War & Peace Archives - Page 265 of 673 - Foreign Policy In Focus

Letter from Maguindanao

by Carmela Cruz | Apr 8, 2011

Outside the old municipal hall of Datu Piang, in the conflict-torn province of Maguindanao in southern Philippines, Lieutenant Colonel Benedict Arevalo stood on the riverbank and pointed to the marshland and hills. There, he said, was the Muslim rebels’ stronghold. In late October, the monsoon rains had swollen the river, cutting off Datu Piang’s bridge from the road on the other side. A marshy field with a lone hut, banana shrubs, and a derelict mosque lay directly across from where Arevalo stood briefing journalists on developments on the Philippine Army’s battle with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. “This is lawlessness,” he said.

No Moral Consistency in Obama’s Middle East Policy

by Bonnie Bricker, Adil E. Shamoo | Apr 8, 2011

Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and now Libya. In the last decade the U.S. military has fought Muslims across the Middle East (Iraq and Libya) and South Asia (Afghanistan and Pakistan) for a number of reasons: national security, protection of vital interests such as oil supply, and humanitarian crises. Though our recent foray into Libya can be considered more nuanced than our earlier interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan, our poorly defined words and actions have called into question our intent, with a mistrust of U.S. policy becoming a worldwide issue. In Libya, the U.S. lead role in the military intervention has proven that its advertised intentions and actions clash with reality on the ground.

How to Break the Deadlock With North Korea

by John Feffer | Apr 8, 2011

Intervention in Libya, which forfeited its nuclear weapons, has made North Korea more convinced than ever that it needs to hold on to its own nukes.

Take Part in the Global Day of Action on Military Spending, April 12

by Foreign Policy In Focus | Apr 7, 2011

The first Global Day of Action on Military Spending is Tuesday, April 12.

Why Burma’s Ethnic Minorities Become Refugees to Thailand

by Michael Busch | Apr 6, 2011

The ongoing oppression of Burma’s ethnic minorities, many of whom become refugees to Thailand, is overshadowed by disasters such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Darfur.

Libya and the Law of Unintended Consequences

by Conn Hallinan | Apr 6, 2011

Coming to terms with NATO’s intervention in the Libyan civil war is a little like wresting a grizzly bear: big, hairy, and likely to make one pretty uncomfortable no matter where you grab a hold of it. Is it a humanitarian endeavor? A grab for oil resources? Or an election ploy by French President Nicolas Sarkozy?

Strategic Dialogue: Libya War

by Robert Naiman, Ian Williams | Apr 5, 2011

In the second part of our strategic dialogue on the Libya War, Robert Naiman and Ian Williams respond to their initial essays. You can read the original essays here: Naiman’s anti-intervention essay Surprise War for Regime Change in Libya is the Wrong Path and Ian Williams’ pro-intervention essay Armchair Anti-Imperialists and Libya.

The Geopolitics of Stupid

by John Feffer | Apr 5, 2011

He’s an activist who has used the Internet to fight for what he believes in. He is a member of civil society committed to living in truth. He doesn’t live in Cairo or Tunis or Damascus. He doesn’t live in an oppressive society at all, unless you consider Gainesville, Florida an oppressive place. Instead of setting himself on fire, like Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia, the preacher Terry Jones has set fire to a book, the Qur’an. It wasn’t a very original idea – the first emperor of China burned books and so did the Nazis – but then, neither is self-immolation.

Why Did Richard Goldstone Throw the Goldstone Report Under the Bus?

by Ian Williams | Apr 5, 2011

By half-heartedly retracting his report, Richard Goldstone not only won no friends in Israel, but sabotaged his human-rights reputation.

U.S.-Algeria Counterterrorism Partnership a Marriage of Convenience

by Rob Prince | Apr 4, 2011

Algeria was able to extend its influence over its southern neighbors. The U.S. was able to “piggyback” on Algeria’s concerns, real and imagined, to create a security network extending from Algeria to Nigeria.