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 / Lebanon / Palestine / Politics / Syria / Middle EastBy Dina AmerThousands of Palestinian refugees have fled Syria amidst the ongoing civil war. However, for them, the fate of discrimination and inequality in Lebanon is just as dire as the fate of violence in Syria. Meesar Lahan’s personal story represents thousands of Palestinian refugees filtering into the Shatila refugee camp of Lebanon from war-stricken Syria. Their move to Lebanon represents a second displacement (the first being from Palestine), and many of these refugees are giving up hope, some even considering a return with their families back to Syria. The labyrinth of discrimination and segregation specific to the already existing Palestinian refugee population of Lebanon has made many...
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360° Analysis / blue / blue states / Maps / obama / Politics / President / presidential elections / purple / red / red states / Romney / United StatesFor all the talk of red states and blue states, much of America is really purple. That simple observation has inspired some great alternatives to the standard red and blue maps depicting electoral outcomes. Princeton’s Robert Vanderbei, for example, has created an animation that makes three improvements on the standard red/blue map: he maps counties not just states; he uses shades of purple to reflect the mix of Democratic and Republican votes; and he uses green for third parties. Here’s his animation for the 1960 to 2008 elections; keep an eye out for Ross Perot. (Vanderbei also has a static version of the 2012 results.) ...
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360° Analysis / Cheol-soo / Kim Dae-jung / Kim Young-sam / Myung-bak / Politics / presidential elections / South Korea / AsiaThe South Korean presidential election is taking place on December 19. Since the independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo entered the electoral campaign, the power constellations have changed. After months of speculation, on September 19, Ahn Cheol-soo entered the race as an independent candidate to become South Korea’s next president. The current president, Lee Myung-bak will be ending his five-year term and by constitutional mandate, is not allowed to run for a second term, a good thing for him since polls show his current approval rating at a paltry 29.7 percent. His party, the conservative Saenuri Party (New Frontier Party) nominated Park Geun-hye as its standard bearer....
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360° Analysis / Assad / Politics / Syria / Middle EastThe establishing of the “Free Alawites” is a ray of hope for some in the Syrian opposition who have assumed that the entire Alawite sect is with Assad to the very end. By Daniel DePetris The otherwise bloody revolt taking place in Syria experienced an unexpected positive development when a new group of anti-regime activists was formed in early October. Unlike the dozens of rebel brigades proliferating across the country, the new organization is trying to resurrect the nonviolent tactics that the Syrian opposition used during the first few months of the rebellion last year, when demonstrations and calls for civic activism filled the squares of towns across Syria. But more...
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360° Analysis / Elections / Mexico / Nieto / pena nieto / Politics / AmericasMexico’s President-Elect Pena Nieto has bold plans to reshuffle public perception of corruption away from the top leadership and towards the local government. Peña Nieto`s Three Opening Gambits Mexican President-Elect Enrique Peña Nieto seems to have already prepared three term-opening political gambits. They all hinge on a re-negotiation of corruption in Mexico. The combined success of this opening flurry may well determine the overall success of the new regime. If these initial efforts prove successful, we will presumably see a “stronger” Mexico in the international arena. He may succeed in managing the nation’s “corruption” in a much more...
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By Trevor CohenIf Mexico’s next president can turn his ambition into effective policy, then his six-year term may be the most productive in the country’s recent history. The story is all too familiar. A conservative president launches a disastrous war against terrorism, killing tens of thousands of combatants and civilians. After his term, his party is swiftly swept out of office, by a charismatic centre-left junior politician. Beyond security, the new president faces problems in unemployment and economic growth, but most of all a polarized opposition struggling to recover from defeat. This is not the saga of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, but the tale of Mexico...
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360° Analysis / Elections / Facebook / Mexico / Nieto / Politics / Social Media / twitter / AmericasBy Trevor CohenA student movement in Mexico challenges the monopolization of traditional media through the use of social media and their rise provides an interesting study in media both old and new. Like a bizarro Tea Party mixed with the youthful cyber-savvy and anarchistic Occupy Movement, emerges the Yo Soy el 132 ("I am the 132"), a collection of student activists demanding an end to the corporate monopolization of the economy and the media. Protesters partly blame the defeat of their candidate, the leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador from the Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD), on the mainstream media’s coverage of the election. They argue that Televisa, a media company...
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By Trevor CohenAn outline of the elections in Mexico and President-Elect Enrique Peña Nieto. Background The party of Mexico’s 71-year civilian dictatorship is back. On July 1, Peña Nieto of the Revolutionary Institution Party (PRI) claimed victory in presidential elections over leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and conservative Josefina Vázquez Mota of the incumbent National Action Party (PAN). Half of the votes were recounted on July 6, following a wide range of alleged irregularities, but Nieto retained his near seven-point lead. The defeated Obrador accused the PRI of buying as many as 5mn votes. His...
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360° Analysis / Israel / Palestine / Politics / Middle EastHillel Schenker, an Israeli journalist and peace activist, describes a recent meeting in Ramallah between Nabil Shaath and members of the Meretz Party. “We continue to believe in a two state solution” declared Dr. Nabil Shaath, the former Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority and currently Fatah’s Commissioner for International Relations. At a rare encounter, Shaath was met in Ramallah by over 70 members of the Meretz Party at President Mahmoud Abbas’ headquarters. Flanked by senior associates of Abbas, who was away at a summit meeting of the Organization of Islamic Countries in Mecca, Shaath said that “although many of us are Muslims, we have a...