Author Archive

Yemen’s female anti-terrorist unit

Yemen’s female anti-terrorist unit

There’s always more than one way to skin the proverbial cat. One of the challenges that the coalition troops face in Afghanistan and Iraq is how to marry traditional cultural views on females and effectively police the villages.  For example, there is case cited  by Dexter Filkins in ‘The

06.18.2010 | Middle East | Stuart Ford

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Immigration policy myopia

Immigration policy myopia

It is hard to know whether to laugh or cry when you read the rhetoric about immigration in the US media. It is of course natural for a country to exhibit some symptoms of xenophobia at a time of economic stress; that's the normal blame game. The populist mantra of ‘they are taking our jobs and

06.17.2010 | Americas, Editorials | Stuart Ford

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US International trade agreements – let them in or watch them go

US International trade agreements – let them in or watch them go

The forces of globalization and international commerce are unstoppable. Whether you are a fan or a naysayer matters little; the genie of globalization is out of the bottle and won’t be put back in. What is amusing is that some great powers thing they can control who gets to benefit from this t

06.16.2010 | Lebanon, Middle East, Syria | Stuart Ford

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Iran seeks to impress and combat Turkey’s aspirations

Iran seeks to impress and combat Turkey’s aspirations

Iran announced it is sending an aid flotilla to the Gaza, and our media spins as to how this is s direct challenge to the West and a threat to Israel. While that might be a side product, the West has an inflated opinion of how much its actions shape Iran’s agendas. Iran is indeed sending a

06.15.2010 | Iran, Middle East | Stuart Ford

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Even the birds get drunk in Australia

Even the birds get drunk in Australia

The headline’s a cheap shot (no pun intended) but as a naturalized Australian I think I can get away with it. Australians have something of a reputation as a hard-drinking crowd, but now it seems the wildlife are getting in the act. Darwin's red-collared lorikeets are literally falling out of

06.12.2010 | Asia, Australia | Stuart Ford

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Sarkozy bans recruitment of tall guards for the Presidential detail

Sarkozy bans recruitment of tall guards for the Presidential detail

There is no way that you can read about the latest edict of French President Sarkozy and not have the phrase Napoleonic Complex spring to mind. If you need context, in 1908 psychologist Alfred Adler cited Napoleon to describe an inferiority complex in which short people adopt an over-aggressive

06.11.2010 | Europe | Stuart Ford

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Ex-pats boomerang back to Syria

Ex-pats boomerang back to Syria

A while back we wrote a piece about how the Lebanese economy was rebounding based in part on the fact that Lebanese entrepreneurs and workers send home to Lebanon a staggering $7.5 billion a year from overseas. Now it seems that Syria’s less centralized economy, integration of women into busin

06.10.2010 | Middle East, Syria | Stuart Ford

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A bad week for refugees from Libya to London…

A bad week for refugees from Libya to London…

Refugees deserve our best efforts as humans. Great events well beyond them control make them flotsam within their home nation. Extreme stresses of poverty, disease, war and oppression see fellow humans undertake epic journeys in a search for peace and prosperity. They arrive sometimes on our sho

06.9.2010 | Africa, Europe | Stuart Ford

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A blockade too far

A blockade too far

As a long-time critic of Israeli foreign policy, I always wondered how far Israel would have to go before it brought down the wrath of the moderate international community. It seems the flotilla debacle was one blockade too far. The Lebanon Wars weren’t apparently enough to anger Israel’s alli

06.8.2010 | Egypt, Israel, Middle East | Stuart Ford

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Borders and the unstoppable transnational drift

Borders and the unstoppable transnational drift

It fascinates me that some cling to securing the borders as a panacea to return the US to peace and prosperity. It is actually an inversion of the reality. The US becomes richer due to internationalization, and globalization is not a trend that can be reversed by a state or Federal legislature.

06.7.2010 | Americas, Editorials | Stuart Ford

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Iran’s painful silence on Gaza flotilla tragedy

Iran’s painful silence on Gaza flotilla tragedy

It is interesting to note Iran’s relative silence in response to the tragic killings by the IDF of peace activists on the Gaza flotilla. It would seem an opportunity for the Iranian regime dressed for the plate and ready to be served. Here is an opportunity for Iran to join the worldwide clamo

06.6.2010 | Editorials, Iran, Middle East | Stuart Ford

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Who knew Hugo Chavez is an avid 'Tweeter

Who knew Hugo Chavez is an avid ‘Tweeter”?

Today in my “real job” I was working with a colleague on our Twitter strategy. I have an account for the Daily Clarity of course, but haven’t really figured out the value in it. Twitter is just one of those things I just don’t get. I have email. I have SMS text messaging. I have Facebook

06.5.2010 | Americas | Stuart Ford

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