On June 8, Juan Cole, one of the few true Middle East experts in the US, posted a short entry on hisInformed Comment blog. The title said it all: “We misunderstood Barack: He only wanted the domestic surveillance to be made legal, not to end it”. But domestic surveillance was far from the only Bush policy that Obama has […]
The Chinese and U.S. approaches to surveillance and how each of their security apparatuses go about organizing and carrying out such activities are fundamentally different in nature. It might be useful to label them into two distinct models: the U.S. approach can be described as the democratic security state model and the Chinese version is […]
Rohani‘s reputation as a mediator and someone who has worked within the corridors of power should be an advantage that Khatami, who was director of the national library before he became president, never enjoyed…A big test will be whether Rohani pushes for the release from house arrest of Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, two reformist leaders […]
Pakistan has played a crucial role in shaping contemporary Afghanistan, and it is recognized that no sustainable solution to Afghanistan’s current security problems is possible without Pakistan’s involvement. This is what makes Pakistan’s purported ‘strategic shift’ towards Afghanistan so intriguing, says a SIPRI report. Read Here – Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
To stop Syria’s meltdown and contain its mushrooming threats, the United States should launch a partial military intervention aimed at pushing all sides to the negotiating table, argues Andrew. J. Tabler in Foreign Affairs Creating a no-fly zone sounds good on paper, military officials say, and might help to give a morale boost to the […]
The United States hoped to build Turkey into a model democracy in the Middle East, and to wait out the turmoil of the Arab Spring. Both policies have failed. Read Here – The European
One of wisest responses to the revelations by Edward Snowden, the whistle-blower who detailed the US government‘s snooping on online communications, came from one of America‘s leading academic bloggers: “Has the deadline for having a firm opinion about Snowden expired?” asked Daniel Drezner of Tufts University. “If so, I need an extension.” Read Here – The […]
Iran votes on Friday in a presidential election unlikely to result in seismic shifts in its troubled relations with the West and Gulf Arab neighbors, but which could bring a softening of the confrontational style personified by outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Read Here – Reuters
Observers say he is a sure thing. His party hopes he is. In what is a three-way competition, Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj will be seeking to retain power in the presidential election scheduled for June 26, keeping his Democratic Party the dominant force in government at least until the next legislative election. Read Here – […]
China will almost certainly pass the United States in the total size of its economy within a decade or so. But if one looks also at military and “soft power” resources, the U.S. is likely to remain more powerful than China for at least the next few decades. Does it matter, asks Joseph S. Nye Jr? […]
looking beyond borders 