Frida Ghitis
Frida Ghitis is a world affairs columnist, author and consultant.
She started her career at CNN, where she worked initially as a show producer, a unit manager for major news operations and later as a producer and correspondent covering mostly international news.
In addition to CNN, her work has appeared in the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, NRC Handelsblad (Netherlands) and in scores of publications in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and beyond.
Her regular column on global affairs in the Miami Herald is distributed worldwide by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. Her weekly WPR column,
World Citizen, appears every Thursday.
She has worked in all corners of the world, traveling in Iraq during and after the rule of Saddam Hussein. She worked in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt during Desert Storm. She covered the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, and has worked independently in Tibet, Burma, Kuwait, Argentina, Cambodia, Colombia, and dozens of places in between. Her work has taken her to the Amazon jungles of South America, to Russia, Brazil, India, Somalia, and elsewhere.
As a consultant, she advises organizations operating or contemplating projects in diverse regions of the world, providing political analysis and forecasting.
She is a public speaker on world affairs and the author of "The End of Revolution: A Changing World in the Age of Live Television."
Articles written by Frida Ghitis
By Frida Ghitis
29 Jul 2010 |
World Politics Review
Brazil, like much of Latin America, is showing
astonishing resilience in the face of a daunting economic environment
that cuts across borders. The region that popularized words such as
junta and
caudillo,
and the countries that for decades served as the inspiration for
caricatures of tin-pot dictators are becoming a place where homegrown
leaders develop savvy economic policies that dazzle development experts.
By Frida Ghitis
22 Jul 2010 |
World Politics Review
In the never-a-dull-moment world of Middle East politics, an important
drama is unfolding in yet another key location. It's time now to take
a closer look at the tense events in the inner sanctum of Israeli
politics, and the possibility that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing
coalition could either collapse or suddenly transform itself into
something completely different from what it is today.
By Frida Ghitis
15 Jul 2010 |
World Politics Review
When the global economic crisis struck, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez
gloated. The woes of capitalism, he believed, would give a boost to his
brand, helping spread Chavismo throughout Latin America. Today,
capitalism appears to be limping back to life thanks to generous
infusions of government funding. The news for Chávez and his followers,
on the other hand, looks rather dismal.
By Frida Ghitis
08 Jul 2010 |
World Politics Review
In what has become a tragically predictable cycle, a new war breaks out
every few years in the Middle East. Most people in the region generally
agree about where the next major clash will start and which armies it
will involve -- at least as its principal combatants. As for when the
fighting will begin, nobody knows that with certainty. But the drumbeat
of warning signs that the moment could come soon is growing louder by
the day.
By Frida Ghitis
01 Jul 2010 |
World Politics Review
What exactly is President Barack Obama prepared to do in order to
prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons? And just how committed is
the American president to curtailing the Islamic Republic's nuclear
enrichment efforts? Taken together, these questions represent one of the
most important and most consequential unknowns in the realms of
diplomacy, foreign policy, and geostrategic planning today.
By Frida Ghitis
24 Jun 2010 |
World Politics Review
A recent headline
in Britain's Sunday Times
must have sent blood pressure readings soaring on both sides of the Persian Gulf: "Saudi Arabia gives Israel clear skies to attack Iranian
nuclear sites." Whether Riyadh really has struck a deal with the Jewish
state or not, the Saudis and Israelis have
found a common enemy in Iran. That provides fodder for speculation in a
region where "the enemy of my enemy is my
friend."
By Frida Ghitis
17 Jun 2010 |
World Politics Review
In the aftermath of its raid on the Mavi Marmara, Israel has come
under pressure
to lift the embargo of Gaza. The decision of how to
handle the Hamas-run territory is a complicated one for
many political, strategic and humanitarian reasons. In fact, there is
one aspect of the embargo that many of its presumably peace-loving
opponents fail to note: Ending the blockade of Gaza could kill the
chances for peace.
By Frida Ghitis
10 Jun 2010 |
World Politics Review
On the anniversary of Iran's 2009 presidential election, the Green
Movement has grown silent, while the regime continues to roar as loudly
as it ever did. Did the Greens fail? Did thousands of Iranians lose their
freedom -- and many their lives -- only to achieve nothing? Did the West
miss out on what for a time seemed like a possible way out of
confrontation with the troubling Iranian regime?
By Frida Ghitis
04 Jun 2010 |
WPR Blog
Colombia's election results show the risk of the echo chamber.
By Frida Ghitis
03 Jun 2010 |
World Politics Review
The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finds
itself, yet again, in the midst of a major diplomatic crisis. In the
wake of the disastrous raid on the Mavi Marmara, the
country has come under furious diplomatic fire. So far, criticism has targeted the
country, rather than its leader. But the diplomatic disaster presents Israeli opposition politicians with an opportunity,
and a most delicate challenge.
By Frida Ghitis
27 May 2010 |
World Politics Review
MITROVICA, Kosovo -- A NATO-led peacekeeping force known as KFOR has
remained in Kosovo ever since alliance troops arrived in 1999, helping the fledgling country get on its feet.
But NATO, facing demanding commitments in Afghanistan and potentially
elsewhere, is itching to pull out. This raises the basic
question of whether Kosovo can survive without KFOR, or even with a
sharply reduced NATO presence.
By Frida Ghitis
20 May 2010 |
World Politics Review
PRISTINA, Kosovo -- In
fledgling countries, such as Kosovo and Macedonia, the fervent wish to join the West translates into a near-compulsion to do whatever it takes to enter the
European Union. That deep desire persists in the face of Greece's -- and Europe's -- economic crisis and its impact on the euro. Nearby in the former Eastern Bloc countries, however, the economic crisis has indeed sparked a
wave of doubt.
By Frida Ghitis
13 May 2010 |
World Politics Review
SKOPJE, Macedonia -- When the old Yugoslavia tore itself apart during
the 1990s, the people of Macedonia watched with dismay while fearing a similar fate. As it happened, Macedonia's secession from Yugoslavia
triggered only a token action from the Yugoslavian army. That, however,
did not mean that Macedonia would join the community of nations without
conflict or strife.
By Frida Ghitis
06 May 2010 |
World Politics Review
PRISTINA, Kosovo -- Tensions ran high in the Balkans on the day, two
years ago, that the people of Kosovo announced their momentous decision to declare independence. Amid celebration, many
predicted yet another Balkan war. More than two years later,
Kosovo has defied the prophecies of the pessimists. The fledgling republic remains plagued by serious social,
political and economic problems. War, however, is not one of them.
By Frida Ghitis
29 Apr 2010 |
World Politics Review
Recent rumors of a secret deal over the Jerusalem construction freeze are par for the course in the Middle East, where skepticism and suspicion rule the day. Secret agreements have played a pivotal role in the history of the region's conflicts. While belligerent statements come freely and
publicly, the real concessions often start out
behind closed doors, eventually coming to light when
their revelation becomes politically survivable.
By Frida Ghitis
22 Apr 2010 |
World Politics Review
Voters in Colombia are preparing for life without the man
they view as the nation's savior. On May 30, they will go to the polls
to elect a successor to President Alvaro Uribe, the leader they chose
eight years ago in a break with tradition. It was a decision that
paid off for a country that stood perched on the brink of
catastrophe. Now Colombians must decide who will take the reins
once their hero relinquishes them.
By Frida Ghitis
15 Apr 2010 |
World Politics Review
The firestorm of controversy battering the Catholic Church shows no
sign of dying down, as the institution and its leaders continue to
endure scorching new accusations of pedophile priests abusing young
children, and of Vatican officials covering up their actions. So far, the church's every attempt to talk about its current crisis has proved more
disastrous than the last, and it could well emerge from this scandal permanently crippled.
By Frida Ghitis
08 Apr 2010 |
World Politics Review
Of all the changes that have transpired on the global political scene in
the last year or so, few are as dramatic as the re-emergence of Syria
from a Washington-led campaign of international isolation. Just a few years ago, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad governed a
country well on its way to becoming an international pariah. Now, Syria has regained its footing, despite having made no concessions at all.
By Frida Ghitis
01 Apr 2010 |
World Politics Review
The Obama administration's break with the policy of isolating the
world's worst regimes has just suffered another defeat. Efforts to alter
the behavior of Iran and Syria through engagement have gone nowhere.
Now, it seems clear that the change in policy has also failed in
Burma, where reaching out to the generals ruling the country was not enough to bring about real step
towards democracy.
By Frida Ghitis
25 Mar 2010 |
World Politics Review
As the first day of spring swept across the northern half of the globe,
Iranians at home and abroad celebrated Nowruz, the Persian New Year. This year, amid profound
internal divisions and growing international tensions, the Official
Nowruz Greeting became a new vehicle for mobilization and an occasion to
outline strikingly different visions of the past, the present, and the
future of Iran.
