Editorial Board
Friday, November 4, 2016 - 06:40
On Sunday, following gross manipulation of the constitution and electoral system, Mr. Ortega will preside over his reelection as president, as well as the installation of his wife, Rosario Murillo, as vice president. With little more than a few grumbles, the Obama administration has tolerated and worked with the new Ortega regime. This, despite the fact that Mr. Ortega, a close ally of Fidel Castro, lately has begun purchasing weapons from Russia while granting a shadowy Chinese business executive rights to build a canal across the country.
Thursday, October 27, 2016 - 06:41
Bahrain, the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom that hosts the U.S. 5th Fleet, used to perceive a need to appear responsive to U.S. concerns about its atrocious human rights record. But as Mr. Obama backed away from his support for democratic change in the Middle East, so did Bahrain.
Tuesday, May 24, 2016 - 06:49
THE OBAMA administration says the killing of Taliban leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour in a U.S. drone strike “eliminates one roadblock to peace in Afghanistan,” as Defense Secretary Ash Carter put it in a statement. While that may be true — Mansour was said to have resisted negotiations with the Afghan government — the Taliban chief was not the only nor even the most important block to an Afghan settlement. Unless and until President Obama addresses some of the others, including his own reluctance to provide adequate support to the Afghan military, Saturday’s strike can’t be expected to much improve a deteriorating situation.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016 - 06:22
Measures to strengthen the rebels, and ground the government’s air force, are not only the morally right response to the deliberate bombing of hospitals and food stores. Pragmatically, they offer the only way to force the Assad regime and its allies to negotiate seriously about Syria’s future.
Thursday, April 28, 2016 - 06:45
The case is symptomatic of the disconnect between the rhetoric of strategic partnership with the United States and the actual practices of Persian Gulf regimes. Torture and sham trials are routine — and U.S. citizens seem to be singled out for exceptional punishment, notwithstanding the tiny country’s heavy reliance for defense on U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015 - 06:48
But as in other countries, defeating terrorism is a process, not a one-time event, and depends on improving governance as well as waging war.
Friday, November 6, 2015 - 06:38
Some residents fled their neighborhood in Burundi’s capital on Thursday after they found four bodies on the streets, part of a wave of killings associated with President Pierre Nkurunziza’s re-election for a third term.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 - 07:11
Turkmenistan's leadership has been clamping down on all news including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. This has left Turkmen with little to no access to reliable news.
Thursday, August 27, 2015 - 06:09
Authorities in Guatemala City arrested Mr. Pérez Molina’s former vice president, Roxana Baldetti, last Friday, and began to unveil an extensive dossier that has prompted public outrage and led to the resignation of at least 14 members of Mr. Pérez Molina’s cabinet.
Wednesday, August 19, 2015 - 07:01
Egypt’s rising authoritarianism has been met with a collective shrug in Washington, which sends Cairo $1.3 billion in military aid each year. One notable exception is Senator Patrick Leahy, who is raising alarm about human rights abuses Egyptian security forces have committed as they battle militants in the Sinai Peninsula.