Read Full Post »

CIA’s Private Bounty Hunters

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130040526   “The CIA has trained and bankrolled a well-paid force of elite Afghan paramilitaries for nearly eight years to hunt al-Qaida and the Taliban for the CIA, according to current and former U.S. officials.” The idea that the CIA operates a privately trained tactical team of locals Afghans should be nothing new. Since the [...]

Read Full Post »

What Happened to India?

In the last decade, India has been spoken of, along with China, as a rising power. A country with over a billion people and growing, ready to work and turn India into the churning money/knowledge/development factory that we all expected it to become. Yet something has happened. China is still moving up, continuously in the [...]

Read Full Post »

Commentary: The Arabs and Iran | The National Interest

Commentary: The Arabs and Iran | The National Interest I decided to do a blog post as penance for being unable to attend class on the day my article was scheduled for discussion, and I discovered a piece on one of our blog feeds with a refreshingly nuanced and insightful look at Arab opinions of [...]

Read Full Post »

9 deaths in what is coalition’s deadliest year in Afghanistan

Nine U.S. service members in southern Afghanistan perished in a helicopter crash in what is now the deadliest year for coalition and U.S. forces since the battle against the Taliban started nearly nine years ago. The crash occurred in one of the several turbulent southern regions where coalition and Afghan troops ahve been battling the [...]

Read Full Post »

Why a US-Vietnam Nuclear Deal? | The Diplomat

Why a US-Vietnam Nuclear Deal? | The Diplomat In light of the fragile situation with Iran, I’ve been a bit surprised to find the US seemingly making deals left and right with other countries regarding  nuclear reactor technology. Saurav Jha reports that a deal has been made with Vietnam, but unlike similar deals with countries [...]

Read Full Post »