In The News

Clouds Over Charities for Refugees in Islamic Countries

Susan Froetschel December 18, 2014
The world has 50 million displaced people, and refugees have little choice but to depend on other countries and their citizens for generosity. Faith-based charities are often among the first to respond to humanitarian crises, notes the UN Refugee Agency, and Islamic faith-based charities are active in Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey – lead host nations for refugees. Fundraising by...

Cuba’s Health Diplomacy in the Age of Ebola

Eduardo J. Gomez December 3, 2014
Cuba has provided the largest number of healthcare workers of any country in the global response to West Africa’s Ebola outbreak – more than 250. The country of 11 million has sent medical aid to foreign countries experiencing public health crises since the 1960s, including recent aid to Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami, Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake, and Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. The...

All Eyes on Africa

J. Peter Pham August 14, 2014
Disturbing news out of Africa, whether about extremist Boko Haram or the outbreak of Ebola, are aberrations for a young continent eager to grow and innovate. Like China and Europe, the United States is ready to court Africa as signaled by the first US-Africa Leaders Summit, explains J. Peter Pham, director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council. “The summit itself underscores the broad...

Saudis Have Lost the Right to Take Sunni Leadership

David Gardner August 13, 2014
Governments that secretly fund intolerant extremists to harm opponents lose credibility in the international community and with their own citizens. In a globalized world, such financing connections are transparent, and the international community must devote scarce resources to battle groups with bizarre goals, like Al Qaeda or the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Such extremist groups are...

Beijing Invites US to Link Up Over Africa

Geoff Dyer August 6, 2014
As the United States hosts the first ever summit of nearly 50 African heads of states and governments in a bid to regain influence in the continent China has invited the United States to cooperate in developing Africa with more finance and infrastructure, writes Geoff Dyer for the Financial Times. Both countries have shown a desire in recent years to invest in the poor continent that is one of...

Turkey's Kurdish Buffer

Soner Cagaptay July 17, 2014
The rise of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, or IS or ISIS, in conjunction with the civil wars in Syria and Iraq, has put more pressure on both Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kurds to work together. The Kurdish people are spread throughout Syria, Iraq, and Turkey. Before 2003, Kurds would have resisted working the Turkish government, which they regarded as oppressive. Kurdish...

UN: Surging Environmental Crime Funds Conflicts, Hurts Growth

June 27, 2014
Rising wealth for middle classes around the world drives demand for status symbols, in turn spurring environmental crime. Illegal logging, elephant and rhino hunting for ivory and horns, among other practices have created instability in many countries. According to the United Nations and Interpol, illegal practices help fund armed conflicts, militias and insurgents and curtail international aid...