Monday, May 5 08

UNAMID deployment reports air attacks against civilians in North Darfur. Georgian Air Force uses footage to accuse Russia of shooting down drone. Does it represent "open aggression"? Is the Abkhaz conflict nearing boiling point? The LA Times claims; "it's tough to pay attention to wars that haven't yet broken out in places you can't spell". Meanwhile, Red Square will unapologetically witness Soviet era-style display of military hardware.

The rhetoric and politics of talking to the Taliban. American power begins to gradually shift to Afghanistan. Communist insurgents in The Philippines growing in size and strength. Iraqis no doubt conflicted over ambitious US plan to turn Baghdad green zone into 'zone of influence', with luxury hotels, shopping and condos. Selling invasion of Iran: Nir Rosen versus Michael O'Hanlon.

Saturday, May 3 08

Canadian Government beside itself over whether to open direct Taliban talks. Afghan tribal chief arrested in U.S. reveals interconnections between smuggling, terrorism and warlordism. Recent internal audit notes "command and control, fear-inducing, top-down management style" that has long "served as the basis for day-to-day operations" in United Nations bureaucracy. For Russia, the U.S./E.U. stance on statehood for Kosovo overstepped Security Council authority. Meanwhile, the U.S. establishes diplomatic contacts with the leader of Nepal's Maoists. Lacing political will and public endorsement, war crimes trials increasingly unlikely in Serbia.

Friday, May 2 08

Middle East Quartet begins last push for two state plan. Living conditions in Gaza City are beyond imagination. 'Publicity politics' mark the China-Sudan uproar, as theatrical protests and flag-waving demonstrators fail to accelerate UNAMID deployment. Do celebrities help? Turkish strikes drift deeper into Iraqi Kurdistan. Congolese rebel Nkunda will confront choice between troop loyalty and fulfilling warrants by the ICC.

Last week's Moscow maneuvering never needed to be explained: preventing NATO accession of Georgia. Are U.S. candidates ignoring the Russian elephant behind the door?Is a two-state partition of Iraq feasible (Part 2)? Basque radicals suspected in detonations near Bilbao. Robert Kagan on the return of ideology in the global political realm.

Thursday, May 1 08

Georgia/Russia maneuvering looks ready to deteriorate, Tbilisi making moves on the international stage and Moscow becoming masters at peacekeeping politics in separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Meanwhile, Chechnya's Russian Mandarin Kadyrov continues to drift from Moscow's influence.

From Somalian and American officials, Thursday's air strike kills feared and notorious Somali al Qaeda official. Karzai attack hatched partly in Pakistan's FATA, as once-applauded governing coalition begins to splinter and rift between government and military opens further. Work of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) is effectively shut down after Eritrean intransigence: evidence that peacekeeping is conditioned on stakeholders' political commitment, and a 'blow to blue helmets everywhere'.

Tuesday, April 29 08

Intergenerational political movements that turn over into violence typically produce their own offspring. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon names Hezbollah's military presence as the challenge to Lebanon's Presidential standoff. Confrontational rhetoric against Iran ramped up by US military and administration. (1,2). The impulse to trade is clearing the way for Russia/Serbia-EU co-operation. Is a two-state partition of Iraq inevitable (Part 1)? Taliban presence said to be expanding geographically and sociologically into the heart of Afghanistan. Legitimacy and authority parting ways temporarily in Zimbabwe.

Monday, April 28 08

Rwanda is rebuilding partly on memories of tragedy. BBC takes a look at Somalia's insurgents. Upsurge in "honour killings" raises questions about Iraq's new constitution. NATO's Afghanistan mission holds the cities but leaves rural areas largely untouched. Escalation in Sri Lanka shows Tamils highly motivated and tenacious. Vehicle filled with weapons, ammunition and Kosovo Albanians seized by Kosovo police before crossing Macedonian frontier.

Sunday, April 27 2008

Moscow-supported Kadyrov is only a year in power, but today his grip on Chechnya is about to unravel. Hezbollah militias are recruiting heavily, setting sights once again on Lebanon's Israeli border. Following Russian escalation, the view that Georgia is an ally and friend of the United States is filtering through U.S. foreign policy circles: will accelerating NATO membership augment regional security?

Last gasps of Mugabe era in Zimbabwe are forcing us to consider the relative benefits and costs of the five strategies of forcing illegitimate dictators out of power. U.S. Marines re-deploying in Afghanistan signals parallels in military strategy as well as in the nature of evolving conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Saturday, April 26 08

Signs of success in East Timor allow Australia to bring home 200 stabilization troops. Humanitarian crisis in Somalia indicates how civil strife often makes access to civilians in need impossible. Opposition party repression continues in Zimbabwe as election results are kept in limbo. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon sparks a new debate for a power sharing framework, contending that Iraq "continues to face formidable challenges to reaching a national consensus on how to share power and resources". Foreign Policy comments on the Iraq war's dire effects on overall U.S. military capacity. The UNHCR will probe deaths of four Iranians expelled by Turkey on Iraqi border.

Friday, April 25 2008

Disputed Darfur civilian death count by U.N. immediately makes headlines (1,2). Georgia receives assurances of U.S. Government's commitment to territorial integrity and state sovereignty. Pakistan's military presence in NW tribal areas has lowered volatility and made terrorist attacks less frequent. Ethiopia denounces Qatar publicly for covertly supporting insurgents. Massive U.S. embassy in Baghdad becoming an unsettling symbol for Iraqis. Uganda's peace process is falling apart, as the LRA re-groups for battle. The Canadian military underestimated the Afghan quagmire, where it will indefinitely remain.

Thursday, April 24 2008

In Sudan, efforts to accelerate deployment of co-ordinated U.N./A.U. forces as mandated in Security Council Resolution 1590 (March 05) continue, the Darfur crisis only worsens, with UNMIS too weak to provide safety to aid workers. Zimbabwe's crisis exemplifies the 21st century struggle for political freedom. U.N. human rights expert Ghanim Alnajjar condemns killings of civilian religious leaders in Somalia, calling for expeditious and impartial investigations.

Kosovo's February 17th unilateral declaration and official recognition generated considerable anger inside Serbia. With Serbian parliamentary and local elections set for May 11, questions surface: Will Western-friendly democrats prevail or unfriendly socialists? Will NGOs and Westerns governments have leverage? Will the new leadership respond to possible offers of rapprochement by Washington/Brussells? Meanwhile, with the new precedent in firmly hand, Russia plows forward by recognizing Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, against protest and bellicose announcements.

Tuesday, December 11 07

NATO stays busy in Afghanistan, as Kosovo talks end and E.U. appears dumbfounded. Cuba is set to sign into civil and political rights. Darfur engagement liable to distractions. Lester Pearson's international contribution is being commemorated and better understood.