Disturbing: Israeli Youth Help Raze Entire Bedouin Village

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(Moments before the destruction of the Bedouin village of al-Arakib, Israeli high school age police volunteers lounge on furniture taken from a family’s home; photo credit: Ata Abu Madyam, Arab Negev News; click image to make larger) I support Israel’s legitimate interests and rights in what is a very tough neighborhood, but this behavior —…

L’Enfant’s Genius in Planning DC Greater Than You Thought

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(A digital rendering of the U.S. Capitol as it would have looked in 1814; credit: Scott Berg) Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s genius in planning Washington, DC becomes even more dramatic when reading and looking through this material presented in an interactive presentation in the Washington Post Magazine by George Mason University’s Scott Berg.

LIVE STREAM at 12:15 pm: Public Opinion in Pakistan

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As it becomes increasingly clear that Pakistan will likely play an important role in any negotiated settlement in Afghanistan, it is important to understand Pakistan’s motivations and strategy in South Asia. But in order to understand Pakistan’s government, we must also understand how average Pakistani’s view their country, it’s policies, its neighbors, and more.

More on Asia and Dogs: Ikenberry Enters the Fray

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(photo of Jackson Ikenberry next to Hachiko at Shibuya Station, Japan; photo credit: G. John Ikenberry) Sorry folks. This may be a bit inside for some of you — but I have this sort of weird, psycho connection with G. John Ikenberry, a professor of international relations at Princeton University.

Brian Lehrer Show: WikiLeaks and the War Logs

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I was pleased with how this discussion came out on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show in which we discussed the secret military field reports recently made public by Wikileaks. Also on the program was New York Times chief Pakistan correspondent, Jane Perlez. A side note about the line I used.

Dogs in China: More on Leashes, Less on the Menu

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(Two boys and a pup in a tub being pulled to safey in Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, China; photo credit: Li Jinxiong, China Daily) The real story behind the picture above is that there have been devastating floods in several of China’s provinces — including Zhejiang Province and Henan Province.

Turkey and the Iranian Nuclear Issue

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(Photo Credit: State Department) This post also appears at The Race for Iran. Iranian Petroleum Minister Masoud Mirkazemi’s visit to Turkey last week highlighted Turkey’s multifarious equities vis-a-vis Iran.