All Commentaries
Children and ‘The Beast’
Which Way Home has no narration, but the subjects (children, parents, various government officials) have strong voices. It’s a smart approach—documentary in its purest form. The constant conversations of those on camera provide valuable insight into the children’s motivations for making the journey. The film easily transports the viewer into the sad and dangerous world of transnational migration.
Japan’s Decline as a Robotics Superpower: Lessons From Fukushima
The first robot to go into one of the plant’s reactor buildings, where high radiation was measured after the accident, was a U.S. PackBot. Japanese-made robots, said to be the best in the world, were not at the vanguard of such a crucial event. This has begged the question: Where has the country’s pride as a scientific and technological giant gone?
Land ‘investment’ deals in Africa: Say ‘no way!’
The real question at the heart of the matter is for whom are Africa’s resources and who do they benefit? Africa’s resources – land, water, minerals… are for the people of Africa. Despite its rich resources, African nations are reeling from widespread hunger and poverty. In that context, to talk about who should have strategic investor status, or export guarantees, is the wrong question to ask.
No One Supports the Troops More Than Bradley Manning
There is no better way to support the troops than to remove them from situations unworthy of their lives.
Breaking the Israel-Palestine Impasse
President Obama sketched a peace plan in May. The entire international community supports it, as well as the Israeli opposition parties and the Palestinian governing party. But peace remains elusive because the international community clings to the myth that there is no alternative to a bilateral negotiated solution.
WikiLeaks: Haiti Disaster Capitalism’s Latest Electroshock Patient
Documents from the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince paint a disturbing picture of American coercion of a struggling Haiti between 2004 and the month following the 2010 earthquake.
Washington’s Physics Problem in Iraq
The Joint Chiefs of Staff, says its chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, has a “physics problem.”
Re-emergence of Shining Path as Drug Syndicate Paints New Peruvian President Humala Into a Corner
If the Shining Path is permitted to reconstitute itself as either a political movement or a drug trafficking outfit, new Peruvian President Ollanta Humala will almost certainly guarantee himself a legacy of failure.
With Surgical Implantation, Jihadists Take Suicide Bombing to New Heights
Perhaps it’s time we sympathized with what drives suicide bombers.
Reorienting U.S. Security Strategy in South Asia
Positive movement in the India-Pakistan relationship would go a long way to stabilizing the region. Although transnational terrorism remains a serious concern, it does not carry the same existential threat as does the risk of a regional nuclear war. Reducing Indian-Pakistani tensions will alleviate the need for Pakistan to continue its support for terrorist proxies and bring their national security interests more in line with those of the United States. Movement on this underlying issue will have a positive impact on many other regional concerns and help bring to an end the chronic instability that has plagued the region for the past 50 years.