What’s so Islamic about the leadership of the Islamic Republic?
Proclaiming One’s Supremacy Doesn’t Become a Supreme Leader
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Statement from Emira Woods on Haiti’s Debt
While we applaud the International Monetary Fund’s cancellation of Haiti’s debt, we are alarmed that in the six months since Haiti’s devastating earthquake, the IMF has saddled the country with millions of new loans. Haitians must direct scarce resources to rebuilding — now and into the future, not to debt service payments to international bankers. What’s worse, according to the IMF, these new loans focus on developing “the textiles and tourism industries.”
Armed Sprawl
Clear away, for the moment, the repression, the bombings, the rocket attacks, the fence, the religions, the national aspirations and resentments — and just take a closer look at Israel and the West Bank. It’s not hard to do. Open Google Earth and cruise over this conflicted piece of territory, concentrating your attention on signs of human habitation.
Shades of Evil
Who would have thought that the evil team bent on destroying the world would be composed entirely of people of color? In the imagination of Hollywood, after all, the bad guys are now white guys like the scientists gone bad in Spiderman or those jokers in Batman or the military privateers of Avatar. Occasionally, scriptwriters will dust off a rogue Russian or sprinkle a few Arab terrorists in the mix or persuade Forest Whitaker to play Idi Amin. But for the most part, post-Arendt, we now associate evil with banality, and there is nothing more banal than plain vanilla.
Bleeding in the Gulf
Hundreds of vibrant panels, contrasting in color and varying in size, collectively comprise a 300-foot long mural. Among the most striking images are giant oil-covered pelicans and helpless fish dying in their contaminated environment. Alongside these paintings are passionate hand-written messages that evoke both curiosity and sympathy. Together, the messages tell a story of corporate irresponsibility, environmental devastation, and a vital need for sustainability. “I am mourning the gulf and pray this is not the beginning of the end,” reads one. Another person has written, “For 200 years we’ve been conquering the nature. Now we are beating it to death.”
Shanghai’s Expo Vision
On a busy day, Shanghai’s World Expo can usher in crowds on par with the population of Boston. A ticket gets you dazzling oddball architecture, glittering ceremonies, and long, sweat-drenched lines. This is the latest episode in Shanghai’s aspiration to join the top tier of global cities that assert their worldwide political, cultural and economic influence. It is but one phase in China’s tectonic physical transformation, fueled by near-perennial double-digit growth and ethereal land valuations.
Israel: Warped Mirrors and White House Sofas
A bill that outlaws NGOs that provide information to the likes of the UN further threatens the already shaky foundations of Israeli democracy.
Review: ‘The Insular Empire’
The past colonial possessions of the United States seem to have slipped from public consciousness. Most American troops left Cuba, the Philippines, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic many decades ago, so little more could be expected of a nation that hardly remembers the two wars it is currently fighting.
60 Second Expert: The Divergence of America and Israel
According to Meir Dagan, director of Mossad, “Israel is turning from an asset to the United States to a burden.” Though an alignment of interests between the United States and Israel existed from the 1960s to the end of the Cold War, the two countries’ strategic interests no longer coincide. This is clear from U.S. reactions to the Turkish flotilla incident, which indicate a major shift in American grand strategy in the region.
The United States and South Africa Share Great Challenges
This year, the world was united in our excitement for the World Cup, and in praise of South Africa being the first host for the games in the continent of Africa. Thirty-two countries would compete and more than a million tourists came to South Africa during the month; visitors from Zimbabwe, the US, Malawi, Mexico, and all over the globe joined the Zulu, Xhosa, East Indians, Afrikaners, British, mixed-race “Coloureds,” and other infinitely diverse people that make up the hosting “Rainbow Nation.” But when the wave of euphoria subsides, South Africans will still be faced with a fractured society, a legacy of segregation and inequality established under apartheid and persisting to this day.