United States

Tuesday 14th February

The European leftist and the USA

Marcus How, 14 February 2012
European expectations of the emergence of an American social democratic movement after the election of Barack Obama were unrealistic, owing to different historical experiences on both sides of the Atlantic. Social democracy in the United States wouldn't follow the European example.

The US needs to rethink its strategy with Sudan

Elfadil Ibrahim, 14 February 2012
After the secession of South Sudan the Sudanese ruling National Congress Party seeks to strengthen ties with the United States and the west. Any attempt to reform the NCP will fail for now so Washington has no choice but to re-engage with the regime in Khartoum

The foreign policy of Ron Paul

Felipe Dittrich Ferreira, 14 February 2012
Is the US a fixer or a troublemaker? Why might US non-interventionism actually present good results in many cases? Ron Paul has been accused of isolationism. But since he appeals to both Republicans and Democrats it is worth taking his foreign policy more seriously than this.
Sunday 12th February

Carne Vale

Jim Gabour, 12 February 2012
In the run up to this year's Mardi Gras the author, left behind by progress, nevertheless decides not to rush

Occupy – free, educating theatre coming to a town near you

Alison Dreher, 12 February 2012
We are seeing today the first widespread global popular uprising in history that shares a name-tag and an idea: an end to corporate greed, extreme socio-economic inequality and, by deduction, the capitalist system in general. This performance on the world stage is wrestling with notions of publoid space and the challenge of ‘scaling up’.
Friday 10th February

Tempest in Islamabad

Farah Jan, 10 February 2012
Since the start of the year, civil–military relations have taken a nosedive in Pakistan, with no recovery in sight, and with each side threatening serious consequences. What are the chances of a coup?
Thursday 9th February

Proxy wars: could the US end up supporting al-Qaeda-like groups in Syria?

Ahmed E. Souaiaia, 9 February 2012
Syrian state-controlled media blames most of the deaths on armed groups (which it calls terrorists). These allegations have awakened Russia’s dormant–but not forgotten–memory of the Saudi-American alliance that created the Mujahidin networks in Afghanistan, which in turn defeated the Soviet Union.

America after Iraq-Afghanistan

Paul Rogers, 9 February 2012
Washington's military withdrawal from Iraq and problems in Afghanistan are forcing a change of strategy. Barack Obama's political fate will determine how far it will go.
Wednesday 8th February

China's elite: a language deficit

Kerry Brown, 8 February 2012
Beijing is concerned by Washington's more assertive regional policy in Asia. But here as elsewhere the Chinese leadership's inability to talk to the rest of the world in a natural way blunts its capacity to respond, says Kerry Brown.
Tuesday 7th February

Taiwan's election, and the need for nuance

LC Russell Hsiao and Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao, 7 February 2012
Taiwan's presidential election saw the incumbent Ma Ying-jeou win another four-year term in office over his opponent Tsai Ing-wen. But the interpretation of this outcome by Washington and Beijing misses an important dimension of Taiwan's political reality. Their flawed understanding could have damaging consequences over the next four years, say LC Russell Hsiao & Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao.
Sunday 5th February

Civilisation apéritif

Jim Gabour, 5 February 2012
Join the author for a toddy in a place where politeness has not gone out of style

Friday 3rd February

America, Israel, Iran: signals of war

Paul Rogers, 3 February 2012
A range of military and political developments, from the very rare planned deployment of three huge United States armadas in the Persian Gulf to Israeli fears of Barack Obama’s re-election, is evidence of rising danger around Iran.
Sunday 29th January

At the corner of food & politics

Jim Gabour, 29 January 2012
In New Orleans in the summer of 2005 you needed transport and fuel in order to eat. In this landscape of dead refrigerators and flooded stores, abandoned by government, the author describes how individual improvisation woven into collective action fed empty stomachs
Saturday 28th January

Jimmy Wales or Kim Dotcom - is anti-SOPA about fundamental principles or competing commercial interests?

Tony Curzon Price and Albert Wenger, 28 January 2012
In this podcast, Tony Curzon Price talks to Albert Wenger, partner at Union Square Ventures, the venture capital fund behind a lot of the most innovative and visible web companies of today, to try to understand: is anti-SOPA activism more about principle or about the competing interests of big Tech vs. big Entertainment
Monday 23rd January

America's social security: reforming a giant

Matt Kennard, 23 January 2012
The cost of the United States's trillion-dollar pension system is high on the presidential-election agenda. But turning problems into workable proposals is hard, reports Matt Kennard.
Sunday 22nd January

Enter, the anti-Thatcher (in tall shoes)

Jim Gabour, 22 January 2012
The daring designer plunge, the sledgehammer swing and a crawfish culinary classic are all ways to get noticed, swamplands-style
Friday 20th January

The thirty-year war: past, present, future

Paul Rogers, 20 January 2012
The prognosis of a thirty-year war looked outlandish as Saddam's regime toppled, persuasive as Iraq's insurgency erupted - and now less plausible amid American forces' retreat. But two core issues continue to give it life.
Thursday 19th January

Post-BICI Bahrain: between reform and stagnation

Elham Fakhro and Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, 19 January 2012
As the first anniversary of the February 14 uprising approaches, the regime and the country at large find themselves at a crossroads in which there is dangerously little space for a strong middle ground.

Sanctioning Iranian oil

Reyhaneh Noshiravani, 19 January 2012
With increasing geopolitical instability in oil producing states and the barriers that stand in the way of reaching a multilateral policy, the threat of sanctions in Iran only serves to intensify uncertainty surrounding oil price forecasts for 2012

Uncertainty looms amid progress in talks with the Taliban

Arif Rafiq, 19 January 2012
The Afghan Taliban and the United States have begun talks, advancing prospects that coalition forces can withdraw from Afghanistan. But there are many potential pitfalls on the road to peace: a real risk of a political and military stalemate in Afghanistan, forcing the United States to leave the region under uncertain and possibly dangerous terms.
Syndicate content