Algerian spring? Key North African state faces critical transition
By John J. Metzler
UNITED NATIONS — For nearly two months, large popular demonstrations have rock[...]
North Korean actions speak loudly as world leaders say little
By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — As a North Korean medium range Pukguksong missile arched across the sky landing menacingly in the Sea of Japan, the intended political target of the nuclear capable rocket was the visit of Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the United States. The rash gambit by the quaintly titled […]
Brotherly love lost: More trouble in communism’s first and last dynasty
By Donald Kirk Kim Jong-Nam showed the warm and human face of North Korea’s dynastic family. You had to like the guy, judging from sightings in the gambling enclave of Macau, across the Pearl River estuary from Hong Kong off China’s southeastern coast. One time he was spotted in a Macao bus. Another time he […]
Emerging U.S. strategy builds a geopolitical economy along Chinas periphery
By Brian M Downing One can scarcely read anything on world affairs these days without seeing discussion of the decline of the U.S. and the rise of China. In recent weeks, however, President Obama spoke plainly, bluntly, and even disparagingly to China. At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Obama chided China, urging it to put […]
Financing foreign development or dependency?
By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Recently UN member states turned their attention to the need for Financing for Development, or put more plainly, stressing the still pressing need for development assistance to assist the plethora of poor nations. Fortunately foreign assistance donor states have not significantly cut their budgets, but rather sharpened their […]
Malaysia 'obedient wives' club: Good sex is a duty
RAWANG, Malaysia – As a new bride, 22-year-old Ummu Atirah believes she knows the secret to a blissful marriage: obey her husband and ensure he is sexually satisfied. Ummu and some 800 other Muslim women in Malaysia are members of the “Obedient Wives Club” that is generating controversy in one of the most modern and […]
