Without suggesting in any way that Ukraine's civil war ever really stopped, because it never really did, it seems clear now that it's back on in a big way. It's one thing for the army and the Donbas rebels (and the Russians?) to still be struggling over control of the Donetsk Airport, but it's quite … Continue reading Ukraine’s non-ceasefire is officially over now, right?

Boko Haram is riding pretty high right now. In the aftermath of its horrific massacre of the village of Baga, which consolidated its control over Nigeria's northeastern Borno Province, the group has started threatening to take its campaign into neighboring Cameroon, Chad, and Niger, potentially bringing those nations into a region-wide war. Nigerian President Goodluck … Continue reading Almost beyond ridicule

The government of Argentina is accusing unnamed "rogue agents" from within its own intelligence community of murdering federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman. Normally you wouldn't find this blog dealing with an alleged murder in a South American country, but this particular one involves Iran, so I figure I should at least be keeping tabs on what's … Continue reading The curious case of Alberto Nisman

They say only the good die young...and on an unrelated note Saudi King Abdullah b. Abd al-Aziz died earlier today at age 90 (or so; his exact birthdate appears to be up for debate). Rest in Peace. He's succeeded by his middle-aged brother Salman (79), and the new heir apparent is the positively youthful Prince … Continue reading Well, he had a nice run

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbd4t-ua-WQ They'll figure out how to stop stepping on those rakes someday! Ah, Lindsey Graham. The South Carolina senator who says he’s thinking about running for president no doubt thought he was helping the GOP get beyond its meltdown over its 20-week abortion ban bill, which leadership dropped unexpectedly when some GOP congresswomen balked, by … Continue reading Time to reset the “Days since a Republican said something offensive about rape” counter

As diplomatic gobsmackers go, I actually think that John Boehner's decision to invite Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress without so much as a head's up to the White House or the Democrats on the Hill is actually less outrageous than Lindsey Graham's declaration a few weeks ago that he and "Congress" would "follow [Netanyahu's] lead" … Continue reading Bibi Netanyahu for RNC Chair, let’s get this campaign started

James Miller and Pierre Vaux both write for The Interpreter, which specializes in translating and analyzing Russian media for the English audience. They've obviously got some Opinions about Ukraine, which generally slot into the "where's my damn World War III already, Obama?" category, and so they took issue with what Obama had to say about … Continue reading The problem with neocons, in one paragraph

Now this is how you do a political catastrophe. Yemen's entire cabinet apparently tendered its resignation to President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi earlier today, followed quickly by Hadi himself tendering his resignation to parliament. Hadi cited the deteriorating political situation in the capital, Sanaa, where Houthi rebels have refused to back down despite the fact … Continue reading Yemen seems a little more chaotic than usual today