Fossil Fueled Foreign Policy: Why COP26 Flopped
Western observers want to blame India for the failure of the UN climate talks. Not so fast.
Chile at the Crossroads: Between Reform and Reaction
After finally destroying the last vestiges of Pinochet, is Chile about to elect a right-wing populist to its highest office?
The Problem of Sanctions against North Korea
Economic sanctions have demonstrably failed to change North Korean behavior. So, when is the world going to try something new?
‘Now Is the Time to Be Angry’: Afghanistan’s Progressive Past and Dark Present
A personal reflection on the ‘Big Men’ who’ve meddled in Afghanistan — and the women navigating the aftermath.
“Great Successor” Kim Jong-un Needs Unalloyed Support of Military
The test of Kim Jong-un’s leadership will be to convince the military to throw its support behind him.
The Kims: Like Grandfather, Like Son?
Don’t look for reform in North Korea in the foreseeable future.
Two Leaders, Two Deaths
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and Czech leader Vaclav Havel occupied the opposite ends of the political continuum. One fought against the corrupt communist powers; the other consolidated communist rule. One tried to inject morality into the practice of politics while the other pursued political ends with little or no reference to morality. Having made their marks first in the artistic sphere, they were both in some sense reluctant politicians. Once in power, they managed to stabilize their respective countries during difficult times. But they failed in their efforts at more dramatic transformation.
Succession Questions Persist in Wake of Kim Jong-il’s Death
Kim Jong-il reportedly kept his son Kim Jong-un on the sidelines for fear of a challenge to his authority.
Israel’s Tax-Deductible Occupation
The new Likud-Yisrael Beitenu NGO funding legislation will limit and tax contributions to organizations opposed to the occupation. Meanwhile, pro-settlement charities rake in large sums from foreign donors.
The Amilcar Notes (Part 5):Election Exhilaration in Tunisia
Those who took to the streets in Tunisia and faced down fear are not those elected to the Constituent Assembly.
What If an Iranian Spy Plane Had Violated U.S. Airspace?
The United States asking for its drone back is like a burglar breaking into someone’s house, stealing a few items, and then returning the next day to ask for his tools back.
Arab Islamists Are Here to Stay
The hysteria of the West about the Arab awakening turning into an Arab Islamist nightmare is reaching full-blown proportions. The United States and Israel, self-appointed referees of democracy in the region despite their long-running support for the Middle East’s most corrupt and authoritarian regimes, are crying foul.
The incitement? A series of victories by Islamist parties in Tunisia, Morocco, and Egypt. Yet, given the history of Western support for governments that simultaneously quashed secular opposition movements and persecuted Islamists, the popularity of moderate Islamist parties should come as little surprise—nor should it be cause for concern.
The Amilcar Notes (Part 4): Tunisia — Profoundly Islamic
Tunisia’s militant youth, whose courage brought down President Ben Ali, has been replaced by politicians talking about both free market capitalism and the Koran.
Review: Zahra’s Paradise
A full year and a half before a popular uprising in Tunisia jolted the Arab world, a dramatic and still unfinished prelude was playing out in Iran’s Green Revolution. The enormous demonstrations against the apparently fraudulent reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – and the vicious crackdown subsequently unleashed by the country’s Supreme Leader – definitively severed, in the eyes of the world, the aspirations of Iran’s people from those of the thugs-cum-theocrats who had, until then, monopolized the country’s representation on the world stage.