It is the singular misfortune of the residents of Guam and the Northern Marianas to have been born on tiny islands of great strategic value in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The consequence has been their colonial subordination for four centuries to a succession of empires: Spain, the United States, Germany, Japan, and, since the Pacific War, the US again.
Since Apr. 26, a state of emergency has been in effect in five northern provinces of Paraguay, which represent a third of the nation’s territory. The government maintains that there is an active guerrilla presence in the region, although it has never been able to prove its existence. However, what is certain is that acts of violence have been committed by mafia organizations and the government is trying to resolve the situation through militarization.
Washington pundits are still pushing Obama to delay or cancel the U.S. disengagement, calling on him to be “flexible” and take into consideration the recent spike of violence in Iraq. Hundreds of Iraqis have been killed and injured during the last few months in what seems to be an organized campaign to challenge U.S. plans.
If Kyrgyzstan becomes a pawn on a larger board, then the “Great Game” will shift from Afghanistan and Pakistan to the rest of Central Asia.
Can you imagine that candidate Obama would have campaigned on the promise of having 125,000 personnel in Iraq by the end of summer 2010?
Will confining NATO to its own backyard and scaling back its mission could spell the beginning of its end?
It was probably North Korea behind the sinking of the South Korean ship. But we still need to respond with a hand and not a fist.
The Cold War was like two winos who’d dragged themselves from the gutter and stopped drinking. But, hedging their bets on sobriety, they carried around pints of Everclear 190 proof grain alcohol.
Turning Afghanistan over to the Taliban may actually be a win-win situation for the United States.
Does the quest for Israel-Palestine pece still accord with U.S. interests? Is it still the key to Middle-East stability?