War On Drugs Doesn't Go Well, CIA Bugs DEA Agent's Coffee Table

Allison Kilkenny, 11.11.2009

Radio host, writer, allisonkilkenny.com

The U.S. has agreed to pay $3 million to a former government worker who accused officials with the CIA and State Department of spying on him with a "bugged coffee table."

Weekly Foreign Affairs Roundup

Christopher Herbert and Victoria Kataoka Rebuffet, 11.06.2009

Editors of Simple Intelligence

This Week's Top Stories in Foreign Affairs: Like Him or Not, Karzai's the Man in Afghanistan SI Analysis: After opposition candidate Abdullah Abdulla...

Chevron Gets Fixed

Antonia Juhasz, 11.04.2009

Director of The Chevron Program at Global Exchange and author of "The Tyranny of Oil."

On Sunday, Chevron became the first oil company to come under a Yes Men Audience Attack. Chevron was chosen because it's different from other oil companies.

McDonald's on Ice

Jenny Darroch, 10.29.2009

Marketing strategy expert at Claremont Graduate University

McDonald's has pulled out of Iceland.The decision is a combination of rising costs and the inability to hike prices a further 20% to recoup losses.

A Missed Opportunity: Human Rights in Asia

Jack Healey, 10.28.2009

Founder of the Human Rights Action Center

Our president is afraid of being seen in public shaking the hand of the Dalai Lama. Publicly acknowledging the Dalai Lama's cause would be type of change I hoped to see when I gave money to Obama's campaign.

Obama and the Nobel: Just Bizarre

Jesse Larner, 11.13.2009

Jesse Larner is a New York-based writer on politics and culture.

Now I know a lot of my friends are going to be very happy about this; a new day has dawned, etc. Personally I found it inexplicable. And disturbing. And vaguely annoying.

Congratulations, President Obama

Chris Campbell, 10.09.2009

Music and technology professional

I find it maddening how quickly the wolves came out. Similar to any policy move that will actually benefit Americans and our standing in the world, the right-wing goes ballistic.

Weekly Foreign Affairs Roundup

Christopher Herbert and Victoria Kataoka Rebuffet, 10.10.2009

Editors of Simple Intelligence

This Week's Top Stories in Foreign Affairs: North Korea Back at the Table, maybe SI Analysis: North Korea says that it will return to six party talks...

U2's Music and Mission and My Kid's First Rock Concert

Jim Wallis, 10.02.2009

Founder of Sojourners; speaker, author, activist

What I love about a U2 concert, headlined by the Irish tenor with the sunglasses, is how it achieves such a powerful combination of art and social justice, music and message; and all with such fun.

As an American is Tortured in Burma, Where's the Outrage?

Jonathan Hulland, 09.30.2009

In his speech at the United Nations last week, President Obama pledged that "America will live its values, and we will lead by example." If we are to believe him, he must stand up for the human rights of his fellow Americans.

Introducing 'The Adults,' a New Group of Truth-Tellers

Jack Healey, 10.13.2009

Founder of the Human Rights Action Center

The U.S. needs an "adult" group. A group who does good "stuff" but with a different mandate. The first and only criterion to get into this special group is that you tell the truth all the time.

Balancing Your Life and Human Rights

Ellen Susman, 09.23.2009

Gabriele said that over time some prisoners would find ways to illustrate their stay. They would draw stars, birds, and trees to remind them of freedom. She said they could often smell the roses outside.

Obama at the UN: Will He Sound the Trumpet for Human Rights?

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, 09.23.2009

Associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and its Museum of Tolerance

What an opportunity for Obama, after a tumultuous eight months in office, to announce at the UN an auspicious new beginning for his Administration by sounding America's trumpet as the champion of human rights.

Whirlwind Obama at the UN; Dictators Busy Also

Evelyn Leopold, 09.21.2009

Veteran reporter at the United Nations

President Obama makes his debut appearance at the United Nations this week, attending and presiding over a breathless array of events far beyond the usual schedule for U.S. presidents.

Burma: Surge in Political Prisoners

Human Rights Watch, 09.18.2009

Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s leading independent organizations.

Planned 2010 Elections Not Credible if Opposition Remains in Prison (Washington, DC) - Burma's military government has more than doubled the number o...

U2 Energizes Chicago During North American Tour Kickoff

Ari Bendersky, 11.13.2009

Ari Bendersky is a lifestyle journalist covering food, wine, music and culture

As with everything U2 does, this show was big. Big stage. Big lights. Big sound. Big messages. But this show was played, for lack of a better term, in the round.

Political Trials and Crimes Against Reality

Robert Amsterdam, 11.09.2009

International lawyer on emerging markets, politics of business, and rule of law

It's a crime against reality for us to carry on pretending that countries like Kazakhstan can hold fair trials.

The Scandal of International Religious Persecution

Doug Bandow, 10.22.2009

Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute

There is a good argument for treating religious liberty as the first freedom. If a government is unwilling to protect basic freedom when it comes to religious faith, then it is unlikely to tolerate political free-thinking either.

Jim Webb Woefully Unaware Of Burma's Problems

U Pyinya Zawta, 10.16.2009

Founding member and the Executive Director in Exile of the All Burma Monks’ Alliance

US Sen Jim Webb recently traveled to Burma to lean not on Burma's military regime, but to pressure my country's democracy movement into giving up economic sanctions--the most important tool in our struggle for freedom.

Moment of Truth In Afghanistan, Iran, Israel-Palestine, Southeast Asia, Africa, FSU

Stephen C. Rose, 10.16.2009

Founder of prize-winning magazine 'Renewal'

In all these situations, violence is active or incipient. In all of them, there is no solution being proposed that promises an end to the prospect of more of the same.

In Support of the Struggle for Democracy in Burma

José Ramos-Horta, 09.19.2009

President of East Timor

The new officer corps emerging in Burma should know that they have a historic opportunity to save their country and restore Burma's place in the world.