Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

Creating Terror

Sat, 01/10/2009 - 6:29am | posted by Rick Fisk

By now, everyone is aware that Hamas has attacked Israel, though it was Israel itself which broke the ceasefire. I no longer have a television but I know the story is plastered on every major news network because it is also plastered on every political blog and social networking site. There is an entire network of supporters on both sides of the conflict insisting that their side is blameless and that the concerns of the other side are unremarkable. Both sides are spewing enough hyperbole and anger to warrant concern about fistfights breaking out stateside.

The conflict between Israel and it’s “neighbors” in Gaza and the West Bank is a great big mess that apparently has just one solution - according to a large group of foreign policy geniuses in America and Israel: more fighting.

The Rise of State Capitalism

Wed, 04/29/2009 - 12:45pm | posted by Alina Stefanescu Coryell

The latest issue of Foreign Affairs has a great piece by Ian Bremmer which describes “state capitalism” and explains why that is the best term for the particular government expansions currently taking place. Unfortunately, the article is only available to susscribers, but you can listen to an audio of the article here. Bremmer, who is President of Eurasia Group, does not make modest claims about the economic developments of the past few years. He notes that in developing countries, “the state’s heavy hand in the economy is signalling a strategic rejection of the free market doctrine”:

The Worst Thing We Could Do With Gitmo Detainees

Sat, 04/04/2009 - 12:10pm | posted by Michael Orion Powell

No doubt President Obama will ignore this:

CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he would be willing to accept prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention center, which U.S. President Barack Obama has said he will close, the Venezuelan government said Thursday.

Nevertheless it is worth noting what an awful idea this would be if it were to go through. A bunch of prisoners who were held indefinitely by the United States granted asylum in a raucusly anti-American state? That’s just a recipe for disaster.

Of course there are worse places they could end up, like Sudan, Iran or Saudi Arabia. The best place for them right now is a courtroom.