Global Geopolitics

Sri Lanka Seeks U.S.-U.N. Backing for Domestic Probe of War Crimes Charges

By Thalif Deen
Sri Lanka’s newly-installed government, which has pledged to set up its own domestic tribunal to investigate war crimes charges, is seeking political and moral support both from the United States and the United Nations to stall a possible international investigation.

Battling Terrorism Shouldn’t Justify Torture, Spying or Hangings, Says U.N. Rights Chief

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations, which is the legal guardian of scores of human rights treaties banning torture, unlawful imprisonment, degrading treatment of prisoners of war and enforced disappearances, is troubled that an increasing number of countries are justifying violations of U.N. conventions on grounds of fighting terrorism in conflict zones.

Twiplomacy Gets Its Day in the Sun at U.N.

By Josh Butler
Formerly derided as the domain of time-wasting and self-obsession, social media has emerged as an unlikely shining light for international relations and social activism.

Taiwanese Activists Push for Citizen-Based Constitution

By Dennis Engbarth
“The clock is ticking.” Those were the words of Taiwan Democracy Watch Director Yeh Chueh-an on Feb. 4, as scores of civil society organisations in the capital, Taipei, began a countdown for a citizen-based rewriting of Taiwan’s constitution aimed at safeguarding human rights and social equity.

OPINION: Patent Examination and Legal Fictions: How Rights are Created on Feet of Clay

By Carlos M. Correa
Industry’s demands and political pressures exerted by developed countries to expand and strengthen patent protection worldwide have been based on the argument that patents promote innovation and thereby contribute to achieve social, political and economic well-being, independently of the level of development of the country where they are granted and enforced.

Glimmer of Hope for Assange

By Gustavo Capdevila
There is a window of hope, thanks to a U.N. human rights body, for a solution to the diplomatic asylum of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, holed up in the embassy of Ecuador in London for the past two and a half years.

OPINION: Russia’s Friendship University, Educating the Developing World for 55 Years

By Somar Wijayadasa
People’s Friendship University of Russia (PFUR), which celebrates its 55th anniversary on Feb. 5, is known worldwide as a major academic and research centre. During the last five decades, PFUR has educated 80,000 students from 145 countries.

U.S. Ally Yemen in Danger of Splitting into Two – Again

By Thalif Deen
When North and South Yemen merged into a single country under the banner Yemen Arab Republic back in May 1990, a British newspaper remarked with a tinge of sarcasm: "Two poor countries have now become one poor country."

OPINION: The Corporate Takeover of Ukrainian Agriculture

By Frederic Mousseau
At the same time as the United States, Canada and the European Union announced a set of new sanctions against Russia in mid-December last year, Ukraine received 350 million dollars in U.S. military aid, coming on top of a one billion dollar aid package approved by the U.S. Congress in March 2014. 

Cuba and U.S. Skirt Obstacles to Normalisation of Ties

By Patricia Grogg and Ivet González
The biggest discrepancies in the first meeting to normalise relations between Cuba and the United States, after more than half a century, were over the issue of human rights. But what stood out in the talks was a keen interest in forging ahead, in a process led by two women.

OPINION: Looking Two Steps Ahead into Saudi Arabia’s Future

By Emile Nakhleh
Much has been written about King Abdullah’s legacy and what Saudi Arabia accomplished or failed to accomplish during his reign in terms of reform and human rights. Very little has been written about the role that Muhammad bin Nayef, the newly appointed deputy to the crown prince, could play in the new Saudi Arabia under King Salman.

Obama-Congress Iran Sanctions Battle Goes International

By Jasmin Ramsey
While it’s anyone’s guess whether a final deal will be reached over Iran’s nuclear programme this year, a number of key international actors have forcefully weighed in on calls from within the U.S. congress to impose more sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Three Minutes Away from Doomsday

By Leila Lemghalef
Unchecked climate change and the nuclear arms race have propelled the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock forward two minutes closer to midnight, from its 2012 placement of five minutes to midnight.

Prosecutor’s Death a Test for Argentine Democracy

By Fabiana Frayssinet
The death of a special prosecutor investigating one of the biggest unresolved mysteries in the history of Argentina, the bombing of a Jewish community centre over 20 years ago, has put to the test an immature democracy that is caught up in a web of conspiracy theories and promiscuity between the secret services and those in power.

OPINION-CUBA/US: Catching a Glimpse of the Possible Future

By Leonardo Padura
All Cubans, on either side of the Florida Straits, but in places like Spain, France or Greenland – where there must be a couple of Cubans - as well felt it was a historic moment that included each and every one of us, when U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Dec. 17 the normalisation of relations after half a century of hostility.

OPINION: After the Terrorist Attacks in Paris

By Johan Galtung
What happened in Paris on Jan. 7 – known all over the world – is totally unacceptable and inexcusable.

Cuban Diplomacy Looks Towards Both Brussels and Washington

By Patricia Grogg
Cuba has decided to move ahead in its talks with the European Union towards an agreement on cooperation parallel to the negotiations aimed at normalising relations with the United States after more than half a century of hostility.

OPINION: Cuba and the United States – A New Era?

By Ricardo Alarcon
On Dec. 17, by freeing the five Cuban anti-terrorists who spent over 16 years in U.S. prisons, President Barack Obama repaired a longstanding injustice while changing the course of history.

Press Looks at Future After “Charlie”

By A. D. McKenzie
In the wake of last week’s attack on French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead, a heated battle of opinion is being waged in France and several other countries on the issue of freedom of expression and the rights of both media and the public.

OPINION: Islamic Reformation, the Antidote to Terrorism

By Emile Nakhleh
The horrific terrorist attack on the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo has once again raised the question about violence and Islam. Why is it, some ask, that so much terrorism has been committed in the name of Islam, and why do violent jihadists seek justification of their actions in their religion?

OPINION: The Paris Killings – A Fatal Trap for Europe

By Roberto Savio
It is sad to see how a continent that was one cradle of civilisation is running blindly into a trap, the trap of a holy war with Islam – and that six Muslim terrorists were sufficient to bring that about.
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