Uncategorized Archives - Page 27 of 274

The Real North Korea

by John Feffer | Apr 19, 2013

Only North Koreans can change North Korea. Attempting to impose a solution from outside – whether from Beijing, Seoul, or Washington – will just not work. North Koreans are a proud people, even more so after several decades of austerity and government-sponsored nationalism. Like Afghans and Iraqis, they will not take kindly, to say the least, to military invaders. And they know the limitations and leverage points of their society better than any outside political missionary bent on a softer version of regime change.

A Post-Castro Era Looms for Cuba

by Arturo Lopez-Levy | Apr 17, 2013

With a post-Castro Era looming on the horizon, the Obama administration should muster the political will to prepare the United States for February 2018, when neither Fidel nor Raul Castro will remain at the helm of the Cuban state.

No Peace Dividend? Not So Fast

by Miriam Pemberton | Apr 16, 2013

The Obama administration’s budget included a promissory note. It will take them a few more weeks to tell us what they plan to spend next year on the Afghan War. Their intention to bring that war to an end, though, is clear.  

The Beyonce Effect

by Arturo Lopez-Levy | Apr 9, 2013

Every once in a while, something happens to remind us just how far U.S.-Cuba relations have deviated from what they should be. In the first week of April, superstars Beyonce Knowles-Carter and Jay-Z strolled through Havana, engulfed in a sea of people. Reactions in the U.S. were immediate and indignant — and way off-base.

Soccer Riots and Egyptian Democracy

by Leslie Garvey | Apr 8, 2013

In early March, a resurgence in football riots erupted across Egypt, most severely in Cairo and Port Said. Thousands of football fans took to the streets, clashing with local police forces and, in Cairo, setting the Egyptian Football Federation headquarters and the Police Club on fire.

The Secret History of Yugoslavia

by John Feffer | Apr 5, 2013

Numerous accounts of the fall of Yugoslavia have attempted to shine a light on the machinations of the Milosevics. But now, thanks to human rights campaigner Sonja Biserko, we have a Serbian Secret History. Her new book, The Implosion of Yugoslavia, is a devastating indictment of not only Slobodan Milosevic and his circle of supporters but the entire culture of extreme nationalism that enveloped Serbia in those years like a fever dream.

Bizarre Belligerence on the Korean Peninsula

by Michael Walker | Apr 4, 2013

News about North Korea falls into two categories: the comical and the frightening. Examples of the former type of story abound, but unfortunately, the news from North Korea has of late been of the frightening variety. What the North Korean leadership is hoping to achieve by its belligerence is anyone’s guess, but the aggressive U.S. response has only escalated tensions.

Echoes of Occupy in Western Sahara

by Leslie Garvey | Mar 27, 2013

Even with millions of dollars of aid at its disposal, it seems unlikely that Morocco will be able to put off the issue of Western Sahara’s right to sovereignty indefinitely. The Gdeim Izik case has drawn the scrutiny and condemnation of the international press, and already the sentenced prisoners have planned a hunger strike to protest their trial and the torture many of them received while detained.

The Somaliazation of Syria

by Giorgio Cafiero | Mar 26, 2013

As Syria’s civil war enters its third year, the country’s humanitarian crisis worsens each day and the Levant grows increasingly vulnerable to the conflict’s spillover. Unless a tactical shift in the balance of power occurs, it is unlikely that either the regime or the rebels will gain control of Syria’s entire territory, leaving open the possibility that the state will fragment along sectarian lines.

Revisiting the Velvet Divorce

by John Feffer | Mar 13, 2013

This velvet divorce might not have been the most democratically orchestrated event in history. The leaders who executed the decision have seen their political careers take a nosedive. And the two sides might well look at the results very differently. But Czechoslovakia, though it no longer exists, remains a symbol of courageous resistance and sensible conflict resolution. It’s a legacy of which the offspring of these hyphenated parents can be proud.