Something Fishy Going On
NEED TO KNOW NAMIBIA Something Fishy Going On What does an Icelandic fisherman have to do with Namibia’s presidential election? Plenty, it […]
Springing Anew
NEED TO KNOW IRAQ Springing Anew In the years after the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, critics said the US had […]
Who’s In Charge?
NEED TO KNOW GUINEA-BISSAU Who’s In Charge? Guinea-Bissau is arguably a “narco state,” a country where drug money has corrupted every nook and […]
Chipping Away
NEED TO KNOW TANZANIA Chipping Away Local elections on Nov. 24 are quickly becoming a test of whether Tanzania can become a […]
Whack-a-Mole
NEED TO KNOW WORLD Whack-a-Mole The Islamic State was thought to be at a low. The death last month of the extremist […]
Darling Tyrant
NEED TO KNOW RWANDA Darling Tyrant Rwandan President Paul Kagame, in office for almost 20 years, delivered a blunt statement to his […]
A Tsunami of Disenfranchisement
NEED TO KNOW MARSHALL ISLANDS A Tsunami of Disenfranchisement In the 1940s and 1950s, the United States exploded 67 nuclear bombs, conducted […]
The Wizard’s Feint
NEED TO KNOW BELARUS The Wizard’s Feint It’s hard to know whether the Nov. 17 elections to the lower house of parliament […]
The Politics of Greed
NEED TO KNOW SRI LANKA The Politics of Greed Gotabaya Rajapaksa helped crush a nearly 30-year-long insurgency in Sri Lanka in 2009 […]
Government by Hydra
NEED TO KNOW BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA Government by Hydra Bosnia and Herzegovina has three presidents but no government. As Agence France-Presse explained, […]
Where Bombs and Bullets Could Not Go
NEED TO KNOW BOUGAINVILLE, PAPUA NEW GUINEA Where Bombs and Bullets Could Not Go The civil war between Papua New Guinea’s central […]
Sighing All The Way To The Polls
NEED TO KNOW SPAIN Sighing All The Way To The Polls The weather was so cold on election day Sunday in Spain […]
Rearview Mirror Politics
NEED TO KNOW ROMANIA Rearview Mirror Politics Has Romania finally achieved a semblance of stability? Protests over political corruption have wracked Romania […]
Of Falling Walls and Soaring Rage
NEED TO KNOW GERMANY Of Falling Walls and Soaring Rage Americans view the fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago as […]
Glittering Skylines, Hedging Bets
NEED TO KNOW UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Glittering Skylines, Hedging Bets The glittering skylines of Dubai and Abu Dhabi highlight how the United […]
No Good Deed…
NEED TO KNOW ETHIOPIA No Good Deed… Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize recently for his efforts to […]
The Other Side of Scandal
NEED TO KNOW RUSSIA & UKRAINE The Other Side of Scandal Some Americans might have noticed that Ukraine has been in the […]
Back to the Future
NEED TO KNOW WORLD Back to the Future Lately it’s been feeling a lot like 1968. Fifty-one years ago, Americans took to […]
You Go, Girl
NEED TO KNOW WORLD You Go, Girl These young women are superheroes, but they’re not the Powerpuff Girls. They’re fighters for human […]
The Price of Righteousness
NEED TO KNOW THAILAND The Price of Righteousness Fewer tourists these days are reserving hotel rooms, enjoying the nightlife, riding elephants and […]
Should I Stay or Should I Go…
NEED TO KNOW UNITED KINGDOM Should I Stay or Should I Go… Brexit was supposed to happen on Oct. 31. It won’t. […]
A Genie Is Out
NEED TO KNOW TURKEY A Genie Is Out Russian troops in Syria recently moved to the country’s northeastern border with Turkey, occupying […]
Powder Keg Politics
NEED TO KNOW CATALONIA Powder Keg Politics Separatism made Catalonia into a powder keg. Spanish authorities lit the fuse. Activists in the […]