Online Journal of Politics and Foreign Affairs
Yesterday, rumors swept the Internet, primarily via Twitter, that the new leader of North Korea had been assassinated in Beijing: The claim that Kim, supreme leader of North Korea since the death of his father Kim Jong Il in December, had died apparently stemmed from a message sent out by a man who works near [...]
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced this afternoon that the timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan is being accelerated: BRUSSELS — In a major milestone toward ending a decade of war in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said on Wednesday that American forces would step back from a combat role there as early as [...]
The Daily Mail reports that Kim Jong-Un and his underlings are punishing citizens perceived not to have sufficiently mourned the death of his father: North Korea’s hardline regime is punishing those who did not cry at the death of dictator Kim Jong-il, according to reports. Sentences of at least six months in labour camps are [...]
This shouldn’t be at all surprising: WASHINGTON — A nearly two-month lull in American drone strikes in Pakistan has helped embolden Al Qaeda and several Pakistani militant factions to regroup, increase attacks against Pakistani security forces and threaten intensified strikes against allied forces in Afghanistan, American and Pakistani officials say. The insurgents are increasingly taking [...]
A few people over at Reddit have discovered an odd detail from photographs of yesterday’s memorial service for Kim Jong-il: At the Wire today, Dashiell Bennett highlights the North Korean state news agency’s apparently random manipulation of an image from yesterday’s funeral procession for Kim Jong Il — a crude photoshop job done, Bennett notes, [...]
J. David Goodman and David Furst at The New York Times Lens Blog have uncovered an interesting manipulation of at least one of the photographs released yesterday from the funeral procession of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il: The funeral of Kim Jong-il on Wednesday called to mind the best stage-managed Communist state productions: the falling [...]
The official State Funeral for Kim Jong-il was held in Pyongyang earlier today, and it was about as bizarre as you’d expect something from that country to be: SEOUL, South Korea — Kim Jong-un, the designated dynastic heir to power in North Korea, walked alongside the hearse of his deceased father, Kim Jong-il, through snow-covered [...]
From China Daily by way of Zerohedge comes word that some of China’s biggest borrowers may be approaching insolvency: BEIJING – China’s biggest provincial borrowers are deferring payment on their loans just two months after the country’s regulator said some local government companies would be allowed to do so. Hunan Provincial Expressway Construction Group is [...]
If a report from Reuters is to be believed, Kim Jong Un will not have the same power over the DPRK that his father and grandfather did, at least not for the time being: (Reuters) – North Korea will shift to collective rule from a strongman dictatorship after last week’s death of Kim Jong-il, although [...]
The protests that resulted in the effective takeover of a Chinese fishing village by protesters upset with their local government have come to an end: WUKAN, China — Villagers who had carried out a prominent protest against what they called land seizures by officials and business people agreed on Wednesday to halt their demonstrations after [...]
How can we know what happens next in North Korea when we didn’t even know Kim Jong-il had died?
A tumblr blog. Stephen Green observes: What’s interesting is that every picture is identical, in that there is nothing to see — no people, no activity, no nothing — outside of the Dear Leader, his entourage, and his immediate focus. Much like whatever it is Dear Leader happens to be looking at, the rest [...]
Rick Perry appears to be the first Presidential candidate to comment on the death of Kim Jong-il, and it would appear he didn’t give it much thought: AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today released the following statement regarding the death of Kim Jong II: “The death of vicious dictator Kim Jong Il provides some cause [...]
These videos from North Korean State Television that have been released since Kim Jong-il’s death was announced are, in a word, bizarre. First up, here’s the official announcement from state television: And here’s footage of North Koreans “overcome with grief” in Pyongyang: It all looks remarkably similar to what we saw in 1994 when his [...]
As Dave Schuler noted earlier this week, a fishing village in southern China has become the site of a rather remarkable revolt against central authority. The leadership in the village fled town shortly after the protests began, and the protests continue, but there’s a small army building up outside town and it seems like the [...]
Via Ed Driscoll, here’s a fascinating piece from Australian television earlier this year about what is apparently a huge phenomenon in China right now, entire cities devoid of people: There’s been talk for several years now that China was a bubble that was about to pop. When I see things like this, I’ve got to [...]
Forget being outraged if the cashier at the local Wally World said “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” for a real Christmas smack-down, you have to head to Asia. Via the BBC: N Korea furious at South’s Christmas lights plan North Korea has warned South Korea of "unexpected consequences" if it lights up a Christmas [...]
The costs of keeping the American war machine in Afghanistan rolling are pretty steep: Parachuting a barrel of fuel to a remote Afghan base takes sharp flying skills, steady nerves and flawless timing. It also costs a lot of money—up to $400 a gallon, by military estimates. But the Pentagon is stuck with the expense [...]
While the example from the other day was an issue of a potential danger, this example is all too active. Via the AP: Vietnam: 100,000 killed, hurt by abandoned weapons More than 100,000 Vietnamese have been killed or injured by land mines or other abandoned explosives since the Vietnam War ended nearly 40 years ago, [...]
As part of the blowback from the accidental deaths of two dozen Pakistani soldiers in a NATO helicopter raid, the U.S. is leaving a base in Pakistan used in drone operations: In another sign of deteriorating relations with Pakistan, the United States is vacating an air base used to launch American drones in response to [...]
The fallout from Saturday’s friendly fire incident, in which two dozen Pakistani soldiers were mistakenly killed by NATO helicopters, continues to widen. On the civilian side, American flags were burned in protests by members of the public no doubt riled up by extremist elements: Tensions between the United States and Pakistan boiled over as angry [...]
Tensions between Pakistan and the U.S.-led NATO force in Afghanistan are threatening to turn even more sour today after an apparent friendly fire incident: Pakistani officials on Saturday accused NATO of conducting a helicopter attack on two military checkpoints at the northwestern border with Afghanistan, in strikes that military officials said killed at least 25 [...]
On Thursday, Politico published a little-noticed story in which the deputy commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan unloaded on the Afghan government of Hamid Karzai: Maj. Gen. Peter Fuller, deputy commander of the American-led NATO effort to train and equip Afghan security forces, told POLITICO in an interview that top leaders in the Afghan government [...]
Apparently, the Kim regime is concerned that North Koreans living in Libya have been exposed to a little too much revolution: North Korea has banned its own citizens working in Libya from returning home, apparently out of fear that they will reveal the extent – and final outcomes – of the revolutions that have shaken [...]
After a lengthy wait, free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea have been approved by Congress.
Via the BBC: Afghan opium production ‘rises by 61%’ compared with 2010. Afghanistan produces 90% of the world’s opium – 5,800 tonnes this year – the main ingredient of heroin. Analysts say that revenue from the drug has helped fund the Taliban insurgency. Farmers who responded to the survey described economic hardship and lucrative prices [...]
Are the worries about China overtaking the United States realistic?
The relationship between the United States and Pakistan seems destined to head into bad waters after yesterday’s accusation by outgoing Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen that the terrorist group that attacked the U.S. Embassy in Kabul was backed by elements of Pakistan’s intelligence service: WASHINGTON — The nation’s top military official said Thursday that [...]
The U.S. War in Afghanistan sounds disturbingly similar to the Soviet one.
A new poll shows that Americans are starting to look East.
The U.S may be on the verge of committing the next decade to the future of Afghanistan.
One of the first things we learned about the raid that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden was that at least one of the helicopters used was a previously secret stealth helicopter. After delaying for several weeks, Pakistan finally turned over the wreckage of the copter in late May, but not before dropping [...]
The U.S. military says it has carried out a mission that has killed the person responsible for shooting down a Chinook helicopter and killing 30 American soldiers: An American airstrike has killed the Taliban fighters believed responsible for shooting down a Chinook helicopter, killing 38 people including 30 American military personnel, the senior commander in [...]
What you think you know about the U.S.-China trade relationship may not be entirely true.
Joseph Nye explains why China’s “demand the United States address its structural debt problems and ensure the safety of China’s dollar assets” is really just talk.
The London Telegraph is reporting claims by an unnamed Afghan official that, if true, just make the loss of 30 Americans even worse it sounded on Saturday: A helicopter which crashed killing 30 US troops in Afghanistan was shot down after the Taliban laid a trap to lure US forces into the area, an Afghan [...]
An apparent terrorist attack in one of the world’s most populous cities: At least ten people were killed and 100 injured after three explosions hit India’s business capital of Mumbai, the city’s police chief told Indian television The chief added that the death toll could be even higher, as reports were still coming in. Delhi-based [...]
As I noted yesterday the United States is withholding certain military aid to Pakistan over that countries actions in the wake of the killing of Osama bin Laden. Now, Pakistan is threatening to end its cooperation in the War On Terror if aid remains cut off: Pakistan could pull back troops fighting Islamist militants near [...]
Yes, China’s GDP growth has been impressive for some time now, but it is not the sole way to understand development.
I’m continually shocked when demonstrably bright and accomplished people fall in love with authoritarian states.
Signs of tension between the United States and Pakistan are becoming more and more evident: WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is suspending and, in some cases, canceling hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to the Pakistani military, in a move to chasten Pakistan for expelling American military trainers and to press its army to [...]
One of the main reasons why the United States has had to be continually careful about its response to the situation in Pakistan, and the policies of the Pakistani government, is because the land route through Pakistan has been our main supply route for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Now, after ten years, it looks like [...]
It got criticism from the right, but the American public seems pretty pleased with the President’s plan to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan: An overwhelming majority of Americans support President Barack Obama’s plan to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, according to a new poll released Wednesday. In the Gallup survey, 72 percent of Americans say they [...]
Sometimes, you just can’t make stuff like this up: In the latest ‘you’ve got to be kidding’ news from the United Nations, North Korea assumed the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament Tuesday. “Bare months after the U.N. finally suspended Libya’s Col. Muammar Qaddafi from its Human Rights Council, North Korea wins the propaganda coup [...]
