Egyptian president’s desire to remain in power complicates the succession process Since assuming power after Anwar El-Sadat’s assassination in 1981, President Hosni Mubarak, 82, has ruled Egypt unrelentingly. However, questions regarding his health have arisen following gallbladder surgery performed in March. Still, the president recently announced that he would run for a sixth six-year term … Read more
The Merkel government should nip growing xenophobia in the bud Germany’s recent commemoration of the 20th anniversary of unification was marred by a startling report on the rise of German xenophobia. Conducted by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, a research organization associated with the opposition Social Democratic Party, the study found that public attitudes regarding immigration … Read more
Pacific islands take global warming into their own hands It is a favorite Hollywood storyline: a natural disaster is impending, and despite the efforts of the smartest scientists the nation can assemble, the only choices remaining are to evacuate or face annihilation. This fate may actually await low-lying island nations like the Maldives, Kiribati, and … Read more
How Russia’s political culture has failed to escape from the KGB The FBI’s break-up of a Russian spy ring in June has placed Russia’s intelligence services under renewed scrutiny. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, for his part, makes no secret of his KGB past. And there are undoubtedly important continuities between the KGB and its successor … Read more
In the high-powered, well-researched world of Middle Eastern border politics, everyone knows about the Golan Heights, the Litani River, and the Sinai Peninsula. But nobody’s ever heard of Ghajar. A bucolic riverside village of 2,000 in the Galilee’s far north, Ghajar could fit inconspicuously anywhere on the Syrian, Lebanese, or Israeli landscape. Until regional tumult … Read more
Rwanda’s hardened reformer moves forward despite growing criticism Rwanda has overcome the legacy of its horrific 1994 genocide to become one of Africa’s most successful developing nations. Elisa Nabel, a Harvard senior who spent a year in Rwanda, attested, “You can see how everyone is so eager to get the country running.” In an oft-told … Read more
Immediately following the midterm elections, newspaper headlines from around the world told the tale of an American president embarrassingly “defeated” and “apologetic” of his presidency thus far. From titles such as “No We Can’t” in the Kuwait Times to “Obama Admits He Needs ‘to Do a Better Job’ After Election Beating” in the London Guardian,to … Read more
Election plunges Australian politics into uncertainty After an Aug. 21 election in which neither major party in Australian politics received a majority, Julia Gillard of the Australian Labor Party managed to form the first minority government since 1940 by attracting the support of one Green parliamentarian and three independents. The incumbent center-left party led by … Read more
Addressing regional conflicts is at the heart of disarmament Throughout the 20th century, the threat of “mutually assured destruction” held nuclear war in check. Today, however, there is legitimate concern that rogue nations, reckless regimes, and international terrorists are intent on detonating a nuclear device in a major city. While many argue that disarmament is … Read more
Recent policy changes suggest a new openness towards Cuba Both Cuba and the United States have recently taken steps towards opening up relations after the half-century-long chill between the two neighbors. Fidel Castro, Cuba’s former longtime president, recently told The Atlantic, “The Cuban model doesn’t even work for us anymore.” (He later retracted the statement … Read more