United States
United States
Fair Observer provides inclusive, insightful and non-partisan analysis of important American issues, events and trends.
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Is America inadvertently rearing another monster with its 'covert' support to al-Qaeda cadres in Syrian rebel ranks? During World War II, the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS), predecessor to the Green Berets and in turn US Special Forces, utilized members of a German dissident group who had fled to France as refugees for unconventional operations against the German Army in conjunction with the OSS. The philosophy of the then OSS Chief General Donovan had been: “Use them as long as they kill Nazis.” This is no surprise when you look at special operations over the years. Use of irregulars, especially natives, by Special Forces has been common practice considering the...
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Politics / United States / Europe / Finance & Economics / 360° Context / BRIC / Global Change / Arts & Culture / Middle East / Americas / Business & Entrepreneurship / Africa / Global Security / Asia / Science & Technology / Health / Oceania / Environment & SustainabilityFair Observer's Top 15 articles of 2012. Click here to view the "Fair Observer: The Year in Pictures" photo feature. As we wind down the old year and ring in the new, it is time for some reflections. Like any year, 2012 was packed with events, some of which will go down as historic while others will fade away with time. For Fair Observer, it is a time to thank everyone in our team, our contributors and our readers for taking us another step forward. The past year has confirmed that our community is our greatest source of strength. For years, the world has assumed that rigorous analysis of global issues is possible only if there is a huge...
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By Atul SinghEditor-in-Chief Atul Singh argues that gun control is no panacea; American society itself will have to change for school killings to decrease. Wayne LaPierre is the executive vice president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), one of the most powerful lobbies in the US. After the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, he described federal agents as "jack-booted thugs." This led former President George H. W. Bush to resign his NRA membership. This time LaPierre has surpassed himself. He has called for armed security in every school as a means to make the children of America safe. Even Fox News, hardly a lily livered liberal organization, questioned whether such a measure would be...
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360° Analysis / Politics / United States / BRIC / AsiaBy Atul SinghModi won the Gujarat elections because of his administrative competence and, as he looks to move to national politics, the US will have to change tack and reach out to him if it wants better relations with India. Gujarat, India’s western seaboard with 60 million people, reelected Narendra Modi to power. A charismatic orator, Modi has a reputation for being an honest and effective administrator in a country where politicians are known for corruption and incompetence. He is also self-made in a culture where social mobility is still low and politicians, especially from the Congress party, are either dynasts or owe their power to the patronage of dynasts. Is he Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde? To...
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Fair Observer's five best North America articles of 2012. 1: Taking a Step Forward for Canadian Nationhood — Michael Morgenthau Queen Elizabeth II may be a valuable symbol for Britain, but as a Canadian figurehead she contributes little to the country’s identity. 2: An Election to Define the Destiny of America — Atul Singh Atul Singh observes that a deeply divided American society is deadlocked over different visions for the future in an uncertain world and, regardless of the result of the election, the battle to define a new American destiny shall continue for another few years. 3: Hit the Road, Jack — Daniel DeFraia Why is the road trip such an...
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360° Analysis / United States / Europe / BRIC / Arts & Culture / Middle East / Americas / Africa / Asia / OceaniaThe way we experience events through media has changed dramatically in recent years, and has blurred the borders between reality and fiction. Where were you on September 11? Everybody can easily answer this question, because we all remember what we did and how we felt when the World Trade Center in New York City was attacked in 2001. When thinking about 9/11, people around the world still see the Twin Towers collapsing, hear people’s screams, and feel the fear of when the second plane smashed into the tower. But the paradoxical part of this is that most of us were not in New York City that day. Most of us did not see the collapse of the towers personally. Most of what we...
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360° Analysis / United States / Europe / BRIC / Arts & Culture / Middle East / Americas / Africa / Asia / OceaniaThe way we experience events through media has changed dramatically in recent years, and has blurred the borders between reality and fiction. Where were you on September 11? Everybody can easily answer this question, because we all remember what we did and how we felt when the World Trade Center in New York City was attacked in 2001. When thinking about 9/11, people around the world still see the Twin Towers collapsing, hear people’s screams, and feel the fear of when the second plane smashed into the tower. But the paradoxical part of this is that most of us were not in New York City that day. Most of us did not see the collapse of the towers personally. Most of what we...
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By Usama MahmudIn October, the Pakistani cricket star turned politician Imran Khan, led a much-publicized ‘peace rally’ against American drone strikes to the brink of the world’s most precarious region - South Waziristan. Accompanied by a contingent of American anti-war activists from Codepink and thousands of supporters from across the country, Khan hoped to bring unprecedented international spotlight to an issue that is already highly sensitive in Pakistan. Amid warnings from Pakistan's military and intelligence machinery of potentially life-threatening danger to him and his entourage, Khan had to retreat before reaching his original destination of Kotkai, located deep in the...
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As new technologies change the way war is waged, important new 'sociologies' emerge - both within the nations inventing and using the new weapons and among those upon whom they are inflicted. For that straw and mortar community, they are smitten as if by a mysterious, Old Testament retribution. There are the chickens scratching the earth for seed, the kids chasing a ragged ball about the courtyard, the women cooking the vittles, the men smoking and arguing about the weather... or the war... and then without even the warning that lightening allows for thunder, they are zapped, blown to smithereens by something inexplicable from the sky. For the...