Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a close confidante of President Barack Obama, withdrew her name from consideration as secretary of state on Thursday in the face of what promised to be a contentious Senate confirmation battle. Rice has drawn heavy fire from Republicans for remarks she made in the aftermath […]
After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, when the Arab (and Persian) world was set to reach a new age of political modernity, discussions erupted mostly between the factions backing “Arabism” and “Islamism,” respectively. Sati al-Husri (1880-1967), the father of Arabist ideology, believed that Islamism was not able to guarantee national unity because of the […]
More than half a decade has passed since the recession that triggered the financial panic and the Great Recession, but the condition of the world continues to be summed up by what I’ve called ‘turboparalysis’ — a prolonged condition of furious motion without movement in any particular direction, a situation in which the engine roars […]
India‘s Gujarat state will hold a potentially game-changing vote on Thursday that could help decide whether Chief Minister Narendra Modi or Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, becomes India’s next prime minister. If, as many polls predict, Modi wins a fourth term as chief minister of the state, he is expected to project himself as […]
China stressed its adherence to peaceful development in response to a U.S. intelligence report predicting that China will surpass the United States to become the world’s largest economy before 2030. “China will unswervingly pursue a way of peaceful development. China’s development aims at making greater contributions toward peace and development of mankind, as well as […]
He calls himself Sharif. He is a young man without a beard who wears a hoodie and athletic shoes. He doesn’t look anything like a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, but rather like one of those young revolutionaries his men are assaulting with stones, sticks and steel rods. Sharif says that he hates these liberals […]
North Korea’s improving missile capability cast a shadow on political campaigns in two of its neighbors, heightening focus on a potential threat that may prompt Japan to stiffen its defense posture and provide a bump to South Korea’s conservative candidate. North Korea yesterday deployed a communications satellite from a rocket eight months after a previous attempt failed, […]
Egypt faces a serious and complex situation. Large crowds have taken to the streets and violence has broken out again. Clashes between opponents and supporters of President Mohammad Mursi have left several dead and hundreds more injured. It should have been different. Egypt should have been moving towards democracy and political stability, but the two […]
Saudi Arabia may have at first appeared untouched by the 2011 Arab uprisings, but the apparent calm belies a simmering crisis. Shia and Sunni sectarian tensions are arguably at the highest level since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and a harsh government crackdown is mobilizing radical elements in the Shia community and undercutting its pragmatists. […]
Russian President Vladimir Putin will need to mix fresh ideas with his trademark patriotism and tough-guy image on Wednesday when he lays out his plans to a cynical population weary of corruption and poor state services. Thirteen years after he rose to power, and more than two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, […]
looking beyond borders 