Recent Posts

The Passing of the Present and the Decline of America

“I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep.”— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) Kurt Vonnegut’s famous novel about the World War II bombing of the German city of Dresden appeared the year I graduated from West Point. While dimly …

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Egypt turns to Tanzania on Nile dam dispute

As the crisis over Ethiopia’s controversial dam on the Nile River worsens, Egypt considers expediting the construction of the Stiegler’s Gorge dam on the Rufiji River in Tanzania. Egypt is working to build the Stiegler’s Gorge dam on the Rufiji River in Tanzania, at a time when the Grand Ethiopian …

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4 killed in US airstrikes on Iran-backed militias in Iraq, Syria

The United States military said on Sunday it targeted operational and weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one location in Iraq. At least four members of Shi’ite militias were killed in “defensive precision airstrikes” which US President Joe Biden ordered against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups …

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Did Netanyahu sabotage ties with the US?

Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied charges that he was deliberately trying to harm Israel’s relationship with the Biden administration. Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu was acting “childishly and irresponsible” by attempting to harm ties between the new Israeli government and the Biden administration, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a …

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With a New Chief, the WTO Aims for a Return to Relevance

The World Trade Organization made history last month when its members chose Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as director-general, the first woman and first African to hold that position. A former Nigerian finance minister and senior World Bank official, Okonjo-Iweala enjoyed near-unanimous support, but her candidacy had been stalled by opposition from the …

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