The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported a 5.1 magnitude quake on 12 February 2013 in Sungjibaegam, North Korea. No, this wasn’t an earthquake but a nuclear detonation. A third one, in fact, by the rogue nation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The regrettable nuclear test not only violates international law but also undermines … Continue reading
In Tunisia, protests are nothing new; the Arab Spring cascaded after a Tunisian man set himself on fire in demonstration against the way the police were treating him. This week, mass protests have erupted after Chokri Belaid, the infamous opposition leader in Tunisia, was assassinated. This is the largest protest since December 2010. The labor … Continue reading
News of information control in China is nothing new, but cyber espionage is. For the past four months, the Chinese were able to continuously penetrate the New York Times’ computer system to track sensitive information. The spies first penetrated the computers when the Times ran a story about the $2 billion empire that the family … Continue reading
Tuesday’s election in Israel confirmed what we already knew. Bibi Netanyahu is not as strong and as powerful as we had thought. Israelis still want a strong Israel, but with focus on domestic and not the international issues. The way Israel’s democratic system functions is through a coalition government. The President is the Head of … Continue reading
On the eve of talks between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish government, three female members of the outlawed organization are found dead in Paris. The three women were no ordinary women; each was a high-ranking member of the PKK. Sakine Cansiz was a founding member, a symbol of the struggle. Fidan Doğan … Continue reading
Today, January 11, is Human Trafficking Awareness day. As part of January’s National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention month, many nonprofits and citizens are planning efforts to spread awareness and solidarity. One such effort is encouraging President Obama to pass the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which was signed into law in 2008. The Act authorized … Continue reading
My newsfeed headlines have been dominated by news that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been named second most influential man in the world. Although there are many other newsworthy stories to report, I believe that this story deserves a nod. According to Ian Bremmer, President of the Eurasia Group, influential, charismatic leaders still run the … Continue reading
The Magnitsky Act, a bill that recently passed in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, seeks to punish corrupt Russian officials. The bill, named after Sergei Magnitsky who discovered that Russian officials stole $230 million from the Russian treasury and alerted officials, and was later imprisoned and allegedly beaten and denied medical … Continue reading
Terrorism and religious extremism have found a home in Central Asia long ago. Ties between Central Asian terrorist cells and this in Afghanistan and Pakistan are deep. As fear of increasing terrorism and insurgency rises, Central Asia is increasing efforts to curb extremist tendencies in society. Either through counter terrorism operations, education of its citizens, or … Continue reading
Last week, Congress overwhelmingly voted to increase sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran. Although nuclear nonproliferation has become my life work’s purpose, I can’t, in my right mind, agree with our government’s decision to add increased sanctions. On the other Before you stop reading, hear me out. First, let’s examine the general reasons for … Continue reading
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