Int’l Affairs

Beyond the popular movement for freedom which started three years ago and spread all over the Middle East, the region is currently facing a much more serious situation. An extra-governmental, radical insurgent group, the ISIS, is gaining control over vast territories while capturing major cities and rich oil fields in Iraq. This marks one of the defining moments of the …

The Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), also known as the Khmer Rouge (Red Khmer) ruled Cambodia from April 17, 1975 until January 1979. In 1976, the Khmer Rouge established the state of Democratic Kampuchea. Three decades after the fall of the regime that managed the torture and death of some two million Cambodians in pursuit of agrarian utopia, the recently-concluded …

‘Even though human life may be the most precious thing on earth, we always behave as if there were something of higher value than human life.’ These words of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, a renowned French aristocrat, struck my mind when I saw the heart-wrenching images of brutally-murdered Gaza children. In today’s world, where abuse or misuse of an animal may …

HISTORICAL OPPORTUNITY OR CONTEMPORARY OPPORTUNISM? The recent crisis that is threatening Iraq in the form of ISIS has brought to the fore the issue of the probable independence of Kurdistan as the newest state in the world. While the Kurds see the present crisis as a historical opportunity to consolidate their much-desired sovereign state on the plea that Iraq as …

The pace and rapidity with which the fragile state-building process in Iraq has imploded is almost unbelievable. Observers around the world are stunned by the speed and scope of the assaults on every major city in the upper Tigris River Valley ‘ including Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city ‘ by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). The group has been marching …

The EU citizens, in recent elections to the European Parliament (EP), sent a strong and clear message to the European leaders to take a lesson from their low turnout and their choices to move to the extreme sides of the political spectrum. The EP election results reflected political and social trends of recent years in the EU. Although the general …

The current chaos in Iraq is largely attributed to the ill-conceived US invasion of Iraq, the dismantling of the Ba’athist state apparatus and the hasty withdrawal of American troops. But, Iraq was not ready enough to assume control of its own security situation when the US decided to withdraw forces in December 2011. The wisdom of that decision will long …

The leadership turnover in China has taken place in a shifting political situation. There have been increased calls for more political accountability and multi-candidate elections, broader media freedom and financial reform. We need to watch this closely. The behaviour of Chinese leadership for change will determine whether China will continue its phenomenal ‘rise’ or will it be hampered by the …

The world is going through a period of turmoil and uprisings. Armed troops have taken over territory in Eastern Europe. First-world navies are jockeying for territorial waters in the South China Sea. Barbarous rebel forces are overrunning regime troops in Iraq and Syria. Afghanistan has been ruined by the US. South America is also not immune to it. Iran-Saudi rivalry …

Boko Haram is among the most vicious terrorist groups operating in North Africa. It has caused havoc in Nigeria’ Africa’s most populous country’ through a wave of bombings, assassinations and abductions. The region is home to some of the worst extremists in the world. This militant group wants to institute sharia system in Nigeria. Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam which …