Although Roma have made gains in East-Central Europe, they continue to exist on the margins of society.
Roma and the American Civil Rights Movement
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Cameroon’s Chantal Biya – From the Streets to the Halls of Power
Tunisia’s former first lady Leila Trabelsi and Cameroon’s present, Chantal Biya, have strikingly similar profiles.
Saudi Arabia’s Temper Tantrums and What They Mean for the U.S.
Saudi Arabia recently rejected a coveted seat on the U.N. Security Council it had campaigned for over two years to get. The sense of surprise in the policy analysis world has been palpable, with analysts scratching their heads trying to understand why the oil-rich...
Turkey and the Middle-East Realignment
Cross-posted from the Colorado Progressive Jewish News. The news broke less than three weeks ago, on October 3, that Turkey, a longtime, staunch NATO member, just broke an unwritten rule of that global military alliance: it has announced it is considering a major $3.2...
Bashir Embarrassment Avoided. Now What?
Cross-posted from the United to End Genocide blog. A colossal embarrassment was avoided when Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide, apparently changed his mind about coming to the United States to address...
U.S. Needs to be R2P’d
Writing for the Guardian, and re-posted at AlterNet, Henry Porter makes the case that the scale of gun violence in America renders it, in effect, a civil war. Figures, especially if they’re staggering, can render us none. But the way Porter has framed the number of...
Nairobi Mall Attack Harkens Back to Electoral Violence Five Years Ago
Yesterday, the New York Times reported: Kenya is now entering an official three-day period of mourning to mark one of the most unsettling episodes in its recent history. The authorities here, in a country widely perceived as an oasis of peace and prosperity in a...
Steven Pinker’s “Better Angels” Ignores Demons That Lie Dormant
In this month’s Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (behind a paywall), esteemed atrocity authority Robert Jay Lifton addresses the “emerging school of thought” that “contends that the world is becoming increasingly safe.” For example he singles out Steven Pinker, who,...
Pull in the Welcome Mat — Sudan’s President Bashir Plans Trip to U.S.
Cross-posted from the United to End Genocide blog. In a reprehensible move, Sudanese President and International Criminal Court indictee Omar al-Bashir applied for a United States visa to attend the opening of the United Nations General Assembly next week. If granted...
The Former Yugoslavia: Nationalist Passions v. Political Interests
Cross-posted from JohnFeffer.com. John is currently traveling in Eastern Europe and observing its transformations since 1989. The disintegration of Yugoslavia was a triumph of nationalist passions over political interests. If the latter had prevailed, the process...