Country Intelligence and Analysis
SHAME was the first response of many people in Britain to the riots that started in the Tottenham neighbourhood of London on August 6th, skipped across the capital in the following days and nights and spread to Manchester, Birmingham and many other cities. Alongside the shame, there was a jolting bafflement. The…
The Real Reason Behind The Turkish Generals’ Mass Resignation Op-Ed: Turkey’s top military brass resigned en masse, setting off speculation of why, and what will happen next. But the origins of the move can be traced to the military’s many attempts to discredit the ruling party of Prime Minister Erdogan.
Somali refugees forced to flee drought are continuing their lives in camps across the border in Ethiopia. Resilience is hardly the word for the refugees that have trekked across the desert from deep in Somalia to Dolo Ado just over the Ethiopian border. There is a stoicism – an inner toughness – that hides the…
Stepping Into the Shoes of a Psychopath In “The Devil’s Double,” Dominic Cooper, with Ludivine Sagnier, plays Uday Hussein. IT’S hard to conceive of too many narratives in which Saddam Hussein might emerge as a second-tier villain. But in “The Devil’s Double” he is portrayed as a man who at least operated according to his…
Amsterdam Decides It’s High Time To Squash Its Squatters The squatter movement has long had a foothold in the Netherlands’ canal-carved economic capital. As evidenced by a major early July raid, authorities are now looking to send its squatters packing. Squatters during a 2009 demonstration in Amsterdam, Holland AMSTERDAM — The Mobile Unit was…
Israel Starting To Feel A Touch Of Arab Spring? A period of relative calm on the security front has given way to rising frustrations among about long-ignored economic problems. The result has been a series of online – and on the streets – protests. Tel Aviv, Israel TEL AVIV – Along Rothschild Boulevard, the most…
Robert Fisk: Now the Arab Spring becomes an Arab Summer Saturday, 16 July 2011 Rex Features Motorised French troops in Syria, near the border with Palestine, in June 1941. After the Second World War the French were persuaded to abandon their former mandated territories Syrians shot down in the streets across…
The Global Temper Tantrum Fury is spreading. But the mobs ignore the real culprit behind broken economies. Yiorgos Karahalis / Reuters-Landov Riot police at a protest against austerity measures in Athens on June 28, 2011. This is the age of indignation. Politics in the Western world are becoming more emotional—because our problems are so intractable….
Assad A Mockery In Eyes of Syrians Syrians watch their president, Bashar Assad, promise reforms in a TV speech. Syrian President Bashar Assad, following in the footsteps of other beleaguered Arab autocrats, promised reforms and threatened protesters in a televized speech. But German commentators join the growing number of observers who feel Assad’s regime may be running…
‘Blood fountains’ The scene had an almost biblical quality to it. On May 28, the waters of Mexico City’s most famous fountain turned blood-red. It was a surreal sight, but one with a very down-to-earth message: stop Mexico’s drug war. The event was part of a grassroots campaign called “Paremos las balas, pintemos las fuentes”…