Columns Archives - Foreign Policy In Focus

Democracy Thwarts U.S. Base Plans

by Christine Ahn, Gwyn Kirk | Feb 10, 2010

This March, the Obamas will touch down in the U.S. territory of Guam, en route to Australia and Indonesia. It’s a big deal for this tiny Pacific island seven-and-a-half hours by plane from Hawaii and, according to airport placards, “where America’s day begins.” Two senators from Guam, Judith P. Guthertz and Rory J. Respicio, have already written to ask the president “to meet a few of your fellow Americans,” instead of the typical orchestrated “pit stop” behind the gates of Andersen Air Force Base.

Murder Capital of the World

by Laura Carlsen | Feb 4, 2010

On January 31, an armed commando unit pulled up to a house in a working-class neighborhood in Ciudad Juarez on the Mexican side of the border with the United States. Inside the house, 60 teenagers were celebrating a friend’s birthday. Wielding high-caliber weapons, the commandos opened fire on the kids, robbed the house, then drove away from the scene — amid human cries, the scent of gunpowder, and the total absence of law enforcement officials.

China and India Battle Over Thin Air

by Conn Hallinan | Jan 27, 2010

Of all the world’s potential hotspots, one of the most unlikely is tucked into the folds of the Himalayas. This slice of ground is little more than frozen rock fields and soaring peaks that is decidedly short on people, resources, and oxygen. But for the past year this border area has been a worrisome source of friction between India and China, including incursions by Chinese troops, the wounding of several Indian border police, and a buildup of military forces on both sides.

China: The Prince of Denmark

by Walden Bello | Jan 20, 2010

Almost a month after the debacle at the United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen (Conference of Parties or COP 15), the question of who scuttled the talks elicits fury and derision.

Eight Years of Guantanamo: What’s Changed?

by Frida Berrigan | Jan 14, 2010

The first 20 detainees arrived at Guantánamo’s Camp X-Ray eight years ago, on January 11, 2002. Just over seven years later, President Barack Obama—on his second full day after taking office—issued an order to shut the prison within a year.

A Path for Peace in South Asia

by Zia Mian | Jan 7, 2010

It has been a grim start to the New Year and the new decade in South Asia. Vested interests, hardened obsessions, and old habits continue to push India and Pakistan in the direction of ruinous conflict. While military planners in both countries plan and prepare for the next war, politicians and diplomats remain determined not to talk except on their own terms.

Honduran Elections a Parody of Democracy

by Laura Carlsen, John Feffer | Dec 8, 2009

The production Honduran Elections, staged at a small, rundown theater in Central America on November 29, left the audience unconvinced, and failed to resolve a confused and conflict-ridden plotline.

The AfPak Train Wreck

by John Feffer, Conn Hallinan | Dec 7, 2009

When President Barack Obama laid out his plan for winning the war in Afghanistan, behind him stood an army of ghosts: Greeks, Mongols, Buddhists, British, and Russians, all whom had almost the same illusions as the current resident of the Oval Office about Central Asia. The first four armies are dust. But there are Russian survivors of the 1979-89 war that ended up killing 15,000 Soviets and hundreds of thousands of Afghans as well as virtually wrecking Moscow’s economy.

Climate and Capitalism in Copenhagen

by Walden Bello, John Feffer | Dec 1, 2009

Beginning in the second week of December, representatives to the United Nations Climate Conference in Copenhagen will wrestle with the challenge of climate change. This week, influential actors in the World Trade Organization Seventh Ministerial Conference taking place in Geneva are trying to push for a conclusion to the nine-year-old Doha Round of trade negotiations.

The Conventional Arms Control Challenge

by Frida Berrigan, John Feffer | Nov 18, 2009

Massive ordnance penetrator. Sounds powerful, right? This bomb is also known by its initials: MOP.