Roméo Dallaire should be the hero of an opera. His story certainly has all hallmarks of genuine tragedy -- and it embodies many of the key themes of the last century and evokes the Syrian debacle as well.
Is Iran seeking to stretch out the negotiations to complete its bomb making or at least get to a point it can sprint to do so -- or merely out to do medical research and provide energy, as it claims? This question can be answered in short order by looking for "smoking guns."
In his nine months in office, Kerry's State Department has one striking accomplishment to its name. He and his errant statements have become global punch lines, but is he truly to blame for his performance?
As the United States is militarily moving away from the Middle East, it needs a long-term strategy to stabilize the region and for institution building. And as Iran is geopolitically central to the region, they both need to end the deadlock and find a way out of this crisis.
The U.S. recognizes that defeating the Syrian regime and the toppling of Bashar al Assad is an important Saudi strategic objective to protect Saudi regional interests. The recent spat between the two allies over Syria is still reverberating and has not died down yet...
Cyber City is notable because many of the people there are actually Palestinians from Syria, ie people who were historically already refugees from Palestine. In other words, they're 'double refugees'. If this wasn't bad enough, they're even caught in a sort of geopolitical administrative loophole. As Palestinian refugees they're supposed to fall under the care of the UN's Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and not the main refugee agency, the UNHCR. It means that if you're one of the 9,000 Palestinians from Syria who've fled to Jordan you will not be eligible for UNHCR aid.
Time, though, does not care for walls and fences. If there is something permanent in human history, it is the movement from one place to another. Foreigners. Refugees. Great Migrations. From Africa to Europe. From Asia to America. From Europe to America. From Asia and Africa to Europe.
Understandably, most of us are worried about jobs, the economy, and gridlock in Washington. America's narrow focus is unfortunate, because the decisions we make about energy today will determine the quality of life for our descendants.
After nation-building debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan one would think the international community would be reluctant to enforce top-down regime chang...
Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki comes to the White House on November 1 to warn President Obama that Syria's bitter civil war is not just "a humanitarian tragedy" but "an immediate threat to the security of our own country."
No matter what transpires in the Oval Office, Maliki will waltz out of that meeting boasting in Arabic to his Shiite followers that he is Washington's preferred leader. That spin must not go unchallenged by the White House.
Your local hospital has been bombed and you're sitting in a makeshift waiting room when masked men burst in and drag your doctor away for questioning. This scenario may sound like something from a far-fetched film but this has been a nightmare reality for many Syrians.
As the backslapping at the UN abated, the awkward question of what to do about Syria returned.
Saudi Arabia's declared intention to pivot away from the U.S. in foreign policy implies a shift toward Beijing, which predates both the Obama presidency and the Arab Awakening.
Targeting and endangering these brave aid workers, who play no part in the conflict and who simply seek to help those most in need, is wholly unacceptable. The humanitarian tragedy that continues unabated in Syria is deplorable and more must be done to ensure aid reaches the vulnerable, and those delivering it are protected.