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Friday, June 19, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
U.S.: Bush Foreign Policy Legacy Widely Seen as Disastrous
While in a farewell press conference Monday George W. Bush once again expressed the belief that his eight-year presidency, particularly his foreign-policy record, will be vindicated by history, the portents are not particularly good.
US-MIDEAST: Media Eyeless in Gaza at Key Moment
Consumed by coverage of the Nov. 4 presidential election, U.S. mainstream media ignored a key Israeli military attack on a Hamas target that some Palestinians claim marked the effective end of the ceasefire between the two sides and set the stage for the current round of bloodletting.U.S.: Networks’ Int’l News Coverage at Record Low in 2008
Despite two wars involving more than 200,000 U.S. troops and a global economic crisis, foreign-related news coverage by the three major U.S. television networks fell to a record low during 2008, according to the latest annual review of network news coverage by the authoritative Tyndall Report.MIDEAST: U.S. Branch of Amnesty Calls on Rice to Drop “Lopsided” Stance
The U.S. section of Amnesty International sent an "urgent" letter Friday to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, calling on her to end what it called Washington's "lopsided response" to the ongoing Israeli air strikes on Gaza that have reportedly killed more than 400 Palestinians, including scores of unarmed civilians.MIDEAST: Israeli Attack Seen as Complicating Obama’s Plans
Israel’s massive three-day aerial assault on Gaza is likely to complicate President-elect Barack Obama’s hopes of aggressively pursuing Israeli- Palestinian peace negotiations, and risk inflicting greater damage to Washington’s standing in the Arab world, according to most analysts here.MIDEAST: Unity – and Peace – Hinge on U.S., Other Outsiders
Eighteen months after Hamas evicted Fatah forces from Gaza, the prospects for restoring Palestinian unity are more elusive than ever, with both factions believing that time is on their side, according to a new report by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) released Wednesday.RIGHTS: Bipartisan U.S. Panel Offers Blueprint to Prevent Genocide
A bipartisan task force of former top national security policymakers is calling on the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama to make the prevention of genocide and mass atrocities overseas a top U.S. foreign policy priority.US-CUBA: Business Support for Dismantling Embargo
If U.S. President-elect Barack Obama wants to begin dismantling Washington’s nearly 50-year-old trade embargo against Cuba, it appears he will have widespread support for doing so.U.S.: Mumbai Massacre Seen as Major Blow to Regional Strategy
A week after the massacre of more than 170 people by armed militants in Mumbai, U.S. officials are scrambling to prevent the incident from blowing up into a full-fledged confrontation between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.U.S.: Obama Urged to Quickly Engage Iran, Syria
The incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama should move quickly to engage Iran without preconditions and to promote an Israeli-Syrian peace accord, according to two veteran Middle East experts whose views are likely to have influence over Obama's just-announced foreign policy team.U.S.: Diplomacy, Multilateralism Stressed by Obama Team
Introducing the top figures in his national security team in Chicago Monday, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama promised a "new dawn of American leadership" that will be marked by much greater emphasis on diplomacy and multilateralism than was accorded by the incumbent, George W. Bush.POLITICS-US: Realists to Reign
Less than two months before taking office, President-elect Barack Obama is making clear that realists - some more identified with Republicans and the military than with Democrats - are likely to rule the incoming administration's foreign policy roost, at least at the outset.U.S.: Hemispheric Group Calls for Major Changes in Americas Policy
An elite inter-American commission sponsored by a think tank that is considered close to likely key policy-makers in the administration of President-elect Barack Obama is calling for sharp break in U.S. policy toward Latin America, a substantial opening toward Cuba, greater diplomatic engagement with Venezuela, and a major reassessment of its war on drugs.U.S.: Intelligence Analysts See Multi-Polar, Risky World By 2025
While the United States will remain the world's single most powerful country in 2025, it will be less dominant and more constrained in its freedom of action - even in the military sphere - than it is now, according to a major new report released here Thursday by the government's National Intelligence council (NIC).POLITICS: Greybeards Urge Overhaul of Global Governance
Capping a nearly two-year consultation involving dozens of U.S. and international leaders, a new report by three U.S. think tanks is calling on President-elect Barack Obama and other leaders to implement sweeping reforms in global governance to more effectively tackle shared regional and global threats over the next half century.U.S.: Obama Urged to Strengthen Ties with U.N.
A bipartisan group of some three dozen senior foreign policy figures has released a statement calling for President-elect Barack Obama to make strengthening long-troubled U.S. relations with the United Nations a major priority in his new administration.US-PAKISTAN: Obama-Tied Think Tank Calls for “Dramatic” Shift
A think tank closely tied to U.S. President-Elect Barack Obama is calling for a "dramatic strategic shift" in Washington's policy towards Pakistan, one designed to both strengthen civilian institutions and promote an effective counter-insurgency against al Qaeda and indigenous Islamist extremists in the tribal areas along the Afghan border who increasingly threaten the country's stability.U.S.: Obama Advised to Forgo More Threats to Iran
A strategy of threats and "provocations" against Iran by the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama is likely to be counter-productive, according to a new report released here Friday by a group of 20 former top U.S. diplomats and regional experts.U.S.: First, Close Guantanamo, Say Rights Groups
President-elect Barack Obama should make the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility a top priority when he takes office Jan. 20, U.S. and international human rights groups said Monday.U.S.: Obama Foreign Policy May Not Require a Clean Break
While much of the world and many of his U.S. supporters are expecting a sharp break with his predecessor's foreign policy after President-elect Barack Obama takes office Jan. 20, they may be surprised by the degree of continuity between the two administrations.U.S.: Coca Cultivation Up Despite Six Years of Plan Colombia
Despite the expenditure of nearly five billion dollars in U.S. military, security, and economic assistance, the cultivation of coca leaf and production of cocaine in Colombia actually increased between 2000 and 2007, according to a major review by the U.S. Congress's independent investigative agency.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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