-
The IMF and the Taliban
Among the many factors at play in the growth of the Pakistani “neo-Taliban” is the story of poverty and a failed government response to basic human needs. With the global recession underway, things have only gotten only worse for those near the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder in Pakistan and elsewhere. As the World Bank…
-
Pirates, Propaganda, and CNN
-“Heroes and villians” — it is standard rhetorical fare for elected officials, media outlets, and the general public. We all want our uplifting stories of freedom, set against the backdrop of immorality and danger. The story of the Somali pirates is no exception. This is not to say many of the pirates are in fact…
-
The Nonprofit Newspaper?
Good reporting on U.S. foreign policy requires good reporting, period. As newspapers shrink and reporters get laid off, accurate American discourse about our actions in the world becomes less likely. The best (worst) example is Iraq. Even before the Obama Administration began, flagging public interest intersected with shrinking media budgets to result in Baghdad…
-
The Al Qaeda two-step shuffle
Al Qaeda and the “war on terror” seem to be the ultimate linguistic props. Now you see them, now you don’t. First, the disappearance — the Washington Post reports in late March on the new name for the “war on terror”: In a memo e-mailed this week to Pentagon staff members, the Defense Department’s office…
-
With a friend like this, who needs democracy?
A repost of my comment at Sepia Mutiny and Chapati Mystery: On the intersection of U.S. policy and Pakistani politics, I was particularly surprised to read this link off a Pakistani news twitter feed: Obama calls Zardari, discusses mutual cooperation Pakistan News.Net / Friday 27th March, 2009 (ANI) Islamabad, Mar. 27 : US President Barack…
-
Dollar vs. Dollar
Until recently, a fundamental reality has been missing from U.S. media coverage of the “drug wars” in Latin America. Time and again, our headlines have pointed to the scary “other” — the corrupt Mexican police officer, the Colombian drug trafficker, the peasant farmer who ekes out a living growing a poisonous crop. A case in…