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The Election We Needed
President John McCain looked at the election projections for 2004 and did something rare: he smiled. The economy was rebounding. The wide variety of wild-card independent candidates that ran for the House in 2002 off-year elections actually won and helped force concessions — and thus compromise — on both elder political parties. Osama bin LadenRead moreA Re-do almost a century later
The possible Balkanization of Syria is an increasingly likely prospect – at least for the short-term – and could provide a historic counterpoint in the Middle East to what the West did to carve up the region almost a century ago. With the Ottoman Empire defeated after World War One, the trimuphent Allies sought toRead moreBorder Crossing Euphoria
That perfect moment of the triumph of the people happened again in Syria. The rebels captured another border crossing between Syria and Turkey, lowering the Syrian flag and raising their own banner. It is a symbolic moment of victory – and in a bloody civil war abundant with various factions and no real positive endgameRead moreUndefeated Kastles, World Team Tennis return 40 years after Title IX
Quick. When was the last time we had an undefeated professional sports team in America? If you guess the Miami Dolphins 1972 football team – as many people do – you are wrong. The answer is the 2011 Washington Kastles professional tennis team, which went 16-0 last year and won the World Team Tennis championship,Read moreDid an Arab Winter Yield an Unexpected Spring?
It was a simple statement from the State Department, almost lost in the daily flurry of transcripts, very public reactions and carefully nuanced policy papers aimed at high profile flash points in the world. The statement was from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton congratulating the people of Algeria on their elections in mid-May. TheRead moreOslo, So Long
As a rite of summer in U.S. presidential campaigns, the nominee of the challenging party takes a trip out of the country to buff up his foreign policy credentials. Republican Mitt Romney is no exception, and his trip, not surprisingly, included a stop in Israel. Romney has a long friendship with Israeli Prime Minister BinyaminRead moreWelcome to the Kurdish Spring, the sequel
It essentially was an accident. Saddam Hussein had been whipped in the 1991 Gulf War, President George H.W. Bush called on Iraq’s Kurds and Shia to rise up. They did – but Bush was all talk; there was no U.S. military help and they were slaughtered. So as Kurdish refugees clung to the freezing mountainsRead moreAs we thought. Not.
We are now deep into year two of the Arab world convulsions. Not one country across the North African-Middle East arc is settled. Even where it sounds quiet it is not. Two years from the first cry of freedom, very few things are how the outside world predicted. As Egyptians vote for their president inRead moreLatina Leadership
Miami Herald International Edition op-ed, June 2, 2012 Josefina Vázquez Mota is not giving up. As Mexico’s first female presidential candidate, she is counting on a last minute “trajectory” that will propel her back into the lead and, ideally, through one more glass ceiling in another Latin American nations. To read the full op-ed, pleaseRead moreBad moon rising again, this time over Syria
There were many dangers faced by reporters during the four-year Bosnia war. Gunfire. Freezing. Food poisoning. Checkpoints manned by drugged out crazies. Yet one fear stood out, and it was usually away from the fighting. That was going to Zenica, a city in the central part of the area controlled by the Bosnian government. TheRead moreBen’s Words of Advice
The American Revolution and the broad romantic view of U.S. democracy have often provided inspiration and guidance to those seeking democracy in their own nations – and for good reason. The amazing set of circumstances that made the American Revolution spark and then succeed, the lofty words of human rights that fueled the new governmentRead moreDancing With Wolves
You hear many words of wisdom traveling through the Mideast, all which offer insightful pondering to events past and present. Watching the tragic escalation of events in Syria and the failing efforts to bring the fighting to a close bring to mind words often spoken by the Kurds of the region, who are well-versed inRead more
You hear many words of wisdom traveling through the Mideast, all which offer insightful pondering to events past and present. Watching the tragic escalation of events in Syria and the failing efforts to bring the fighting to a close bring to mind words often spoken by the Kurds of the region, who are well-versed in being oppressed and slaughtered.
“It is useless for sheep to pass resolutions for vegetarianism when the wolves are of a different persuasion,” they often would observe. And so it is.
The United Nations talks ceasefires and negotiations as it tries to cajole the Assad government into peaceful means to stop the carnage and find a solution that can reset Syria as a living nation. Assad offers hollow promises as he ramps up the attacks. The day before the U.N. ceasefire was to go into effect– or at least begin — dozens more civilians were killed when regime forces intensified their operations to mow down more opposition. At least 101 were killed and that is before any real count could begin – since the shelling, missile strikes, tank blasts and the gunfire were in full fusillade. To make sure it was thorough, the air force was also involved.
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