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The disputed existence of the breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has come into focus again in the context of the ongoing diplomatic dispute between Russia and Georgia and the August anniversary of the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. Abkhazia remains at the heart of discussions because...
Freedom is under attack around the world. Police are rounding up hundreds of opposition protesters in Moscow, while hundreds of thousands are protesting in Hong Kong for freer elections, a free press and freedom from extradition to China. Yet in the United States, the hard right is taking...
After the mass killings that took place within 24 hours of each other in El Paso and Dayton, the political class and US media honored their longstanding ritual of debating the causes and possible solutions to reduce the damage of gun culture before resolving to get back to business and wait for...
Anthony Scaramucci famously played a comic role in the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency in a scene that had him enter stage right and exit stage left in record time. There have been many actors for secondary roles in the White House who have done the same thing, but none could equal...
It should be recognized that there is a significant difference between European and post-Soviet right-wing radicalism. The difference between these two strands of radicalism is that the post-Soviet radicals are a large systemic element in the political structure in many countries of the former...
In India, the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party has abrogated the special status for Jammu and Kashmir through a presidential order. Though the decision has been hailed nationwide as a step toward full integration of the state with the rest of India, it has been challenged in the Supreme Court for...
At first, I didn’t believe it when someone said last week that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had backtracked on his agreement to let US Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib visit Israel and the Palestinian Territories. After all, they are members of Congress and the...
Mexico’s economy has for at least a century functioned according to the mordida system, often described simply as “the way of getting things done.” The word “mordida” literally means “bite,” but as part of a functioning system, it simply means “bribe.” In some ways, it’s closer...
Recent clashes in Aden lay bare the untenable sociopolitical status quo in southern Yemen. Weeks of attacks and conspiracies reveal a strained Saudi-Emirati alliance and unaddressed southern Yemeni grievances. A tenuous partnership between forces of the Saudi-backed, internationally-recognized...
In a regional environment where the slightest miscalculated move on one side can trigger an equally miscalculated reaction from the other, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s actions on August 5 over Jammu and Kashmir are simply bizarre. Article 370 of the Indian Constitution had...
India has taken a decision on Jammu and Kashmir, putting the hotspot region back in the news. The recently re-elected Modi government scrapped the temporary special provisions for the Indian state and reorganized it as a Delhi-administrated territory. The move is a fundamental paradigm shift in...
