Seven Years After Katrina, Preparing for the Next Disaster

Many residents are still rebuilding their lives seven years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region of the United States. Those who are able are looking ahead and organising so that they will be better prepared for future natural disasters.

Washington Struggles for Relevance as Assad’s Fall Approaches

This week, the United States officially recognised the newly-formed National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces as the legitimate representatives of the Syrian people, culminating a two-year process of legitimising the Syrian opposition with the U.S. government.

Major Study Suggests Crimes Against Humanity in Sudan

Reporting on the results of a two-year investigation, on Wednesday the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch presented findings that suggest that the Sudanese government’s aerial bombardment of civilians in the country’s south could amount to crimes against humanity.

U.S. Defends Low-Key Stance on Rwanda, Congo

President Barack Obama’s top diplomat on African affairs on Tuesday defended the U.S. administration’s response to the continued crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in the face of stepped up criticism from both civil society and U.S. lawmakers.

Iran Debates Talking with the U.S.

As the Iranian leadership prepares to engage in negotiations with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) over the fate of its nuclear programme, the conversation inside Iran has moved beyond the nuclear issue, and now includes a debate about the utility of engaging in direct talks - even relations - with the United States.

Developing World to Overshadow the West by 2030, Study Says

A major new long-range report by the U.S. intelligence community suggests that the U.S. economy, currently the world’s largest, could be eclipsed by China’s by 2030.

Drones Come Home, to U.S. Privacy Activists’ Dismay

Better known as drones, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles piloted by military in the U.S. hunt and kill suspected enemy combatants abroad. Now the drones are coming home to beef up local law enforcement.

Iran Nuclear Accord “Unlikely” Without Easing Sanctions

Iran is unlikely to agree to curb its nuclear programme unless the U.S. and its Western allies are prepared to ease tough economic sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic over the past decade, according to a major new report signed by more than three dozen former top U.S. foreign-policy makers, military officers, and independent experts.

Israel Rains Fire When U.N. Votes Against It

Whenever the Security Council (sporadically) or the General Assembly (more frequently) lambastes Israel, the reaction from the Jewish state is highly predictable: either launch a military strike on Palestinians or announce new settlements in the occupied territories.

Q&A: “The Israeli Boycott Movement Is Not Anti-Semitic”

Rabbi Brant Rosen leads a congregation in Evanston, Illinois and is author of the new book, Wrestling in the Daylight: A Rabbi’s Path to Palestinian Solidarity.

More Voices Urge Obama to Rein In Netanyahu

Increasingly distressed over the possible consequences of Israel’s recent steps to punish the Palestinian Authority (PA) and consolidate its hold on the West Bank, a number of prominent voices here are urging President Barack Obama to exert real pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reverse course.

OP-ED: Egypt, Arab Sunni Politics, and the U.S.: A Problematic Road Ahead

The bad news about Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s expanding constitutional powers is the threat of another dictatorship in Egypt. The good news is that normal politics is returning to Egypt after decades of brutal authoritarian regimes.

OP-ED: Eyeless In Gaza

Mahatma Gandhi said it with remarkable moral clarity – “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” That is indeed what happened in Gaza over eight days in November, with an estimated 160 Palestinians and six Israelis dead in the latest exchange of rockets and drones brought to an uneasy end by an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire.

U.N. Disabilities Treaty Rejected by U.S. Senate

Underlining the persistent power of their party’s most right-wing elements, a majority of Republican senators Tuesday blocked ratification of the long-pending International Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities (CRPD).

U.S. Senate Passes New Sanctions on Iran

The U.S. Senate approved a new round of economic sanctions against Iran Friday, ignoring warnings by the White House that the additional measures could prove counter-productive to the goal of persuading Iran to curb its nuclear programme.

Palestine Scores Overwhelming Victory in World Body

Amidst thunderous applause - and the spontaneous unfurling of a Palestinian flag in the General Assembly hall - the U.N.'s highest policy-making body Thursday voted overwhelmingly to elevate Palestine from an "observer" to a "non-member state".

Caribbean Fed Up with U.S. Rum Subsidies

Caribbean governments have begun a quiet lobbying effort to convince Washington to rethink the subsidies it grants to the rum industry in U.S. territories, or face a formal complaint in the World Trade Organisation.

President-elect Pushes New Mexican Image in Washington

Ahead even of his Saturday swearing in, Mexican President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto met here on Tuesday with President Barack Obama to lay out a vision for a new bilateral relationship based more on economics and less on security issues.

Brazil, Turkey, India, Indonesia Key to U.S.-Backed Global Order

The United States should focus increasingly on courting Brazil, India, Indonesia and Turkey, four “global swing states” critical to the preservation of the Western-dominated international order, according to a new report released here Tuesday by two major U.S. think tanks.

Avoiding the Slippery Slope to War with Iran

Amidst reports that stalled negotiations with Iran over its controversial nuclear programme may soon be jump-started, many here are arguing that a mutually negotiated settlement remains the most effective option for resolving the dispute and averting the threat of war.

Pressure Builds for U.S. Response to Egypt Power Grab

The U.S. government is suggesting that pending aid worth billions of dollars for Egypt may be withheld unless President Mohamed Morsi dials back on recent moves, announced Thursday, that would consolidate his power and put his legislative decisions above judicial review.