Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler “Your papers Please,” has long been the customary greeting for people crossing borders, visiting many foreign countries, or sometimes even moving about cities under Covid “lockdown.” At its worst the question conjures up what I call the “Checkpoint Charlie” syndrome, crossing into East Berlin or back during the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler As events in Burma, aka Myanmar, continue to spiral into a dangerous descent of bloody civil conflict this strategic Southeast Asian nation has nearly reached a tipping point. Diplomacy is needed to defuse the crisis before it spins out of control with unpredictable consequences. Amid this sense of […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Afghanistan’s forever war may finally be ending. President Joe Biden announced the impending troop pullout from the South Asian country amid largely but not universal bi-partisan support for ending a conflict which started in the wake of Al Qaida’s terrorist attacks on America on September 11th, 2001. Referring to […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler A page has turned on the House of Windsor. Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, has died at 99 just short of his hundredth birthday. The long serving consort to the Queen has lived a notable and indeed remarkable, if sometimes controversial life. The Queen (94) […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Storm clouds are gathering along Mozambique’s northern coast. Islamic State militants launched a coordinated and deadly assault on the town of Palma, nearby a multi-billion dollar natural gas complex being built by France’s Total energy. The recent attack underscores escalating violence against civilians and foreign workers has triggered […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler More than a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, the world remains shocked and numb to the effects of this “once in a century” virus. Millions have already died, economies have been wrecked, and unemployment and despair is rife. Yet the panacea of vaccines is helping many countries at long […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Amid the theatrical fanfare and political pomp, China’s annual “National People’s Congress” met in Beijing to dutifully endorse the ruling Communist Party’s (CCP) vision for the future. Nearly 3,000 delegates surrounded by the red and gold trappings of the People’s Republic and energized by the musical choreography of […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler More than a month after the military overthrew Burma’s elected government, the situation in the South East Asian country aka Myanmar remains “fragile and fluid,” according to the UN’s Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener. Addressing a General Assembly session on the percolating political and humanitarian situation in Myanmar, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler A decade ago, winds of change and calamity blew across the Middle East. From Tunisia to Egypt, Syria, and later Libya, entrenched autocracies were challenged politically by what became known as the Arab Spring, a series of popular and quasi-democratic uprisings which shook the status quo and smashed […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler “I’m sending a clear message to the world: America is back. The transatlantic alliance is back,” President Joe Biden affirmed to a high level assembly of European leaders. I didn’t realize we had left. “The transatlantic alliance is a strong foundation, the strong foundation, on which our collective […]