Jim Lobe
Jim Lobe has served as Washington D.C. correspondent and chief of the Washington bureau of Inter Press Service (IPS), an international news agency specializing in coverage of issues and events of interest to developing countries, from 1980 to 1985, and again from 1989 to the present. Since 9/11, Jim has focused much of his coverage on U.S. policy in the Middle East and the influence of neo-conservatives in and on the Bush administration.
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Tea Party Loses in Fight with Big Business
May 17, 2012 by Jim Lobe
For leaders of the right-wing populist “Tea Party” who have bragged about their growing influence – if not domination – of the Republican Party, the past week’s battle over the future of the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) has been a humbling experience. It’s also been a reminder of the power enjoyed by Big Business, the corporate empires with globe-straddling interests, in both major parties in Congress.
ILO Urges Worker-Friendly Recovery Policies
April 30, 2012 by Jim Lobe
Although economic growth has resumed in much of the world since the 2008 financial crisis, the global unemployment situation remains alarming and could worsen, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO). European governments, in particular, should adopt more worker- friendly approaches in dealing with fiscal austerity, according to the agency’s “World of Work Report 2012″ that was released here and at its headquarters in Geneva Sunday.
Taliban Attacks Weaken U.S., NATO Position
April 18, 2012 by Jim Lobe
Sunday’s well-orchestrated – if unsuccessful – attacks by Taliban forces on Kabul and three provincial capitals in eastern Afghanistan could further shake ebbing public confidence in the U.S. and its allies that their strategy for securing Afghanistan is working. Billed as the opening of the Taliban’s spring offensive, the attacks also raise new questions about the timing and pace of the planned U.S. withdrawal from the country, as well as the fate of a longer- term strategic agreement that is currently being negotiated between Kabul and Washington.
Brazil, U.S. Deepen Ties Ahead of Obama’s Latin America Week
April 10, 2012 by Jim Lobe
Kicking off what some here have called President Barack Obama’s “Latin America Week”, the president and his Brazilian counterpart, Dilma Rousseff, touted a deepening of bilateral ties in her first visit to the White House as president of South America’s superpower. Adding to a growing basket of “presidential dialogues” that were sealed during Obama’s visit to Brazil in March 2011, the two leaders announced the creation of a “Defence Co-operation Dialogue” that will convene in the Latin American giant in two weeks.
Clinton Announces “Targeted Easing” of Sanctions on Myanmar
April 4, 2012 by Jim Lobe
Two days after hailing Sunday’s parliamentary by-elections in Myanmar, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that Washington would begin a process of “targeted easing” of longstanding economic sanctions against the Southeast Asian nation.
Polling Shows Little Support for Syrian Intervention
March 20, 2012 by Jim Lobe
Despite strenuous efforts by prominent neo-conservatives and other hawks, a war-weary U.S. public is clearly very leery of any armed intervention in what many experts believe is rapidly becoming a civil war in Syria, according to recent polls. In a survey released last week, the Pew Research Center found that only 25 percent of respondents said they believed the U.S. has a “responsibility to do something” about the year-old violence in Syria.
More Bad News on the Afghan Front
March 13, 2012 by Jim Lobe
While U.S. officials insisted their counterinsurgency strategy is still working, Sunday’s pre-dawn massacre by a U.S. staff sergeant of 16 people, including nine children, in their homes in Kandahar province has dealt yet another body blow to Washington’s hopes to sustain a significant military presence in Afghanistan after 2014.
Growing Pessimism on Afghanistan After Quran Burning
February 29, 2012 by Jim Lobe
While top officials in the Barack Obama administration insist that U.S. strategy in Afghanistan is working, the violent aftermath of last week’s apparently inadvertent burning of copies of the Quran at a military base is fuelling growing pessimism about the U.S. and NATO mission there. Some three dozen Afghans were killed in anti-U.S. protests that drew tens of thousands of people into the streets in Kabul and other cities around the country following news of the incineration at Bagram Air Base and despite a series of apologies from U.S. commanders all the way up to President Obama himself.
Amid Escalating Israel-Iran Tensions, a Glimmer of Hope?
February 19, 2012 by Jim Lobe
After weeks of rapidly escalating tensions, particularly between Israel and Iran, signs emerged this week both here and in Tehran that serious negotiations over Tehran’s controversial nuclear programme may soon get underway. The most concrete step was a long-awaited positive RSVP from Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalali, to an invitation extended last October by European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to meet with the P5+1 (the U.S., Britain, France, China, Russia, and Germany) for a new round of talks.
NGOs Urge Open Selection Process for Next World Bank Chief
February 16, 2012 by Jim Lobe
A global coalition of development activists and non- governmental organisations (NGOs) is calling on the World Bank’s governors to ensure that Bank President Robert Zoellick’s successor is chosen in an “open and merit-based process” that will give borrowing countries a major say in the selection. In an open letter released shortly after the Bank’s announcement Wednesday that Zoellick will step down at the end of his five-year term in June, some 60 groups and activists from around the world said any candidate should gain the “open support” of at least the majority of World Bank member countries and of the majority of low- and middle-income countries that make up most of its borrowers.
Rights Groups Denounce Duvalier Ruling, U.S. Urges Appeal
February 1, 2012 by Jim Lobe
International and local human rights groups Tuesday strongly denounced the ruling by an investigating judge in Haiti that former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier should not face charges for massive human rights abuses committed during his 15-year reign, from 1971 to 1986. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said it was “extremely disappointed” by the ruling.
Burma Release, Ceasefire Hailed by Obama, Rights Groups
January 14, 2012 by Jim Lobe
The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama Friday hailed the release by the Burmese government of hundreds of political prisoners, suggesting that it went far toward satisfying Washington’s conditions for fully normalising ties between the two countries. In a statement released by the White House after the first releases were confirmed, Obama called it a “crucial step in Burma’s democratic transformation and national reconciliation process”.
Leading Think Tank Urges Naval Build-Up in South China Sea
January 11, 2012 by Jim Lobe
While much of the world’s attention has been focused on U.S.- Iranian tensions over the Strait of Hormuz, a key think tank is urging Washington to devote more focus and resources on another key hub for international commerce several thousand kilometres to the east.
“Arab Spring” Dominated TV Foreign News in 2011
January 3, 2012 by Jim Lobe
The so-called “Arab Spring” led U.S. network television evening news coverage during 2011, comprising a total of about 10 percent of all the news coverage provided by the three major commercial networks during 2011, according to the latest annual review by the authoritative Tyndall Report.
Foreign Aid Spared Drastic Cuts for 2012
December 17, 2011 by Jim Lobe
Despite the budget cutting and anti-U.N. frenzy that seized Republican lawmakers over the past year, U.S. foreign aid and support for multilateral institutions emerged in somewhat better shape than many observers had expected. After negotiations by conferees from the Republican-led House of Representatives and the Democratic-led Senate, agreement was reached late this week on a diplomatic and foreign-aid package totalling 53.3 billion dollars for fiscal year 2012.
