World News, Insight and Analysis

By Clarity Staff Reporter • January 7th, 2009

An article today from the Times of Indiashould be required reading for every member of  Hilary Clinton’s team prior to Obama’s inauguration. Somehow, the US under President Bush’s challenged stewardship has convinced itself that Afghanistan is where the Taliban will be confronted and victory won. The Taliban is an adaptive creature, and its tentacles [...]

This guest article is written by contributor Andrew C. Katen, a freelance foreign affairs writer and geopolitical analyst.

The Israeli incursion in Gaza reflects growing uncertainty among Middle Eastern regimes regarding the futures of their political parties, and may also represent an escalation in the battle for control of the region by outside powers. Media [...]

One has to have sympathy for the people of Iraq. They have been oppressed under Hussein’s rule, have been occupied under US control and now appear to be moving to be pawns in Iran’s burgeoning empire. Prime Minister Malki seems eager to heed the advice that Iran wants to provide. It makes one wonder [...]

January 5 2008, marks 60  years that the people of Kashmir have been waiting for the UN to make good on its resolution promising their right to self-determination.  Since the time of partition, Kashmir has been split and under the governance of India and Pakistan. Neither ex-colonial power, ironically,  has been necessarily as gentle [...]

In a sign of the times in Egypt, a group orchestrating large scale demonstrations against Israel’s invasion of the Gaza have been arrested. Egypt is really playing its hand as the power player in the Arab league. Jordan is being to distance itself threatening to end its peace treaty with Israel, but Egypt seems [...]

A philosophical legal question may be at the heart of any potential military conflict between the two nuclear powers of India and Pakistan. The question resolves around extradition, but is a symbolic issue that calls into question each others trust of their respective government and legal system. India has today handed over to Pakistan [...]

This a powerful piece from Christian Science Monitor about the positive use of blogging as a tool for change. It shows that opposition does not have to come in the form of a bullet or a bomb:
Few members of Egypt’s street protest movement for political reform are as recognizable as Nora Younis. Since Egypt’s [...]

  The US is now the only Western nation inhibiting the UN Security Council from delivering a unilateral call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza. The British have bowed to public opinion, however Washington refuses to bend. If you peruse the US media, you will see the one sided reporting of the issue that [...]

The Israeli ground offensive is now well underway, Hezbollah despite the rhetoric and threats of retaliation has not responded, and Hamas is left to its own devices in the Gaza. It raises the question of what is the future of Hamas? Various Israeli representatives, including the Israeli Ambassador to the UN, have gone a [...]

  Israel is facing mounting pressure from many in regards to its incursion into the Gaza. Jordan, Fatah, Turkey and Egypt have all upped the level of rhetoric and outrage at the ground attacks and the increasing number of civilians wounded or killed. But Israel faces a more heady cocktail of diplomatic intervention and posturing [...]

  Israel appears to be following the US approach to Iraq in its escapade in the Gaza. They are in their equivalent of the ’shock and awe’ phase, adding a  unique Israeli intelligence twist. They have sent in the air attacks, and seem bent to follow with a ground invasion as the US did in Iraq. Israel has [...]

Iraq continues to move closer and closer in its partnership with Iran as US control wanes in the country. Iraq’s prime Minister just sent a clear message to Washington (also for the benefit of Israel) that Iraqis will not allow Iraq to be used as a logistical base for attacks on Iran. While the [...]

Despite reports of open sewage running through streets in the Gaza creating fear of a cholera outbreak, no power, little food and hospitals without medicine resembling slaughter houses according to local reports, Israel insists there is no humanitarian crisis in the Gaza. Of course, with Israel denying the international press access, they have control [...]

Israel has made a serious error in policy that may well cost them heavily in the years to come. It is a case of arrogance before a fall.  With its attacks on the Gaza, Israel may have well put its cause back 20 years, and inadvertently pushed Iran  towards Arab superpower status. Prior to the [...]

Anger is growing against Egypt and Jordan perceived by many in the Arab world to be tacitly supporting  Israel’s attack on the Gaza. Egypt has refused to open the border to allow Palestinians to leave Gaza, met with the Israeli Foreign Minister a day before the attacks, and has blamed Hamas for the violence. [...]