Earlier this year, all eyes were focused on Iceland in a very negative way for the second time in 18 months. First their banks collapsed in 2008 which caused many in Europe who had savings accounts there to take a rather substantial financial hit. For example, in the UK local councils were estimated to be at risk for up to £840 million in cash. And secondly, as is pretty well known, the Icelandic ash cloud basically paralysed Europe for the...
A recent credible report by the Democratic Voice of Burma that North Korea may have assisted Myanmar's junta to acquire nuclear weapons technology has raised concerns at the international and regional levels.Myanmar is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but it is technically exempt from IAEA inspections. If it is in fact pursuing a nuclear weapons program aided by North Korea, it would represent one more nail in the...
With apologies for the terrible audio on my end. I’m traveling so this comes to you from a noisy space through a low quality mike.Henry Farrell and I ramble about Wikileaks, Facebook, academic blogging, and whether or not humans may reap positive externalities during the coming zombie plague if the Internet is indeed rewiring our braaaiiiins, making us less appetizing…
Even if the new sanctions against Iran prove effective at stopping an Iranian bomb, security analysts will not be able to breathe a sigh of relief. Eben Harrell in Time, April 8, 2010, explained the global distribution of highly enriched uranium: All told, over several decades, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council distributed some 44,000 lbs. (20,000 kg) of HEU — enough for 800 nuclear weapons — to around 50 countries as...
I just heard a radio discussion in which two pundits debated whether or not today's sanctions will trigger a reversal in Iran's nuclear program. The focus of the conversation was single cause = single effect -- the sanctions either will or will not be successful gauged solely against the one criteria. Obviously, that criteria is the most significant. But, like most policy instruments, sanctions are a complicated tool. I've been influenced most...
A powerful new music video remembering Neda.
Here is my list of some of the most important developments and trends that have occurred so far in the longest war in American history.10. The term "Neo-Taliban" was coined in 2003 (by the Economist magazine) to describe the insurgency that emerged after the US toppled the Taliban regime. However, the distinction between the Paleo-Taliban and the Neo-Taliban is mainly a shift in organization from a highly centralized government to a...
Riz Khan from Al Jazeera is asking the question today. This is always a question that triggers enormous debate among my students. Many tend to jump on the "look at China" or "look at Chile under Pinochet" bandwagon as evidence that autocratic governments are better at imposing the level of discipline necessary to trigger and sustain economic growth. Michael McFaul's new book Advancing Democracy Abroad: Why We should and How We Can has an...
From Christpher Beam at Slate:A powerful thunderstorm forced President Obama to cancel his Memorial Day speech near Chicago on Monday—an arbitrary event that had no affect on the trajectory of American politics.Obama now faces some of the most difficult challenges of his young presidency: the ongoing oil spill, the Gaza flotilla disaster, and revelations about possibly inappropriate conversations between the White House and candidates for...
I don't have a lot to say intellectually about the BP oil spill... others can do that perhaps more coherently. But between Hurricane Ivan and the oil washing up, the town I grew up in ...well, is a very different place. There's a sense of decenteredness that comes with that, and I got to thinking ...maybe that's just a small little piece of what a lot of people in conflict zones and disaster areas feel every day. Maybe. So even in the...
Can't generate sufficient public support for closing Guantanamo on legal and moral grounds? The Washington Post takes another tack -- your taxpayer dollars at work. The UPI picks up the report here and I bet this will make the lead in every local and regional newspaper around the country in the morning. Among the highlights: $683k to upgrade Starbucks and $773k for interior decoration of KFC/Taco Bell. Domestic mobilization on foreign policy...
The Karzai regime's three day "National Consultative Peace Jirga" is now concluded. As expected, the 1,400 member Jirga (and 200 guests) decided to proceed with a plan to offer amnesty to the Taliban and Hizb-i-Islami -- i.e. yes, the same groups which were firing rockets at the Jirga tent. The Taliban have made it quite clear that they have no desire to negotiate an end to hostilities until foreign forces leave. So it is unlikely that the...