In Our Circles Archives - Page 20 of 62

60-Second Expert: Afghanistan

by Conn Hallinan | Jan 20, 2011

Despite the Obama administration’s repeated assurances to the contrary, the war in Afghanistan has taken a turn for the worse since the troop surge. Public opinion in the United States, NATO countries, and Afghanistan itself increasingly oppose the war. Corruption remains rampant, President Karzai’s influence barely extends beyond Kabul, and the military’s “counterinsurgency” strategy has translated into stepping up aerial bombings and night raids. At $8 billion a month, the war is bankrupting the United States with very few results to show for it.

New Year 2011, Okinawa and the Future of East Asia

by Gavan McCormack, Norimatsu Satoko, Mark Selden | Jan 18, 2011

The mood across East Asia as 2011 dawns is one of foreboding. Can the militarization and confrontation that gathered momentum through 2010 in the spiral of incidents (Cheonan in March, Senkaku in September, Yeonpyeong in November) and massive regional war rehearsals by the US and its allies be halted and reversed? The fear that events might slide during 2011 into catastrophe is hard to resist.

New U.S. Ship Deployment to Costa Rica Heightens Tensions

by John Lindsay-Poland | Jan 18, 2011

The Costa Rican legislature on December 20 approved another deployment of dozens of U.S. ships to its territory for the next six months, but denied permission for warships to deploy to the country until a full debate occurs after the New Year.

Apostate Politics: How Some Recanted Muslims Have Bolstered Militarist US Policies

by Samer Araabi | Jan 10, 2011

Recently, there has emerged a cadre of high-profile individuals from the Greater Middle East who, unlike Chalabi, have turned against Islam and embraced their lives in the West. In doing so, they have adopted views strikingly similar to some of the more hawkish factions in U.S. politics.

The Urge to Surge: Washington’s 30-Year High

by Tom Engelhardt | Jan 10, 2011

Just as 2010 ended, the American military’s urge to surge resurfaced in a significant way. It seems that “leaders” in the Obama administration and “senior American military commanders” in Afghanistan were acting as a veritable WikiLeaks machine. They slipped information to New York Times reporters Mark Mazzetti and Dexter Filkins about secret planning to increase pressure in the Pakistani tribal borderlands, possibly on the tinderbox province of Baluchistan, and undoubtedly on the Pakistani government and military via cross-border raids by U.S. Special Operations forces in the new year.

The Powerful Silence of Digital Dialogues

by Carol-Ann Gleason | Jan 10, 2011

Odd but true, the Republic of Cameroon has been heralded by the international community as one of the most stable nations in the highly charged and politically destabilized Central African region.

Cancun Agreement Succeeds in Meeting Low Expectations

by Laura Carlsen | Dec 27, 2010

They did it! After pre-announcing that no major decisions would result from Cancun talks and nearly two weeks of debates and discussions, the army of international climate change negotiators reached an agreement fully in line with the low expectations for it. In fact, they even managed to lower the bar on key issues.

Korean Brinkmanship, American Provocation, and the Road to War

by Tim Beal | Dec 26, 2010

The exchange of artillery fire between South and North Korea on 23 November, 2010 had predictable results – a great increase of tension on the peninsula, a show of force by the United States, and a torrent of uninformed media articles and pontificating from the security industry.

Is China Greening Africa?

by Stephen Marks | Dec 25, 2010

Is China smartening up its environmental and social act in Africa? It certainly wants to be seen as doing just that. One telling example was the recent Chinese government-sponsored ‘top Chinese enterprises in Africa’ competition, won by China Road and Bridge Corporation [CRBC].

New Poll Underlines Gloom Shrouding “Peace Process”

by Jim Lobe | Dec 15, 2010

Hope among both Jewish and Palestinian Israelis that a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians can ever be achieved appears to be fading, according to two major new polls released here Thursday.