Posts Tagged ‘Politics’

|Guest Column| U.S. 2012 Election – To Stay the Course or Back to the Future?

Posted: November 2, 2012 in North America, United States of America
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by Dinesh Swaminathan

Four years have passed and a lot has changed for Barack Obama. This time around the gloss and glamour of his 2008 campaign seem absent as he tries to convince the American public to let him finish the job he started.

Obama’s first term was spent repairing and steadying a country battered by the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. The lofty goals of “change” referenced across his speeches had to be shelved for prudence. And while many adjectives can be found to describe Obama’s term report card, few would argue that the situation has not improved. In fact, many supporters cite the hand Obama was dealt as a key ingredient in killing the enthusiasm that swept the nation four years ago, a hand that was dealt by the policies of a Republican administration; one not dissimilar to the man standing opposite Obama.

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|Guest Column| Could Syria’s Civil War Redraw the Map of the Middle East?

Posted: July 21, 2012 in Guest Opinions, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Syrian Civil War, Turkey
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By Frazier Fathers

This past week’s decapitating strike by Syrian opposition forces resulted in the deaths of Defense Minister Dawood Rajiha, his “deputy” Asef Shawkat (Assad’s brother-in law), Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani and Hisham Ikhtiar (Syria’s National Security Chief). The brazen bombing showed that the situation in Syria has recently deteriorated much quicker than many expected; the ability of the ever emboldened opposition to strike at the higher echelons of the Syrian regime is becoming a potential game changer. As the situation continues to spiral out of control, reports of ethnic cleansing of neighbourhoods and villages to the driving out of Iraqi refuges are raising sectarian tensions.

With pundits all agreeing that it is not a matter of “if” the Assad regime will fall but rather “when,” attention needs to be paid to what the aftermath of his fall might be. Syria is a divided nation in a divided region, where the majority Sunni population has been repressed at the hands of the Alawites (Shiites). Meanwhile the Kurds of Syria much like Kurds in Iraq and Turkey has suffered years of repression that has led to various nationalistic movements within the group. Smattered between these major groups are enclaves of Druze and Christians who are positioned to be potential targets of reprisal for their years of supporting the Assad regime.

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|Guest Column| Emulate the Dragon: A Single-Party Government in India?

Posted: July 4, 2012 in China, East Asia, Guest Opinions, India, South Asia
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By Varun Bindra

India and China share similar histories; both were liberated from imperialist rule in the mid-1940s and both have experienced a period of economic prosperity since the late 20th Century. However, one core difference between the two nations will allow China to continue to prosper while causing India’s economic performance to stagnate: their governments. On paper, India’s democracy seems much more enlightened than China’s one-party Communist state. In fact, many would agree that it is. However, while India’s model has allowed for better civil and human rights, its democracy is holding the nation back from the economic prosperity attained by China. And while democracy has allowed the West to undergo rapid economic development in the 19th and 20th Centuries, the democratic model cannot be effectively emulated in India for a few reasons.

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|Guest Column| Expanding the Canadian Dollar: Unique Opportunity or a Loonie Idea?

Posted: June 29, 2012 in Canada, Europe, Guest Opinions, North America
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By Frazier Fathers

Although it came as a shock to many, the idea that Iceland – one of the hardest hit nations by the 2008 financial crisis – would call for adopting the Loonie, presents Canada with a unique opportunity in the 21st century.

Following the collapse of the Icelandic economy, the Icelandic krona lost 60% of its value and the government was forced to place strict restrictions on currency exchange to prevent a flood of currency leaving the nation. Numerous options have been floated to solve the Icelandic currency dilemma and amongst these, the Canadian dollar carries some attractive features. Firstly, and most importantly from an economic standpoint, is that both Canada and Iceland share similar business cycles with their resource based export economies. Second, the current and ongoing struggles within the European Union and the questions of its future stability means that despite the ongoing ascension negotiations, the Euro may not be the best option for the Icelandic economy. Even the mighty US dollar faces a number of other serious concerns considering the political deadlock that grips Washington. Their economy that has been stuck in a rut since the 2008 recession and with the massive debt burden carried by the world’s last superpower, the once mighty greenback seems like less of an attractive option.

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|Guest Column| No Surprises at Iranian Nuclear Talks

Posted: June 28, 2012 in Guest Opinions, Iranian Nuclear Issue, Israel, Middle East
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By Uri Marantz

The latest round of nuclear talks between Iran and the West has once again failed to deliver concrete results, resolutions (of even the most minimally binding nature) or serious agreement of any kind; besides of course, agreeing to reschedule previously scheduled meetings for a future-but-as-of-yet-undefined date in time.  The West in this case refers to the P5+1, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) plus Germany (or the EU3+3, named after another Iranian negotiating bloc in the mid-2000s).

This patently predictable turn of events, this lack of progress on a potentially globally destabilizing hot-button political issue, has not surprised a single analyst or political expert on Iranian nuclear affairs.  Western-Iranian nuclear negotiations have become almost as endlessly protracted and hopelessly intractable as Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations; to paraphrase the Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz, these nuclear negotiations have become the only continuation of politics by other means.

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SPECIAL: Roots of Sri Lanka’s Ethnic Conflict – Part 2

Posted: June 5, 2012 in South Asia, Sri Lanka
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The first part of this series addressed the origins of Buddhist revivalism and its impact on developing a strong Sinhala Buddhist identity during the colonial period. While the concept was not adopted broadly, it remained an influential philosophy among some religious and political classes. With the arrival of independence, Buddhist revivalism was re-invigorated and reinvented to chart the future of post-Colonial Ceylon (Sri Lanka from 1972). It played an important role in pushing Sinhalese culture and religion to the forefront of the island’s national identity and sought to right the wrongs of over four-hundred years of colonial rule. However, It also contributed to the deterioration of ethnic relations between Sinhalese and Tamils, culminating in a decades long civil war.

State building in a post-Colonial World

There was no lack of conflict in the new born states of the post-colonial era. As European powers pulled out of much of Asia and Africa, a plethora of states were born. Ravaged by centuries of colonial extraction, these states clearly lacked the political maturity that their former rulers had developed through centuries of practice with the Westphalia nation-state model.

Probably the most important goals for indigenous political elites at this time, were national integration and state-building. The national government had to extend its authority throughout the newly formed boundaries of the state. This was troublesome because many of these states were unified or shaped geographically through colonialism; in some cases, groups locked within a single state had little prior interaction with some of their new compatriots.

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Syria: The War that Nobody Wants

Posted: May 22, 2012 in Lebanon, Middle East, Syrian Civil War
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It is hard to believe that the violence in Syria has gone unabated for over a year. When the Arab Spring first took hold of the Maghreb and parts of the Gulf, Syria was a late arrival. Former President Hafez Al-Assad had laid down a brutal precedent by crushing the 1982 revolt in Hama that some analysts predicted against a Syrian uprising in the birth place of Arab nationalism. However, with the fall of Egyptian stalwart Hosni Mubarak, Syrians came onto the streets, not chanting for revolution but reform. Unfortunately, Hafez’ son, Bashar Al-Assad, took a page from his father’s handbook; the chants were met with bullets and country has been descending down the path of civil war since. Diplomatic efforts at every level – state, regional and international – have failed to string together periods of peace, let alone halt the violence and there is real danger that Syria’s boundaries will be unable to contain the conflict.

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Israel’s Coalition: Much ado about…

Posted: May 14, 2012 in Iranian Nuclear Issue, Israel, Middle East
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Last week, Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu pulled off either the most despicable or brilliant political manoeuvre in the nation’s 64 year history. A day after having called for new elections that many expected him to win, Bibi, as he is affectionately called, did a U-turn and formed a new coalition with the Centrist Kadima party. It became a media sensation, causing wonderment, shock and anger while raising plenty of questions. Why did the Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz become bed fellows with the man (the “liar”) he vowed to oppose in the upcoming elections? Why did Bibi and Likud change their stance on new elections a day after the announcement? Moreover, what does this deal mean for Israel? Iran? The Peace process?

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|Guest Column| Canada: Conduit of Israeli Policy Towards Lebanon

Posted: May 8, 2012 in Canada, Guest Opinions, Israel, Lebanon
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by Bilal Hamade

It might be sheer coincidence that the last two prosecutors in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) are Canadians. Daniel Bellemare, who held the position since 2009, is now being replaced by Norman Farrell. Nevertheless, this “coincidence” is particularly telling of the increased Canadian interest and involvement in the Hariri assassination case and the politics of the Middle East at large.

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Who will lead the Arabs?

Posted: May 8, 2012 in Egypt, Iranian Nuclear Issue, Middle East, Syrian Civil War, Turkey
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It has been well over a year since the Arab Spring began sweeping through the Middle East like a stack of dominos. While some states have found a new beginning, many are still struggling to find their identity, let alone stability. Amidst the ongoing turmoil, there has been a lack of political unity and leadership amongst the Arab states. During this commotion, the region’s non-Arab states have been strengthening their claims of regional leadership, leaving the majority Arabs to become mere spectators.  If and when the dust settles on the Arab Spring, will the Arabs find themselves to be pawns in a larger regional competition; one that hasn’t seen a decent Arab contender since the first Gulf War. So, the question arises; who will lead the Arab world? Turkey? Iran? America? Or will we see an Arab leader/nation spring forth?

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