Briefing Archive

As the temperature rises ever more perilously under the cauldron of Pakistan’s political crisis, a nuclear-armed Muslim nation bordering Afghanistan and Iran, the West is urgently pondering what ingredients it might stir in to keep the dangerous pot from boiling over. After all, Pakistan’s combustible mix could leave third-degree burns far, far beyond its borders. Now that Pakistan’s dictator, its president and military chief, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has declared a state of emergency there, this new crisis could easily spread. It does not take a prophet of doom to envision truly disastrous consequences. The choices for Washington and its allies […]

BURMA JUNTA ACCUSED OF USING CHILD SOLDIERS: Human Rights Watch claimed Oct. 31 that the Burmese army is forcibly recruiting children as young as 10 to make up for a dearth of adult recruits. Burma’s military junta and the country’s various militia groups have long been accused of employing child soldiers, but Wednesday’s HRW report “Sold to be Soldiers: The Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers in Burma,” says increased military action, combined with higher rates of desertions and lower numbers of willing adults, has resulted in a de facto marketplace for child soldiers. “Military recruiters are literally buying and […]

Editor’s Note: In March, Kurt Pelda, Africa Bureau Chief of the Swiss daily the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), traveled to eastern Chad on the border with the Sudanese crisis region of Darfur: a trip that was documented in a diary published in English on World Politics Review and that would see him eventually turning back from the border due to inadequate security conditions. In late October, Pelda returned to the region and crossed the border into Darfur, where he accompanied a Darfur rebel group. The diary of his trip was published on the NZZ Online in German, and World Politics […]

During his Oct. 30 visit to Tehran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow’s opposition to imposing any additional sanctions against Iran without the specific approval of the U.N. Security Council, where Russia enjoys the right of veto. Lavrov’s trip occurred as the six countries involved in negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program — China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — are debating whether to impose a third round of sanctions against Tehran. The Iranian government has resisted demands to curb its uranium enrichment program, which could provide the basis for manufacturing nuclear weapons. […]

NEW DELHI – In a dusty alley on the fringe of the capital, a group of 30 women stared at the ground in plaintive silence. They formed a circle around Omwati Kishore, whose grief choked the air as she waited for her husband to return with the cremated remains of her youngest son. Over the weekend, 10-year-old Tushar and his cousin were returning from school on the back of a motorcycle since the van that normally ferried them was broken down. Their driver lost control when a rogue bus hit the bike; the boy fell into its path. “My son […]

Editor’s Note: In March, Kurt Pelda, Africa Bureau Chief of the Swiss daily the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), traveled to eastern Chad on the border with the Sudanese crisis region of Darfur: a trip that was documented in a diary published in English on World Politics Review and that would see him eventually turning back from the border due to inadequate security conditions. In late October, Pelda returned to the region and crossed the border into Darfur, where he accompanied a Darfur rebel group. The diary of his trip was published on the NZZ Online in German, and World Politics […]

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — Bolstered by a European Union decision to lift travel restrictions on senior officials, the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan is moving towards elections set for December amid concerns that the reelection of President Islam Karimov would be an inexorable setback for democracy in the country. Though he is technically ineligible to stand as a candidate in the polls set for Dec. 23, the Liberal Democratic Party announced this month that Karimov, in power since the Soviet era, would stand for another seven-year term in order to “secure stability, peace and prosperity” for the nation. The announcement came […]

Patterns of a resurgence in cooperation between Islamic extremists and radical communists — faint in some places, more pronounced in others — are emerging. While much of the current focus is on parts of Europe, South Asia could emerge as the principal arena for a communist-jihadist alliance. Depending on whom you talk to, an alliance between Islamic extremists and radical communists is either more sinister war-on-terror hyperbole or a clear and present danger. At the most basic level, the two groups are divided by their outlook on the supreme being. For Islamist extremists, killing in the name of and dying […]

Editor’s Note: In March, Kurt Pelda, Africa Bureau Chief of the Swiss daily the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), traveled to eastern Chad on the border with the Sudanese crisis region of Darfur: a trip that was documented in a diary published in English on World Politics Review and that would see him eventually turning back from the border due to inadequate security conditions. In late October, Pelda returned to the region and crossed the border into Darfur, where he accompanied a Darfur rebel group. The diary of his trip was published on the NZZ Online in German, and World Politics […]

WHO’S LOONIE NOW? — For years, currency traders have largely been dismissive, not to say disparaging, about “other” dollars, among them the Canadian “loonie,” New Zealand’s “kiwi,” and the Australian dollar. With the decline of the U.S. “greenback” and the rise in oil prices, the “other” dollars have come into their own — and become ripe for currency speculation. On Monday, the Australian dollar (the Aussie? the kangaroo?) reached a 23-year high against its U.S. counterpart, having hopped to U.S. 91.8 cents, up from U.S. 91.1 cents Friday. With Australian interest rates widely expected to rise to 6.75 percent in […]