BELGRADE, Serbia — Vlade Divac, the retired NBA basketball player, is up against his toughest opponent ever in his quest to end the refugee crisis in Serbia, home to the largest number of refugees in Europe, while distancing himself from the political stalemate that has gripped his native nation. More than 300,000 refugees and displaced persons from Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo remain in Serbia, of which 6,700 still live in deplorable conditions in dilapidated schools, barracks, shipping containers and other forms of temporary housing. Many of these refugees, who fled to Serbia from the wars that ravaged the former Yugoslavia [...]
When talking about peace in the Middle East, the first parties that come to mind are Israelis and Palestinians. Lately, however, Syria has broken into the headlines, with conflicting news about peace and war. The talk, which alternates between ominous and promising, reflects the script of a very public performance with a very specific intended audience and a very clear desired outcome. In this case, the talk of peace and warnings of war is aimed at neither peace nor war. Its purpose is to solidify the status quo, at least for now. A couple of weeks ago, many believed war [...]
When Colombia bombed a guerrilla camp in Ecuador last month, igniting one of Latin America’s worst diplomatic spats in recent history and nearly sparking a regional war, the leaders at the center of the dispute each emerged with a most unexpected political reward: a boost in their domestic support. Recent opinion polls in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela illustrate that the nationalist stands taken by leaders of the three countries paid off for each of them politically. “All three leaders occupied different roles and all of them are satisfied,” said Juan Gabriel Valdés, former minister of foreign relations in Chile. Colombian [...]
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