- By Chrisella Sagers
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A League of Nations in Transition A year after the Arab Spring ignited and spread like wildfire across the Middle East, the region is still struggling with making a transition to democracy. Could an EU-inspired trade agreement across Arab states be a guiding light? Read about it here. |
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Jordan, Quo Vadis? Jordan is one of the only remaining monarchies in the Middle East, after the Arab Spring’s cleaning. Kind Abdullah recently visited the United States, and it appeared that he is using this distinction to increase foreign investment in his country. Read about it here. |
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Op-Ed: How to Ensure an Irreversible Transition in Afghanistan After ten years, Afghanistan’s achievements remain a work in progress. How can the progress made in the past decade be solidified, rather than lost as foreign troops leave? The deputy assistant national security advisor of Afghanistan gives his perspective here. |
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Why are Afghans leaving Afghanistan? Afghans are increasingly fleeing their country, seeking asylum and better economic opportunities abroad. Why are they choosing to leave their country now? Read about the situation here. |
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A Conversation with Qubad Jalal Talabani Kurds have come to play a vital role in the new Iraqi state, says the Representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government. As Iraq seems to veer closer to violence, what will their role be in the region in the future? Read the profile of the Ambassador here. |
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Why Republicans Can’t Ignore the UN As election season heats up in the U.S., so does the Republican Party’s calls for defunding the United Nations. Would the UN-authorized NATO intervention in Libya have happened with a UN-bashing Republican in the White House? Probably. Read the argument why here. |
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Waiting for Godot in Zimbabwe Will elections ever be held in Zimbabwe while Mugabe is in power? Or is the country just waiting on Godot now? Read about the situation here. |
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A Poor Man’s Field: Crisis on the North China Plain As China’s population becomes more than 50 percent urban, farmers are bearing the brunt of the environmental and economic strain. Water is running low near cities, and pollution is rampant. Thousands of unpublicized riots occur each year, as poor farmers become frustrated with their lack of opportunities. Has the Communist Party become too disconnected? Read about the situation here. |
Around the Web
Egypt saw nearly 100 people killed in just a few days, as violent clashes between military forces and protestors turned ugly after a violent soccer game. Official sources claim that the riot was just heated tensions between two opposing teams’ fans, but many are suspecting that the instigators of the violence were actually pro-Mubarak thugs. Either way, the violence is a sign that Egypt’s transition from the autocratic regime is far from over, and security officials are starting to worry about the lack of security in the country.
Fiji is suffering from an identity crisis. Is the country on the road to recovery, or dooming itself to ruin? Is Commodore Frank Bainimarama a dictator or a democratic champion? In a follow-up to his piece for the Diplomatic Courier, , senior foreign correspondent Eddie Walsh writes at the Huffington Post about the competing narratives emerging from Australia and supporters of the Commodore.
This Month in Conspiracies
No, he’s really a shapeshifter: What is even more sinister than a President that could be hiding what country he was born in? One who is hiding what planets he has visited! Two men have claimed they were participants in a CIA program in the 1980s that was trying to occupy Mars, and they have confirmed President Obama was part of their team. The White House has denied such claims, but wouldn’t you deny it if you were holding out on teleportation technology?
And North Korea provided donuts in the break room: Jim Stone, freelance journalist with a self-professed “engineering background,” claims that the earthquake that devastated Japan and sent the Fukushima reactors into a nuclear meltdown was just “minor.” So minor, that the numbers had to be faked in order to convince people that the tsunami was actually caused by an Israeli nuclear bomb!! Why, you may ask, would Israel do that? Well, apparently, Japan was offering to enrich uranium “for Israel’s GREAT SATAN, Iran!” Collective gasp! So Israeli security forces took out the scheming operation by sneaking nuclear bombs into the reactors inside of security cameras and putting a tsunami bomb at the bottom of the ocean, and then… waiting for an earthquake to just come along. Israel then threatens to set off five more tsunami bombs (“FIVE MORE NUKES”) if Japan does not give up nuclear power completely. Nevermind how implausible this all sounds. Next Jim will treat you to an explanation of how vaccinations will be used to cause genetic mutations.