The International Affairs Association

Consistent with his recent redefinitions of U.S. foreign policy in North Korea and Iran, President Obama today announced U.S.-orchestrated incentives for the Sudanese government to restore peace in Darfur.
That is, he announced the existence of said incentives. Frustratingly enough, the incentives themselves are deemed classified information, such that we really have no idea what they [...]

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Today, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il announced his plans to recommence talks with the United States regarding the denuclearization of North Korea. Depending on the outcomes of these talks, he has expressed the possibility of returning to multilateral talks between North Korea, the U.S., Russia, China, South Korea, and Japan.
The move toward reconciliation follows [...]

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If I were to tell all of you that I had an awesome experience at ILMUNC, I would not be the first. So I want to thank you all. I made so many friends at the conference, and I really enjoyed spending the weekend with you.
That said, I am, like many of you, still squeaking [...]

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Welcome back everyone! I hope you’ve all had time to rest and recuperate. Get excited about the IAA this spring, because there’s plenty of interesting stuff coming up in 2009.
I originally had planned to ring in the new year with a post regarding the Nov/Dec 2008 issue of World Policy Journal, subtitled “Our World in [...]

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On Sunday night, oblivious strangers passed 4010 Spruce without glancing twice. Those hapless people had no idea that behind that humble door, the IAA locked horns in several fierce and complex games of Mafia. And this isn’t normal, beginner Mafia , with just the eye-closing and the Mafia and the townspeople. This one includes detectives [...]

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Optimists look upon the Mumbai attacks as a wake-up call for India. So far, though, India has shown no such new resolve. NCP Chief Minister RR Patil claimed responsibility for the attacks and resigned immediately. A) Mr. Patil, no one plans on bringing you cookies and reassuring you that you really are a good protector. [...]

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The sieges at ten sites in Mumbai, India, fill the news nine days after their end. Indian citizens continue to express outrage at the three-day duration of the conflict. They blame India’s government for failing to control the situation more quickly. We must assume, though, that India’s homeland defense forces did not purposely permit damage [...]

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Hi again all. My apologies for the brief blogging hiatus. I would never dare assume that my schedule is any busier than yours, but when things got crazy for a week or two I decided to devote all my IAA-related energies to UPMUNC.

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Localized violence in Africa isn’t exactly a new concept. In fact, most sub-Saharan African countries are pretty stereotypically – er – completely unstable. The UN definition of a failed state currently applies to only two countries in the world. Those two countries are Botswana and Somalia. Guess where they both are.

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“The U.S. military conducted a successful strike into Syria on Sunday to kill a suspected al Qaeda facilitator.”
No doubt the New Yorker will hatch up some fun sketches for this stunt.
Additionally, the next U.S. president will face major challenges patching up U.S. relations with much of the Middle East. First, our five-year-old insurgency in Iraq [...]

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