A worthwhile compilation of the day's news by students of international relations.

Monday, August 31

New York Times: Hints of Pluralism in Egyptian Religious Debates

By: Michael Slackman; Full article may be read here

Thought this might be interesting for those who took the political Islam class (this guy is al-Banna's brother!) or who are looking at the role of independent media in fostering debate and democracy (very Search for Common Ground).

Friday, August 28

The Washington Post: 5 myths about health care around the world

As Americans search for the cure to what ails our health-care system, we've overlooked an invaluable source of ideas and solutions: the rest of the world. All the other industrialized democracies have faced problems like ours, yet they've found ways to cover everybody -- and still spend far less than we do.

I've traveled the world from Oslo to Osaka to see how other developed democracies provide health care. Instead of dismissing these models as "socialist," we could adapt their solutions to fix our problems. To do that, we first have to dispel a few myths about health care abroad:

Sunday, June 28

Wednesday, June 17

NYTimes: Fake Murder Spotlights Police Procedures in Russia

By: Michael Schwirtz; Full Article May Be Read Here

Monday, June 15

NYTimes: Too Poor To Make The News

By: Barbara Ehrenreich

Full article may be read here

Tuesday, June 9

FT: Death of astute Gabon ruler marks end of 'Francafrique'

Matthew Green on the death of Gabon's Omar Bongo.

Full article may be read here.

Monday, June 8

New York Times: In Iran, Harsh Talk as Election Nears

TEHRAN — The leading candidates are accusing each other of corruption, bribery and torture. The wife of the strongest challenger to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has threatened to sue him for defaming her. And every night, parts of the capital become a screaming, honking bacchanal, with thousands of young men dancing and brawling in the streets until dawn.

Friday, June 5

Los Angeles Times: Former U.S. official and wife charged with spying for Cuba

By: Josh Meyer; Full article may be read here

Kendall Myers teaches Evolution of the International System and Modern British Politics at SAIS.  And has allegedly spied for the Cuban government for the last 30 years.

Monday, June 1

Huffington Post: How I (and Other "Pro Life" Leaders) Contributed to Dr Tiller's Murder

By: Frank Schaeffer;  Full article may be read here 

c.f. Randall Terry (in the Washington Post), leader of Operation Rescue, who said he reaped what he sowed.

Thursday, May 7

Recalculating Happiness in a Himalayan Kingdom

New York Times. Author: Seth Mydans. See full article here.

Happiness, measured through Mathematics, and applied to all government policies. A place where an absolute Monarch voluntary gives up power against the wishes of his people...

Wednesday, April 29

BBC News: Malaysia massacre fight goes on

By Robin Brant; Full article may be read here

Another one of our gulags...

Thursday, April 23

Fivethirtyeight.com: The Pope and the Planet

By: Nate Silver; Full article may be read here.

Nate Silver is more or less the most gifted 'cool-statistics' finder in the world. This is his latest gig.

Russians Bet on a Market for Dampening Dissent

A great example of the conflicting tendencies of capitalist ingenuity and authoritarian tendencies... there's Russia for you.

Sunday, April 19

The New York Times: The Torturer's Manifesto

They detail how to fashion a collar for slamming a prisoner against a wall, exactly how many days he can be kept without sleep (11), and what, specifically, he should be told before being locked in a box with an insect.

Saturday, April 18

Business Graduates Looking Beyond Wall Street

“A finance major who was minoring in music was suddenly looking into opening a jazz club. All of a sudden, I saw that a lot of Wharton people were interesting.”

EPA Clears Way for GHG Rules

Tuesday, April 14

BBC: No winners in Thai crisis

By: Jonathan Head. Full article can be read here.

If you want a better grasp on the situation, very good background article for lay-Asianists like me.

The New York Times: Realpolitik for Iran

By: Roger Cohen. Full article may be read here.

Stunning article. Lucid and creative.

Monday, April 13

In the recession, does advanced education really pay off?

Full story may be read here.

"In the same boat: A guy with a master's in international relations is working at a supermarket and just went on Medicaid. "

Why, oh why, did I give up my well-paid job to be unemployed and face $100k in debt?