Where is Duterte Leading the Philippines?
“You destroy my country, I’ll kill you,” Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte warned in a recent exclusive interview with Al Jazeera. His warning was directed at […] More
Security/Stability
The Critical First Hundred Days
President Rodrigo Duterte’s first hundred days will be some of the most critical for his vision of radical change. Over that period, Duterte demonstrated strong […] More
Will Order Be Maintained in a Post-Bhumibol Thailand?
After seventy years of rule, Thailand’s King Bhumibol has passed away. As a public figure with largely ceremonial power, he promoted Thailand’s rural development and […] More
War and Peace: Syria and the Question of American Intervention
On July 4 1821, John Quincy Adams gave an historic address to Congress, in which he stated that, while America may support the cause of […] More
Let War Work
The conflict in Syria has ground on for roughly five years now, claiming some 400,000 lives, leading almost five million Syrians to seek refuge in […] More
Have We Reached a Bosnia Moment in Syria?
It’s often hard to discern when a tipping point arrives in any international crisis. For those of us working the Balkan beat in the 1990s, […] More
UN Official Warns of "Extremely Fragile" Situation in DRC
The UN’s top diplomat in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) warned of an “extremely fragile” political situation in the country. Maman Sidikou, head […] More
The DRC: Strong Grip on Power, Weak Handle on Governance
Late on Sunday, Bruno Tshibala, the Deputy Secretary and spokesman of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)’s largest opposition party, the Union for Democracy […] More
Changing the Political Calculus
African leaders have tried many different ways to evade term limits in recent years. Usually these take a form of reinterpreting when an incumbent’s first […] More
Exacerbating an Already Difficult Situation
With the recent announcement that presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will be postponed until at least 2018, tensions have been rising […] More
NSA Leaks: How Could This Happen Again?
The filing of a criminal complaint by the U.S. government against a National Security Agency (NSA) contractor has once again raised the harrowing possibility that […] More
Nuclear No First Use: Ambiguity vs. Clarity
In a Presidential race dominated by immigration, trade, and an almost unprecedented level of political mudslinging, one could be forgiven for missing moderator Lester Holt’s […] More
No Alternative in Sight
Since June 2016, there has been a spirited debate in Washington regarding the U.S. adoption of a No-First-Use (NFU) policy. A NFU policy would be […] More
NFU is Good Nuclear Policy
Geopolitical tensions have risen in Europe since the Russia-Ukraine crisis in 2014; in South Asia with the flare-up in Kashmir; and in East Asia with […] More
Failure of Syrian Ceasefire Could Lead to Rebels Getting Advanced Arms
Heightened concern that some Gulf States and Turkey want to give Syrian rebels in Aleppo more advanced weaponry has Washington warning about the potential for […] More
There Will Never Be a Perfect Peace in Colombia
After the surprising results of the Colombian peace referendum on Sunday night, both the government of Colombia and the FARC must try again to reach […] More
Is Peace Possible in Colombia?
On Sunday, Colombians were called upon by their government to answer a simple question, “Do you support the final agreement to end the conflict and […] More
Back to Square One
Colombia’s pollsters, who are usually pretty accurate predictors of vote results, didn’t foresee this. Public opinion surveys showed a clear majority of voters in the […] More