King Abdullah II of Jordan Is Jordan next? Despite all the chatter, there are reasons to believe it isn’t, for now. Last week, Jordanians went to the polls to participate in undeniably flawed elections. An electoral system that heavily favored the pro-monarchy constituencies voted in a parliament that has reinforced King Abdullah’s rule, and has marginalized the opposition. Anticipating this farce, the two largest opposition parties, al-Hirak,...
...sponse cites an $800 million shortfall in the promised funds thus far, rendering the United Nations and its partner organizations incapable of meeting the basic needs of the refugees, who are dispersed across Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt. From afar, this lack of funding seems like an obvious choice on the part of the potential donor nations. But the world is still in a global recession, and losing valuable taxpayer dollars to foreign...
...his rule. The surprisingly rapidity with which revolution has swept the Arab world can be attributed, in part, to a revolution in social media. Starting in Tunisia and spreading to Egypt, protests are now appearing in Yemen, Jordan, and Syria, organized and publicized by individuals though Facebook, Twitter, and SMS, reminiscent of the abortive Green Revolution in Iran. While technology alone cannot cause the fall of a government, it can help ca...
...the most advanced non-stealth fighters in the world. Perhaps Israel’s most important question is whose territory to fly over. The most direct route takes them either through Syrian air space and then through Iraq, or through Jordan and through Iraq. Another option would be to go through Turkey and into Iran from the north. In 2007, Israel penetrated Syrian air defenses and struck a Syrian nuclear reactor. Reportedly, they used a virus to infect...
...fied the protestors. Globally, this seems to be the time of revolutions and upheavals, an international springtime for democracy, with frenetic political activism emerging in Egypt, Syria, Libya, and potentially even Iran and Jordan. However, the turmoil in Russia defies the formula emerging elsewhere, in which longstanding regimes are confronted by their people and forced to either disperse the rabble-rousers or else dethrone. In Russia, Putin...
From Wikimedia Commons Once again, British MPs are debating Britain’s membership in the EU. Last week, a debate took place in the House of Commons which intended to put pressure on David Cameron and reiterate the conviction that a withdrawal from the EU would not only be beneficial, but increasingly viable. Tory MP Douglas Carswell said Friday: “Withdrawing from the European Union can no longer be dismissed as unthinkable, it’s no longer...
photo from Wikimedia Commons Every week I scroll through the news and keep an eye out for interesting articles pertaining to Europe so that I’ll have something to scribble about when my CPR deadline rolls around. This week, however, what caught my eye was not any article in particular but rather a gaping and comical discrepancy between two New York Times pieces covering America and Europe, respectively. People often discuss the different mental...
Once again, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is back in the news for all the wrong reasons. Still dealing with a seemingly endless barrage of lawsuits and criminal charges, Mr. Strauss-Kahn is now attempting to avoid yet another indictment for his alleged participation in a French prostitution ring. These charges are not something Mr. Strauss-Kahn is unfamiliar with, and are only the latest in of many, the most high-profile of which were those leveled by...
From Wikimedia Commons As tensions between Israel and Hamas reached their limits during the month of November, narrowly avoiding a full-fledged ground invasion of the Gaza strip, the international community has once again been asked to step in and mediate peace talks between the two governments. With America and Egypt taking the lead, a shaky cease-fire is now underway and a temporary calm has been temporarily restored to the region. These rece...
In early 2009, concerns about the rising private and national debt levels in Europe moved some policymakers to start talking about belt tightening and tax hikes as ways to reign in budget deficits and tackle monstrous debts. Now, nearly three years and various bailouts later, the European debt crisis is far from over and national budget deficits are very far from under control. As 2013 approaches we are seeing both the true extent of the Europe...
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