MiamiHerald.com: Frida Ghitis

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10/20/11--16:00: Shalit deal: Dose of moral clarity (chan 1754118)

An editor looking over one of the articles I wrote about the release of Gilad Shalit asked me if I thought Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu made a deal with Hamas seeking to boost his popularity. The question is fair, I suppose. After all, Netanyahu, like most politicians, makes many decisions with an eye to political consequences. But the Shalit decision was not about politics. It was about Israel’s soul as a nation.


10/27/11--16:03: Outcome in Tunisia worries women, progressives (chan 1754118)

To get a better idea of what the future holds in the Middle East, keep a close eye on Tunisia. The country whose people lit the spark of the ongoing Arab uprisings continues to lead the way. It has just held its first elections, the first in the region.


11/10/11--15:53: Decision time nears on Iran’s nukes (chan 1754118)

With each report from the United Nations nuclear agency, the choices the world faces regarding Iran’s nuclear program become more stark.


11/18/11--21:00: What the escalation in Syria means for the future (chan 1754118)

The 8-month-old uprising against the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has escalated enormously in the last few days. Two major changes prove that the unrest in Syria is not going to reach the quick conclusion that Assad — or his friends in Iran — would like to see.


12/01/11--15:56: Obama’s (and Hillary’s) Pacific Century (chan 1754118)

Was that the president of the United States, sailing across the Pacific Ocean, rallying allies — old, new, and potential ones — and declaring this nation will remain a global power for many decades to come?


12/13/11--11:44: Can Washington get it right on Egypt? (chan 1754118)

Voters in Egypt, the largest, most populous Arab country have just completed the first round of elections since overthrowing their long-time dictator. The results are as demoralizing as they were predictable: Some two-thirds of voters chose members of Islamist parties to represent them in parliament.


12/19/11--14:55: N. Korea: Absurd, cruel, tragic and dangerous (chan 1754118)

As if the world did not face enough uncertainty at the end of 2011, we received the news on Sunday night that North Korea’s Kim Jong Il died. As is common for the sadly surreal nation, the information came wrapped up in confusing and absurd nondetails, with reports indicating the 69-year-old died of exhaustion on a train.


12/22/11--15:18: New test for Israel — this one from within (chan 1754118)

Over the six decades since its founding, Israelis have faced, and continue to face, countless threats to their country’s survival as the democratic state of the Jewish people. That threat comes from abroad and from neighboring countries that would like to see Israel cease to exist.


01/06/12--21:00: Can America step back from global crisis in 2012? (chan 1754118)

Every few years, the world grabs the United States by the lapels and shouts, “Pay attention!” Then, millions of Americans look around and wonder, “How did this happen?” A few years later, attention wavers again, people get distracted, tired of worrying about what goes on in faraway places. And the cycle begins again.


01/12/12--16:01: Mideast talks: Flicker of light amid the gloom (chan 1754118)

Sometimes, important news events manage to sneak through under the radar. That has happened many times in the Arab-Israeli conflict, which usually receives far too much media attention, often with damaging consequences.