SYRIA: Humanitarian Crisis Intensifies as Security Council Remains Idle

When reports of protests and subsequent civilian deaths as security forces fired on protestors began filtering in from the southern Syrian city of Dera‘a in March, many wondered what turn events would take in both Syria and the international community in the wake of earlier uprisings during the ‘Arab Spring’.

U.S.: Neoconservatives Losing Hold Over Republican Foreign Policy

Nearly ten years after seizing control of Republican foreign policy, neo- conservatives and other hawks appear to be losing it.

AU Concerned With One-Sided Interpretation of Libya Resolution

Like Russia, China, India and Brazil, the African nations seem to be getting increasingly wary of the consequences of the Western powers’ military strikes in Libya - the oil rich North African country currently embroiled in violent political upheaval.

Four Months into Uprising, Syria Still Plagued by Unknowns

Journalists, analysts, and policymakers have struggled to separate truth from fiction as the political situation in Syria steadily deteriorates. The lack of accurate, credible information has mired the Syrian situation beneath a fog of war that has complicated the world's understanding of the regime, its opposition, and the realities behind the uprising's latest developments.

Ninety Percent of Petraeus’s Captured “Taliban” Were Civilians

During his intensive initial round of media interviews as commander in Afghanistan in August 2010, Gen. David Petraeus released figures to the news media that claimed spectacular success for raids by Special Operations Forces: in a 90-day period from May through July, SOF units had captured 1,355 rank and file Taliban, killed another 1,031, and killed or captured 365 middle or high-ranking Taliban.

U.S.: Alabama’s Immigration Bill “Turns Back Clock” on Civil Liberties

On Dec. 1, 1955, at the height of racial segregation in the United States, a little-known middle-aged seamstress named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery City bus in the southern state of Alabama.

Critics Call Trade Pact Lose-Lose Deal for Colombian Labour

Two days ago, on Jun. 7, Ana Fabricia Cordoba was killed in the Santa Cruz neighbourhood of Medellin, Colombia. A community leader with the women's organisation Ruta de Pacifica de Mujeres working with displaced workers, Cordoba had been receiving death threats, which she reported to the police and national government.

AFGHANISTAN: Debate Rages over U.S. Withdrawal

With only three weeks left before U.S. military forces are scheduled to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan, the debate over the size and pace of that withdrawal has become increasingly intense.

U.S.: Military Attack on Iran Recedes, but Tensions Remain High

The likelihood of a U.S. or Israeli military attack on Iran's nuclear installations seems miniscule during the remaining months of the Barack Obama administration's first term.

PERU-US: Washington Urged to Cooperate with Humala

The United States should seek cooperative relations with Peruvian President-elect Ollanta Humala, a number of Andean specialists urged here Monday.

U.S. Plan to Boost Nuke Spending Undercuts Nonproliferation, Activists Warn

A Pentagon plan to step up spending on nuclear weaponry would severely undermine global efforts geared towards disarmament, warn independent analysts on U.S. nuclear policy.

China, Flexibility Seen As Key to Curbing Iran’s Nuclear Project

Securing greater cooperation from China and taking a more flexible stance on Iran's uranium enrichment programme should be the focus of U.S. and allied efforts to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions, according to a new report released here Thursday by a prominent think tank.

US-PAKISTAN: Mend Aid Programme, Don’t End It, Says Study

Amid a spate of calls by U.S. lawmakers to slash aid to Pakistan in the aftermath of Osama bin Laden's death, an influential think tank is calling for greater patience, precision, transparency and humility in implementing Washington's 1.5-billion-dollar-a-year development aid programme.

U.S. Veto Could Derail Palestine as New U.N. Member State

If the General Assembly is called upon to recognise Palestine as a new sovereign nation state, the resolution is expected to garner the required two-thirds majority among the 192 members in the world body, come September.

YEMEN: Living With an Endless Revolution

It was during moments on our rooftop earlier this week - seeing flashes in the air and hearing the heavy pounding of gun fire - when we realised that Yemen’s capital city Sana’a was no longer as safe as we had hoped.

U.S. Uses Peace Talks to Divide Taliban from Pakistan

The leaked reports over the past two weeks of a series of meetings between U.S. officials and a Taliban figure close to leader Mullah Omar seemed to point to real progress toward a negotiated settlement of the war in Afghanistan.

U.S.: House Votes Suggest Growing War Weariness

In a sign of growing war weariness in Congress and among the general public, the Republican-led House of Representatives voted Thursday to bar the deployment of U.S. troops to Libya and narrowly defeated a provision requiring President Barack Obama to submit a plan for withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

New Iran Sanctions Could Push Petrol Prices Even Higher

U.S. lawmakers have introduced a new package of unilateral sanctions targeting Iran that would challenge U.S. President Obama's discretionary authority to enforce such sanctions and would impose comprehensive restrictions on foreign entities that ship, refine or provide any other related services to Iran's energy sector.

U.S./SOUTH ASIA: Influential Think Tank Urges Long-Term Commitment

With public and Congressional debate hotting up over post-bin Laden U.S. policy in South Asia, a think tank with close ties to the administration of President Barack Obama is calling for a strategy that will keep Washington deeply engaged in the region for a long time to come.

Violence Threatening South Sudan Independence

Escalating violence in Abyei, the largest of several towns in the disputed borders between North and South Sudan, has displaced thousands of people and, according to U.S. officials, is threatening the viability of both the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and the soon-to-be independence of Southern Sudan, set for Jul. 9, as the potential for civil war between the two sides grows.

Netanyahu Conditions Denounced as “War” by Palestinians

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid out what he called his vision for peace with the Palestinians Tuesday, but listed a set of conditions the Palestinians immediately called "a declaration of war".