Although New Orleans has always been known as an exciting and vibrant cultural center in the deep South, the reputation of its political and governmental institutions has been less sterling. The schools weren’t educating children, the police (in New Orleans especially) weren’t protecting the people, and, as we saw with Hurricane Katrina, state, city and […]

WRM was on NPR today to talk about the geopolitics of the European financial crisis. Check it out here.

Oswaldo Paya was the founder of the Varela Project, a campaign to force the Cuban parliament to consider new human rights laws. He was one of Cuba’s most prominent political dissidents and the winner of the EU’s Sakharov Prize, an important human rights award. On Sunday, his car swerved off the road and hit a tree, killing Paya […]

In Iran’s northeast city of Neishabour, thousands have taken to the streets to protest the price of chicken as a result of Western sanctions on the Islamic regime’s nuclear program. In the face of soaring prices of eggs, meat and fish, most Iranians have resorted to chicken as a cheap and accessible source of protein. But […]

At this point, the troubled Eurozone has endured two years of policy fixes from Brussels. The net result? Sick countries are even sicker, and the formerly healthy countries are starting to sneeze and sniffle. On the weight of the threat of Greece’s exit from the euro and the cost of seemingly endless bailouts, Moody’s has lowered […]

In May 2012 Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, proposed a ban on the sale in public places of large-sized containers (over 16 fluid ounces) of sugar-sweetened drinks. Most soda beverages will be affected. The ban will have to be promulgated by the city’s public health agency, which is controlled by the mayor—so […]

With the presidential race essentially tied and the final 100 days of the world’s most grueling marathon almost here, Governor Romney gave what was widely billed his first big foreign policy speech at the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Reno, Nevada.It was not a speech that will change the election or […]

AFP reports that the European Union declines to consider Hezbollah as a terrorist organization: The European Union turned down a request on Tuesday by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to blacklist Hezbollah as a terror group after last week’s deadly bombing in Bulgaria. “There is no consensus for putting Hezbollah on the list of terrorist […]

After an all-too-brief post-election honeymoon, economic reality is beginning to crash down on France’s new Socialist president, François Hollande. French auto companies are closing factories, and the Hollande government is mostly powerless to do anything about it. As the BBC reports: President Hollande’s campaign slogan was “change is now” but, since he has been in […]

Round two of WRM’s interview on Asia’s Game of Thrones with Lowy Institute blog is now live. Part one available here. Stay tuned for part three.