Watching the Shadows

Benghazigate and Internet freedom

The provocateur video that supposedly incited the Benghazi attack is at the center of a persistent news story—but we can't see it, because the Ninth Circuit ordered it suppressed.

Greater Middle East

Transfer of Homs: the beginning of the end?

Contrary to regime propaganda, the fall of Homs to government forces comes amid rebel gains elsewhere in Syria. With the jihadists in disarray, the FSA prepares to open a new front.

Southeast Asia

Sharia (in)justice in Aceh (not just Brunei)

A rape victim is sentenced to be flogged for "adultery" in Aceh—more grim evidence that local autonomy in the Indonesian region has been usurped by clerical reactionaries.

Africa

Conspiranoids descend on #BringBackOurGirls

As a team of US military advisors head for Nigeria, the Internet conspirosphere bristles with baseless theories about how Boko Haram is a CIA creation. Will you please shut up?

Europe

Cold War time warp in Ukraine coverage

While claiming to withdraw troops from Ukriane's borders, Russia conducted military maneuvers that included nuclear missile tests—as NATO sends a special delegation to Kiev.

Oceania

Rival trade pacts vie for Pacific hegemony

China is proposing a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) in  a race with the US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) for hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region.

Europe

Novorossiya resurgent?

With the open encouragement of Putin, separatists in eastern Ukraine are reviving the concept of "Novorossiya" (New Russia)—a dangerous precedent for revanchist claims.