I'm sorry to keep repeating myself, but I’m trying to get back to some regular blogging after an extended break. But in order to do that, I’ve got to make some sense of what’s been going on while I’ve been away–for my own sake far more than for yours. This is part of a series … Continue reading Catching up: Afghanistan

https://twitter.com/EGYPTAIR/status/733129477941788672 The flight, an Airbus 320 carrying 59 passengers and 10 crew, is now about an hour several hours overdue. Obviously too early to even hazard a guess as to what happened or is happening to it. I'll update as new information comes in, though it's almost 11:30 here so sleep is going to interrupt … Continue reading BREAKING: EgyptAir flight en route from Paris to Cairo disappears from radar

Forgive me for being a couple of weeks behind on this story, but Iran held the second round of its parliamentary election on April 29. This was a runoff round for 68 seats for which no candidate was able to get at least 25% in the first round, held on February 26. The result, as … Continue reading Everything’s coming up Rouhani…for now

When Yoweri Museveni stood for a second term as Ugandan president in 2001, he pledged that his second term would be his last term. It's now 2016 and Museveni was just sworn in for his fifth term in office, so clearly he had a change of heart somewhere along the way (though I think he … Continue reading International justice for thee, but not for me

Again, I’m trying to get back to some regular blogging after an extended break. But in order to do that, I’ve got to make some sense of what’s been going on while I’ve been away–for my own sake far more than for yours. This is part of a series of pieces in which I’ll try … Continue reading Catching up: Libya

This is some D-minus evangelizing, folks: Last year, televangelist Jim Bakker prophesied that all sorts of bad things might happen on September 13 of that year, including typhoons, earthquakes, bombings, a financial collapse and/or an unspecified incident involving Pope Francis. Since none of those prophesies ended up coming true, Bakker has now started making much … Continue reading Could you be a bit more specific?

A couple of weeks ago I kind of offhandedly expressed some, well, skepticism with respect to Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's newfound appreciation for good governance. There have been a number of recent takes on Sadr and what he's trying to accomplish by leading (or asserting leadership over) the popular movement to push Iraqi leaders toward … Continue reading Muqtada al-Sadr’s motives