Foreign Policy
Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - 06:36
“There has never been a consistent U.S. foreign policy in Central Asia,” Sarah Kendzior, an independent Central Asia expert, told FP. “Not only is it hard to maintain meaningful relationships with the region’s autocratic regimes, but American inconsistency gives the impression to local governments that Washington doesn’t care about Central Asia on its own, only as a means to an end.”
Monday, April 13, 2015 - 06:53
It is important to remember that the Arab Spring protests were driven by economic grievances. The revolution’s fundamental goals included not just political freedom — which in Tunisia has been mostly, if tentatively, achieved — but also an end to economic domination by sclerotic bureaucracies and well-connected elites.
Friday, April 10, 2015 - 06:52
The new 40,000-strong Arab League “response force” is all about countering Iran. Get ready for tense times and strange bedfellows in the Middle East.
Friday, April 10, 2015 - 06:41
Kavumu is just across Lake Kivu from Rwanda and near an office of the U.N. stabilization mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). Kavumu has a high crime rate and a low literacy level, according to human rights activists.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015 - 07:06
As in the aftermath of the Tulip Revolution in 2005 that saw President Askar Akayev, Bakiyev’s predecessor, removed through popular protests, the new leadership has largely failed to deliver on promises to reduce corruption. The rickety interim government that tried to fill the vacuum after Bakiyev’s ouster passed a new constitution and moved the country to a mixed presidential-parliamentary system — an effort to prevent another leader from amassing too much power.
Friday, April 3, 2015 - 06:47
Karimov was re-elected to a fourth term, the second time he violated a constitutional two-term limit. Western observers criticized the election. The Uzbek president’s unrelenting pursuit of his critics has pushed peaceful opposition out of the country.
Thursday, April 2, 2015 - 07:17
The reality of Iraq’s deeply divided political landscape means that Iraqi Prim Minister Abadi is not in control of the dozens of different militias that make up the backbone of the fight against the Islamic State. After more than a decade of operating with complete impunity, they have become a law unto themselves.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015 - 07:02
Hundreds of U.S. Special Forces troops are heading overseas to train Syrian rebels to battle the Islamic State, but White House dithering and bureaucratic confusion could make it hard for them to pull it off.
Monday, March 30, 2015 - 07:13
American warplanes have begun bombing the Islamic State-held Iraqi city of Tikrit in order to bail out the embattled, stalled ground campaign launched by Baghdad and Tehran two weeks ago. This operation, billed as “revenge” for the Islamic State (IS) massacre of 1,700 Shiite soldiers at Camp Speicher last June, was launched without any consultation with Washington.
Monday, March 30, 2015 - 06:54
In the 2013 Global Hunger Index, Burundi had the severest hunger and malnourishment rates of all 120 countries ranked. The United Nations estimates that roughly 85 percent of disputes pending in Burundian courts pertain to land. Between 2013 and 2014, incidents of arson and attempted murder related to land conflict rose 19 percent and 36 percent, respectively.