For an illustration of Secretary of State John Kerry‘s commitment to Asia — or lack thereof — look no further than his travel schedule. On July 1, he arrived in the tiny nation of Brunei for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum, an annual multilateral dialogue. In the weeks prior, Kerry canceled inaugural stops in Indonesia […]
The protests have many different origins. In Brazil people rose up against bus fares, in Turkey against a building project. Indonesians have rejected higher fuel prices, Bulgarians the government’s cronyism. In the euro zone they march against austerity, and the Arab spring has become a perma-protest against pretty much everything. Each angry demonstration is angry […]
Mohammed Morsi, a member the Muslim Brotherhood’s political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, was sworn in as Egypt’s president on June 30, 2012. One year later, an unprecedented number of Egyptians have taken to the streets across the country to demand the resignation of the first democratically elected president Egypt has ever known. Morsi’s […]
Amid the Arab Spring unrest seen among many of its neighbors, the United Arab Emirates has painted itself as a bastion of stability and progress. But the outcome of a trial this week will mark the culmination of the wealthy Gulf state’s little-publicized crackdown on domestic dissent, which critics say has been marked by torture and […]
Dark clouds hang over Nepal, promising rain and rejuvenation, but at the same time, threatening a destruction of life and property. The political scene is no different. In the next five months before November 19, the date for the election of the second Constituent Assembly (CA), we will witness the full effect of this year’s […]
Trying to predict political developments in Iran can be a humbling experience, even for the most seasoned students of Iranian politics. The unexpected electoral victory of centrist Hassan Rouhani serves as a reminder of this stark reality. The Washington Post editorial board boldly proclaimed before the elections that Rouhani “will not be allowed to win”. Read Here – Al […]
On Sunday the New York Times ran a front-page article previewing what appears to be the emerging consensus in GOP circles on how to stop Hillary Clinton from winning the White House in 2016: by portraying her as too old for the job…This is a terrible political strategy, argues Joshua Green. Read Here – Businessweek
In the run-up to Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997, the world wondered what officials in Beijing would do with the place. Would Hong Kong’s dynamism and openness catalyze change in China, or would the Communist Party try to remake the freewheeling city-state in its image? Read Here – Bloomberg
When the Black Death exploded in Arabia in the 14th century, killing an estimated third of the population, it spread across the Islamic world via infected religious pilgrims. Today, the Middle East is threatened with a new plague, one eponymously if not ominously named the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV, or MERS for short). Read Here […]
Underneath all the anger in Egypt lies a basic fact: The country’s economy is in deep trouble. Normally a country in such a bad way would go to the IMF for support. Instead, it has tried to play the fund and Gulf donors off one another to stay afloat. Read Here – Foreign Affairs
