The Daily Beast – Past ICWA Fellow Andrew Tabler is quoted in Kristina Jovanovski’s recent piece on the Syiran refugee crisis in Europe. Javanovski describes how the mounting efforts to draft young Syrian men into Bashar al-Assad’s military are driving increasing numbers Syrians to leave the country. According to Tabler, “The pressure [al-Assad] has put on everyday Syrians is one of […]
Why Brazil Is Mixing Mother Nature and the King Dollar
OZY – Some of Brazil’s national parks are coming under new management – that of private companies. In her latest piece, Shannon Sims investigates this trend, which has been brought on in part by the lack of resources of local governments. In the privately managed parks, infrastructure and maintenance have improved, but these changes have […]
Hurricane Linda
We are still in Puerto Escondido, or more accurately Nopolo. We have been taken in by a couple I met when I drove from La Paz to San Diego to meet Josh and sail the coast. She and her husband retired here and they have been a literal port in the storm for us. Hurricane […]
Haiti Do-Gooder, TV Beet Farmer
OZY – In her latest piece, Pooja Bhatia interivews actor Rainn Wilson about Lide, his nonprofit organization based in Haiti. Wilson is best known for playing the wacky but hilarious Dwight Schrute on The Office, but has taken on the role of philanthropist in support of arts education for girls in the Haitian countryside. Bhatia engages Wilson […]
Crime And Climate Change
Until the summer of 2014, La Paz had lived up to its name, which means ‘the peace.’ The coastal city on the Baja peninsula seemed immune from the drug trafficking violence of the mainland, which is estimated to have claimed 120,000 lives since 2006. But on July 31st, that bloodless exemption vanished. On the side […]
From Beirut: The Origin Story of Arab Comix
August 30, 2015 Under the banner “Picture stories from here and there,” the Beirut collective Samandal publishes local and international comix. For the uninitiated, comix imply countercultural, illustrated tales for adult audiences. Personal, quirky, and rebellious, comix have no boundaries. The underground art spans from word-heavy narratives in ink to wordless sequential illustrations, reminiscent of […]
U.S. Warns Russia Over Military Support for Assad
The New York Times – Andrew Tabler was quoted in Michael R. Gordon’s recent piece on rising US-Russian tensions over Syria. Tabler commented on the differing views in Russia concerning support for President Bashar al-Assad, saying; “The escalation is completely in keeping with hard-line Russian positions on Assad, which are juxtaposed with more conciliatory positions by the […]
“Try It Once More:” Muscat’s Diplomatic Tightrope Act
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: The Sultanate of Oman’s economy is driven by oil, but seafaring has always been the original industry: at its peak, the Omani trade empire spanned the Persian Gulf, southern Iran, Pakistan, and East Africa. Today, Oman is in the process of re-asserting its maritime prowess in the realm of diplomacy, trade, and security, with […]
Update from Puerto Escondido
We arrived in Puerto Escondido last night, a large natural harbor. It was my first good night of sleep since leaving La Paz; even the lightning storm that cruised by in the night couldn’t keep me away. (This was our first night with no swell or wind waves to toss us around inside the boat while […]
The Missing Intifada
Foreign Affairs – In his latest article, Neri Zilber discusses the surprising lack of a third intifada, or uprising, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. An intifada has not broken out since the second intifada in 2000 despite the firebombing of a Palestinian home in the village of Duma of by Jewish terrorists in late July of this year. Zilber […]