John Metzler

FPI / June 26, 2019 By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Amid attacks on commercial shipping, threats to close the vital but vulnerable Straits of Hormuz, and the shooting down of an unarmed American reconnaissance drone, the drumbeat of impending conflict builds with Iran. The rhetoric has reached an incendiary crescendo. The opposing militaries […]

FPI / January 25, 2019 By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — From the appalling murders of 300 Sri Lankan Christians celebrating Easter, to the killings of Coptic Egyptians, Syrian Catholics, and Nigerian faithful, the grisly wave of anti-Christian violence worldwide is rising. Add the formal state repression of Christianity in places like China, North […]

FPI / May 1, 2019 By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Attempting to revive political links with Russia, endeavoring to break the “Big Brother” syndrome with China, and seeking diplomatic standing after its failed summit with the USA, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un met with Vladimir Putin. The meeting in the gritty Far Eastern […]

FPI / January 25, 2019 By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Despite the terrible fire which collapsed the roof and destroyed large parts of the fabled Gothic Cathedral, despite the collapse of its iconic spire in the midst of the inferno, and despite the near apocalyptic pyre which engulfed the medieval church, Notre Dame […]

FPI / April 17, 2019 By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Faced with an entrenched dictatorship, challenged by a deepening political crisis, and undermined by an escalating humanitarian catastrophe, Venezuela is careening towards the edge of the cliff. The once-prosperous Latin American country has entered an explosive political limbo which threatens both Venezuela as […]

FPI / January 25, 2019 By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — For nearly two months, large popular demonstrations have rocked Algeria protesting the candidacy of incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika who planned to run for a fifth five-year term in national elections. The protests evoked the so-called Arab Spring in which demonstrations and later armed […]

FPI / January 25, 2019 By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Responding to the Berlin Blockade, the communist coup in Czechoslovakia, and the looming threat from the Soviet Union, the U.S. and Western European states formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). On 4 April 1949, the foreign Ministers of twelve countries including the […]

FPI / March 26, 2019 By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Beijing’s ambitious “Belt and Road” infrastructural initiative has scored its first significant beachhead in the Mediterranean, as Italy has signed on to the expansive Chinese globe-spanning project. China’s President Xi Jinping was feted in Rome with a grandiosity fit for an visiting Emperor […]

FPI / March 21, 2019 By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Following the failed Hanoi Summit with the USA, North Korea is now sending mixed messages concerning its denuclearization and missile testing intentions. Pyongyang’s deliberately cryptic policy is likely meant to sow confusion and gain a negotiating advantage with the U.S. over Washington’s efforts […]

FPI / March 10, 2019 By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — The devastating double veto cast by both Russia and China to derail a U.S Security Council draft resolution providing humanitarian aid for impoverished Venezuelans reflected the latest round in a widening standoff between the socialist Caracas regime and the democratic opposition. And while […]

FPI / March 5, 2019 By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — “Sometimes you have to walk,” was President Donald Trump’s stunning conclusion to the U.S./North Korea Summit in Hanoi, where political great expectations seemed to get ahead of the hard reality that Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program created an impasse to an expected diplomatic agreement […]

FPI / January 25, 2019 By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Despite dramatic territorial losses, stunning military setbacks and dwindling numbers of militants, the so called Islamic state of Iraq also know as (ISIL) has been degraded but still remains a “global threat,” according to a new UN report. In a candid briefing to […]

FPI / January 25, 2019 By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Addressing a deeply divided nation, reflecting upon a tumultuous two years in his own presidency, but seeking a break in the political storm clouds over Washington, Donald Trump called upon the equally divided U.S. Congress to “choose greatness” and embrace a “moment of […]

FPI / January 25, 2019 By John J. Metzler BUENOS AIRES — Nobody strolling the streets or riding along the massive tree-lined avenues of this amazing city can fail to be impressed by the size, vitality, and the pulse of the Argentine capital. Moreover so much of Argentina conjures the word — potential: its size, […]

FPI / January 25, 2019 By John J. Metzler BUENOS AIRES — Two of Latin America’s political heavyweights have put the squeeze on Venezuela’s increasingly authoritarian regime. In a meeting between Argentine President Mauricio Macri and his new Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsanaro, the leaders of the region’s two largest economies have stepped up pressures on […]