Politics
Politics
Fair Observer's analysis of political issues, events and trends and their national, regional and international consequences.
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360° Analysis / AIPAC / Congress / DEFENSE GUIDANCE PLAN / Ehud Barak / George W. Bush / Iraq / Iraq War / Israel / Israel Lobby / Neoconservatives / Politics / Saddam Hussein / Stephen Zunes / terrorism / United States / US Imperialism / WMD / Middle East / Global SecurityStephen Zunes argues that the blame for the Iraq War should not be put on the Israel lobby but the Bush administration and US imperialism. This is the last of a two part series. Read part 1 here. “Pro-Israel Jewish neoconservatives like Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith, Richard Perle, and other neo-cons behind the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) were among the key architects of the policy of ‘preventative war' and were the strongest advocates for a US invasion of Iraq.” While it is true that a disproportionate number of neoconservative Jews were among the policymakers who pushed for a US invasion of Iraq, it is also true that a...
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Ahmed R.Teleb / Edouard Lambert / Eugen Ehrlich / google / google.ps / Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr / Larry Page / Palestine / Politics / Roscoe Pound / sociological jurisprudence / United States / Focus Article / Global Change / Middle EastBy Ahmed TelebMaking the decision for Google to change google.ps' website to mention "Palestine," CEO Larry Page didn't look at international law. Instead, he looked at what social institutions had done regarding Palestine. In turn, Google too followed suit. Google's decision on May 3 to change google.ps' tagline to “Palestine,” implicitly recognized it as a state. It also encapsulated a jurisprudence (philosophy of law) that harkens back to a world-wide quasi-revolution in law from 100 years ago, called by many at the time, the solution to “a crisis of democracy.” Today, that approach may herald a new period of legal transition as recent technology and new economic realities collide with old laws...
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360° Analysis / Beijing / China / Depsang / India / India-China Border Dispute / Ladakh / Manmohan Singh / Mumbai / New Delhi / Nitin A. Gokhale / Politics / BRIC / Global Security / AsiaThe recent incursion by Chinese troops in Ladakh's Depsang area should serve as a timely reminder to India that timelines for infrastructure development along the Chinese frontier and plans to boost military capability, do not have the luxury of slippages. Almost exactly four years ago, the outgoing UPA-I government's Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) was meeting for the last time before the results of the 2009 general elections were to be announced. The sole item on the agenda: enhancing India's military preparedness against China. According to insiders present at that meeting, some of the members of the CCS wanted to leave the decision to the next government. But...
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Al Nasser FC / Arab Spring / Dissent / Nasrawi Revolution / Politics / Prince Faisal / Prince Nawaf / Revolution / Saudi Arabia / Saudi Football Federation / Shia Minority / Soccer / Wahhabism / Women's Soccer / Focus Article / Arts & Culture / Middle EastSaudi Arabia is seeing an emergence of political dissent from soccer fans. The country may be on the verge of licensing women’s soccer clubs that currently operate in a legal nether land. Soccer, alongside minority Shiite Muslims and relatives of imprisoned government critics, is emerging as a focal point of dissent in Saudi Arabia; an oil-rich kingdom that, despite banning demonstrations by law, is struggling to fend off the waves of change sweeping the Middle East and North Africa. Nasrawi Revolution Fan pressure is evolving as a potent tool in the absence of the right to protest. It follows intermittent demonstrations, and at times deadly clashes with security forces, in the...
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360° Analysis / Beijing / China / Chinese / Communist Party of China / Egypt / Eric Lowe / Fair Observer / Politics / Taiwan / United States / Xi Jingping / BRIC / AsiaBy Eric LoweReforms in judiciary and governance to stamp out corruption and abuse of power are long overdue in China. The question, however, is how far and how fast they would be achieved under the new Chinese leadership. Historically speaking, China has problems with the law. The older generation does not see laws as rights but rather as rules that are thrust upon them, to be obeyed without question. Chinese proverbs such as “the one who creates the law dies by the law” or “turbulent times demand harsh laws” make laws sound negative but necessary without any notion of justice. It was the wise judges who interpreted the laws that were praised in literature and folklore instead...
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360° Analysis / Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani / Ayatollah Khamenei / Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei / Green Movement / Iran / Mahmoud Ahmadinejad / Mohammed Khatami / Nuclear Program / Politics / presidential elections / Revolutionary Guard / Middle EastBy Reza JDespite the importance attached to the upcoming presidential elections, when it comes to Iran's nuclear program, there will be no change at the negotiating table. On April 18, 2013, US Secretary of State John Kerry asked senators pressing for tougher sanctions over Iran's nuclear program to be patient. He is not the only high-ranking Western politician who thinks that it would be difficult to reach to any agreement through negotiations between the P5+1 and Iran over its nuclear program before the Iranian presidential elections. Former EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, who was the West’s main negotiator with Iran from 2003 to 2009, supports the same idea. But...
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Argentina / Calderon War / Colombia / crime / drug cartel / Drug War / drugs / General Victims' Law / Human Rights / Matthew Furlong / Mexico / Politics / War on Drugs / Focus Article / AmericasMexico's new General Victims' Law has been widely acclaimed, but some critics quietly wonder: might criminality itself profit from a society that tends to equate "citizen" and "victim"? The Emerging Society of Victims "Draw the scaffolding so that the last step of the ladder comes in clearly. The criminal must be just stepping onto it, his face as white as note-paper. The priest is holding a cross to his blue lips, and the criminal kisses it, and knows and sees and understands everything. The cross and the head — there's your picture; the priest and the executioner, with his two assistants, and a few heads and eyes below. Those might come in as...
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360° Analysis / Bangladesh / Democracy / Dr / Imran Khan / India / Ishtiaq Ahmed / Islam and Democracy / Pakistan / Pakistan Elections 2013 / Pervez Musharraf / Politics / Zardari / AsiaThere is no denying that the erstwhile modernist Pakistani leadership tried to make Pakistan both democratic and Islamic. However, no constitutional formula could find the proper balance. The Pakistani general election is most likely to be held as planned. After nearly 66 years, a milestone would be reached: an elected government will succeed another elected government with a brief interlude of a caretaker administration. The vetting process carried out by overzealous inquisitional examining officers has, mercifully, on instructions from their superiors, abated and the election commission has very wisely forbidden the invocation of religion and sect. No doubt, democracy is better...
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360° Analysis / Bhutto / Gateway House / Imran Khan / Islamabad / Karachi / Masood Hasan / Pakistan / Pakistan Elections 2013 / Politics / Zardari / AsiaBy Masood Hasan The national election in Pakistan looks like a game of polarisation, but if democracy is meant to provide some relief and prosperity, all political parties have flopped, bottom up. The field is now wide open, and anything can happen — including a hung parliament. Thank God I am many things but not a political pundit. That species grows on trees and bushes in present-day Pakistan. Another election commences – and as some cynics put it, and so is more heartbreak! With the deadline now into hours, the field is wide open. Anything can happen. A few days back, Imran Khan helicoptered to eight cities amid much mingling with the great unwashed, making speeches and...