“Reset!” That was the magic word that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken used in his first visit to Arica with the message that “years of neglect” under the Trump administration were over and that the Biden presidency would see a new golden dawn in US relations with the turbulent continent. At…

The “tar baby” is the second of the Uncle Remus tales published in the US in 1881. In it the evil “Bre’er” fox conjures a doll made of tar and turpentine with which to entrap the “Bre’er Rabbit”, the more the victim tries to shake himself free the more entangled he becomes. Several recent events…

Dreaming of freedom in his prison cell in Chateau d’If, Edmond Dantes the hero of Alexandre Dumas’ 1844 novel “The Count of Montecristo” dreams of the nearby port of Marseilles as a haven of peace and freedom. Two centuries later, Dantes might have revised his dream as France’s second largest city…

“Are you there? “This was a question shot at me from a Syrian Twitter acquaintance the other day, followed by a stark reminder: «Hi there! The war in Syria isn’t over!” For years, the sender of the message had informed me and doubtless many others of what was going on in his war-struck homeland…

“Brexit has failed!” This is what Nigel Farage, the sulfurous politician who was the cheerleader for Britain leaving the European Union said in a television interview last week. A day later it was the turn of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the man who railroaded Brexit through the…

Is the Sahel region in West Africa becoming a new hub for international terrorism, as the badlands of Afghanistan were almost three decades ago? Last week, the question forced its way into global policymakers' circles with the military coup in Niamey, the capital of Niger, an impoverished state…

In 1983 when a hitherto little-noticed party won 27 percent of the votes in the Austrian general election almost the political elite in Europe was up in arms, warning about “mortal danger for democracy”. The Future of Austria Party’s leader, one Jorg Haider was even baptized the “new Hitler”…

The great Marx, Groucho not Karl, once said that he wouldn’t join a club that would have him as a member. Iran’s rulers today face a different dilemma, trying to join clubs that wouldn’t have them as member. For weeks, Tehran propaganda harped on the theme of the Islamic Republic President…

Here is a segment from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s TV address to his people: “Dear compatriots! In its long and glorious history, the Great Russian nation has faced many existential threats, threats that it has crushed thanks to its exceptional bravery and the determination of its…

Is Iran heading towards hyperinflation? Until a few months ago, decision-makers in Tehran would have dismissed the question as another “Zionist conspiracy” against the regime in Iran. Now, however, as the annual inflation curve heads towards the 100 mark, even the “Supreme Guide”, Ayatollah Ali…