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Geopolitics

Top 10 Most Popular Worldcrunch Articles Of 2014

Top 10 Most Popular Worldcrunch Articles Of 2014
Worldcrunch

Ukraine's Pro-Russian Separatists Are Bad News For Russia

The Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, located on the Moldovan border with Ukraine, has relied on Russia for the past two decades. A perfect example of potential new burdens for Moscow. — KOMMERSANT


In India, The World's First Vegetarian City

After monks went on a hunger strike to push for a citywide ban on animal slaughter, the local government declared Palitana a meat-free zone. But the city's Muslims are not happy. — KBR


Syria's Silent War Crime: Systematic Mass Rape

Evidence is piling up that the Damascus regime has used rape — of daughters in front of fathers, wives in front of husbands — as a targeted weapon. — LE MONDE


What The World Cup Will Do To Brazil's Economy

Six months from kickoff, two economic assessments, pro and con, as the world's most popular sporting event lands in the "B" of BRICS. — FOLHA DE S. PAULO


Germany Will Ban Tech Companies That Play Ball With NSA

No German federal contracts will go to companies that turn over data to the NSA and other spy agencies in the U.S., and elsewhere. There may, however, be one crucial exemption. — SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG


ISIS, The Caliphate Of Madmen Starts To Crumble

The ISIS terror group believes that if it is Allah's will, the organization will take over much of the world. But at the moment, Allah doesn't seem to be on their side. — DIE WELT


Israeli Researchers: We Can Detect Breast Cancer With Simple Blood Test

Octava Pink, an easy and accurate new method for detecting breast cancer, is a potentially game-changing blood test for breast cancer with 97% detection rate. — CALCALIST


Adam Smith To Xi Jinping, Wealthy Nations Need Good Laws

As China holds its 18th CCP Fourth Plenary Session with the theme of the "rule of law in China," it is clear that the corrupt system that fueled the country's economic boom is bankrupt. — CAIXIN


My Son Has Committed Unspeakable Crimes

What is it like to be the parent of a "monster?" After their teenaged son confessed to rape and murder in southern France, the parents of Matthieu Moulinas decide to tell their story. — LE MONDE


Selfies At Auschwitz: When Tourism Destroys The Meaning Of Memory

It gets harder to feel the weight of history's most brutal hours when you're surrounded by tourists soaking in the sun and thinking about lunch plans. — DIE WELT

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Geopolitics

Why The Latin American Far Left Can't Stop Cozying Up To Iran's Regime

Among the Islamic Republic of Iran's very few diplomatic friends are too many from Latin America's left, who are always happy to milk their cash-rich allies for all they are worth.

Image of Bolivia's ambassador in Tehran, Romina Pérez Ramos.

Bolivia's ambassador in Tehran, Romina Pérez Ramos.

Bolivia's embassy in Tehran/Facebook
Bahram Farrokhi

-OpEd-

The Latin American Left has an incurable anti-Yankee fever. It is a sickness seen in the baffling support given by the socialist regimes of Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela or Bolivia to the Islamic Republic of Iran, which to many exemplifies clerical fascism. And all for a single, crass reason: together they hate the United States.

The Islamic Republic has so many of the traits the Left used to hate and fight in the 20th century: a religious (Islamic) vocation, medieval obscurantism, misogyny... Its kleptocratic economy has turned bog-standard class divisions into chasmic inequalities reminiscent of colonial times.

This support is, of course, cynical and in line with the mandates of realpolitik. The regional master in this regard is communist Cuba, which has peddled its anti-imperialist discourse for 60 years, even as it awaits another chance at détente with its ever wealthy neighbor.

I reflected on this on the back of recent remarks by Bolivia's ambassador in Tehran, the 64-year-old Romina Pérez Ramos. She must be the busiest diplomat in Tehran right now, and not a day goes by without her going, appearing or speaking somewhere, with all the publicity she can expect from the regime's media.

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