Domestic Politics Archive

Predicting the course of events in the Middle East is like trying to look into the future of a chess game in which a hundred players make moves over a dozen boards. The number of possible outcomes became even greater after Wednesday’s announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that he will resign following his party’s upcoming primaries. Olmert’s words managed to pack emotional drama even though they did not come as a surprise. The Israeli leader has suffered under the growing weight of corruption scandals, with the public’s patience with him having long run out. Israelis might have felt […]

WASHINGTON — Sky-high oil prices are keeping Iran’s government flush with revenue. But they are also contributing to Iran’s soaring inflation, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s worst economic woe. Pain at the pump for consumers of oil-importing countries usually translates into political gain for authoritarian leaders in oil-rich countries who use oil rents to buy political support. As Thomas Friedman famously put it, “the price of oil and the pace of freedom always move in opposite directions.” “Iran is no exception,” said Farideh Farhi, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. “But high oil prices […]

My previous post on Obama’s Berlin crowd numbers has been discussed on many blogs and internet forums.In such discussions,the most common response of those defending the widely-cited 200,000 number is that it comes, after all, from the Berlin police department and the latter can hardly be suspected of colluding with the Obama campaign. (See, for instance, the lengthy discussion on Michelle Malkin’s blog here and the numerous comments of one “chapoutier.”) In German, this sort of attitude is called Autoritätsgläubigkeit — faith in authority — and in German history, it has not always led to the best consequences. Be that […]

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling party has claimed victory in Sunday’s election after soundly defeating opposition efforts to unseat him. Meanwhile, high-level diplomatic talks with Thailand regarding a flaring border dispute got under way. As final vote counting continued, the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) seemed assured of winning 90 seats in the 123-seat parliament, easily surpassing the minimum 50-percent-plus-one-seat required to govern outright, while the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) was expecting to win at least 30 seats. The balance would be split between the Human Rights Party (HRP) and the Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP), while […]

“Obama Addresses 200,000 in Berlin” — thus ran the AP headline the day after Barack Obama’s much-hyped speech in front of Berlin’s Siegessäule or “Victory Column.” This 200,000 figure has quickly become the standard estimate of the crowd for Obama’s speech in both the American and the German media: so standard indeed that it is for the most part not even treated as an estimate. The estimates given by German public television ZDF actually during the event, however, were as little as one-tenth ofthat number. ZDF began its special “Obama in Berlin” coverage [German video] at 6:45 p.m. Central European […]

Sen. Barack Obama’s whirlwind tour of the Middle East and Europe, as everyone knows, has its primary intended audience in the United States. The trip amounts to a high-mileage campaign swing aimed at impressing voters at home. In Israel, however, a local audience without the right to vote in America is paying close attention. And the conclusion that Israelis and their leaders reach about this would-be U.S. commander-in-chief could shape their decision about what to do in the coming months regarding Iran. To put it bluntly, Obama’s behavior in Israel and during the rest of his trip could determine whether […]

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodian authorities have called for a special U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at resolving a border dispute with Thailand as a wave of nationalism sweeps the country ahead of national elections on Sunday. Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said Tuesday Cambodia’s ambassador in New York had sought the request, as a troop build-up around a 900-year-old temple in this country’s remote northwest continues. Reports Wednesday indicated that the Security Council would discuss the issue at a Thursday meeting. “Thai troops with artilleries and tanks are building up along the border, constituting a very serious threat not only […]

NAIROBI, Kenya — Since Sen. Barack Obama early last month secured the Democratic nomination for U.S. president, Obama fever, already widespread, has become an epidemic in this country where the senator’s father was born. “Everyone now claims that he or she is a cousin of the senator,” said Tom Ombaka, a businessman in Kisumu, the lakeside city where many of Obama’s relatives make their homes. “I have met more than 60 people since Obama won endorsement to run for the presidency . . . who claim they are the senator’s blood relatives.” Even Kenya’s Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, has hopped […]

It isn’t shocking that, all else being equal, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would prefer to have American troops out of his country. But all else isn’t equal. After Maliki caused a stir last week by calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops, other members of his government immediately began qualifying the statement. The ambivalence is understandable; it reflects the ambivalence of Iraqis in general. Most are deeply suspicious of American motives and want U.S. troops out of their country. At the same time, in towns across Iraq and neighborhoods around Baghdad, U.S. soldiers and Marines are […]

MEXICO CITY — The now-infamous June 20 nightclub raid was supposed to be a crowning moment, a public relations coup, for Mexico City’s newest police force. Police vans waited nearby, ready to haul off up to hundreds of offenders — drug users, drug dealers, minors drinking booze, and club staff taking kickbacks to ignore these crimes. Even some members of the media were given front row seats to watch the cops from Unipol — the recently launched cooperative unit comprised of beat cops and investigative police — send its team up the stairs of the dingy antro, as such clubs […]

MEXICO CITY — President Felipe Calderón spent the week leading up to the second anniversary of his narrow election victory July 2 touring Southeastern Mexico, where he promoted the main tenets of his administration: security; structural reforms; and social programs. While inaugurating a baseball stadium in Cancún that was built with funds from a public security program, he spoke of the Mexican military destroying a “world record” amount of cocaine and seizing more than 16,000 weapons over the past year. The president also got his hands dirty mixing cement in a Campeche home as he promoted “Piso Firme,” a program […]

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — The United States has joined a chorus of international condemnation and offered FBI assistance after a prominent Cambodian journalist was shot dead just two weeks ahead of national elections. Khim Sambo, 47, and his 21-year-old son Khat Sarinpheata were riding on a motorbike near Phnom Penh’s Olympic Stadium when gunmen opened fire, ending a period of unusual calm amid the electioneering. Campaigning had focused on the economy and a border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand that involved possession of the Preah Vihear temple in Cambodia’s remote northwest. The temple was recently listed by UNESCO as a […]

BANGKOK, Thailand — In the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur July 6, 20,000 supporters of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim braved a police ban to rally in support of the opposition leader, who has been charged with sodomy on the basis of allegations lodged by a 23-year-old former male aide. Anwar claims the charges are baseless, an attempt by the ruling party to thwart his political ambitions. Anwar supporters chanted “PM resign” as protesters arrived at a suburban sports stadium. The political turmoil erupted at elections earlier this year amid claims by Anwar that he was poised to oust […]

FRENCH CONNECTION — France’s six-month presidency of the European Union, which began July 1, got an expected prestige boost last week with the release of Ingrid Betancourt from her six-year captivity in the hands of Colombian FARC terrorists. France played no part in the daring rescue operation: the significant supporting role belonged to the United States. But it was to Paris, not Washington, that Betancourt dashed within 24 hours after her release; and the next day footage showed her in the arms of President Nicolas Sarokozy, not President Bush. Betancourt had French family connections and is “culturally” French by background. […]

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — While the campaign jet of Sen. John McCain’s was en route from Cartagena to Mexico City on July 2, the Colombian military pulled off a daring rescue mission that led to the liberation of 15 hostages, including Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans. The news of the hostage release overshadowed McCain’s three-day visit to Colombia and Mexico that aimed to shore up his Hispanic support and underscore his foreign policy experience and national security credentials. Nonetheless, McCain’s unusual tour of the region was particularly significant for Colombia, the United States’ most important ally in Latin America. Mexico and […]

The daring rescue this week of hostages held by Colombian rebels marks a milestone in Colombia’s transformation, a transformation the Colombian people had already recognized. Now, the rest of the world should acknowledge Colombia’s imperfect, but no less miraculous, turnaround. With the release of Ingrid Betancourt, along with three American contractors and a group of Colombians, some in the United States may pause for a moment to ponder the horrific crime of kidnapping. Growing up in Colombia, we pondered it a lot, picturing not only ourselves in captivity, but also, knowing what a kidnapping does to a family, our relatives. […]

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — The stunning rescue by Colombian soldiers of 15 guerrilla hostages, including three American contractors and a one-time presidential candidate, brings the government closer to victory in its long civil war. This latest success could also pave the way for an unprecedented third term for President Álvaro Uribe, a prospect that worries some analysts. In the meticulously planned operation, the Colombian military infiltrated the communications network of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and convinced units holding prominent hostages that a guerrilla leader wanted the hostages transported to another region. In a jungle clearing in southern […]