For years the internationally-recognized government of Somalia, based in Mogadishu, has been in a running battle with the Al-Shabab insurgency, but recent advances by the Somali Armed Forces, backed by the US military, as well as division within the Islamist movement itself, appears to have put Al-Shabab on the back foot.
After decades of conflict and military occupations, Afghanistan has yet to emerge from its ongoing humanitarian crisis. The main culprits at this juncture are the poor governance of the ruling Taliban as well as the remarkably hostile policies of the United States and its allies, which are, in effect, waging economic warfare against one of the poorest nations on Earth.
The US Congress and President Joe Biden are facing fresh pressure to end “forever wars” abroad and to pursue a US foreign policy that is “consistent with the nation’s legal, human, and civil rights obligations, and the moral authority that the United States has long claimed on these issues.”
In order to achieve a lasting peace in Afghanistan, the United States needs to keep waging its longest-ever war there. That’s the conclusion of a report published Wednesday by the Afghanistan Study Group.
The Draft Resolution of the Japanese Communist Party 27th Congress contains valuable insights about how the global superpower is viewed by sections of Japanese political left.
Dr. Adel Al-Jubeir, Saudi Foreign Minister, addresses Japanese journalists in Tokyo on September 2, 2016. Topics included diplomatic issues with Syria and Iran.
The various dramas occurring today near Henoko beach, Okinawa, and the city of Ferguson, Missouri, undoubtedly have many points of difference, but it is worth reflecting briefly on some issues that unite these two cases.
The people who wrote this constitution lived in a world more dangerous than ours. They were surrounded by territory controlled by hostile powers, on the edge of a vast wilderness. Yet they understood that even in perilous times the strength of self-government was public debate and public consensus. To put aside these basic values out of fear, to imitate the foe in order to defeat him, is to shred the distinction that makes us different.
