World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

Switzerland is circulating a resolution in the UN Security Council to refer the war crimes and crimes against humanity of the Syrian government to the International Criminal Court.  The evidence of the crimes seems to be quite substantial and the resolution has received support from nearly 60 countries.  Russia however, has said that it will veto the resolution, and China has indicated that it, too, will use its veto.  Both countries have opposed using the UN to force a resolution of the civil war.

The US CIA has finally admitted that it used the cover of a polio vaccination program to track down Osama bin Laden.  The consequences of that action has led to a virtual suspension of vaccination efforts in Pakistan and a subsequent outbreak of the horrible disease in the country.  The CIA has announced that it will no longer use vaccination programs as a cover, but it is highly unlikely that people outside the US will believe that the US will honor that promise.  The US decision to use humanitarian measures as a cover for its intelligence operations was a reprehensible decision.

There were two bomb blasts in the Nigerian city of Jos that killed more than 100 people.  The suspicion is that Boko Haram is responsible for the attacks, but it has yet to take responsibility.  The city of Jos is half Muslim and half Christian, and representative of the tensions that exist in the country.  Thus far, the Nigerian government has not proven to be at all effective in its efforts to prevent these attacks, and the credibility of the government on security matters is non-existent.