One of the greatest novelists of the Victorian Era and perhaps of all time, Charles Dickens, whose works still resonate with readers the world over, was born February 7,1812 in Portsmouth, England. The home where he was born is now a great museum. Their website is: https://www.charlesdickensbirthplace.co.uk Another key resource is Dickens 2012,   which provides a comprehensive guide to the breadth of activities and events related to the 200th  birthday of Charles Dickens. Their impressive website is located at: https://www.dickens2012.org

Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne of the United Kingdom the Sixth of February 1952 upon the death of her father, King George VI.  On Monday February 6, 2012 there was a forty-one gun salute in the Hyde Park section of London by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery to inaugurate the 60th Anniversary celebrations which will continue throughout 2012.

MIDEASTINSIGHTS ⋅ NOVEMBER 9, 2011 (Originally published in Middle East Insights)

Last month, senior Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath declared that negotiations between the Middle East Quartet (US, UN, EU and Russia) reached a deadlock and he chided special envoy Tony Blair as serving only Israeli interests.  However, Shaath suggested that Palestinians could be encouraged to return to direct talks if Israel imposed a full settlement freeze and agreed that the 1967 boundaries would serve as the basis for negotiations.  In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to a partial settlement freeze to persuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to return to the negotiating table, but the gesture was rebuffed since it did not entail a total halt to all construction activity. Read more »

September 22, 2011 | 0856 GMT

By Scott Stewart

Lone wolf. The mere mention of the phrase invokes a sense of fear and dread. It conjures up images of an unknown, malicious plotter working alone and silently to perpetrate an unpredictable, undetectable and unstoppable act of terror. This one phrase combines the persistent fear of terrorism in modern society with the primal fear of the unknown.

The phrase has been used a lot lately. Anyone who has been paying attention to the American press over the past few weeks has been bombarded with a steady stream of statements regarding lone-wolf militants. While many of these statements, such as those from President Barack Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden and Department of Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano, were made in the days leading up to the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, they did not stop when the threats surrounding the anniversary proved to be unfounded and the date passed without incident. Indeed, on Sept. 14, the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Matthew Olsen, told CNN that one of the things that concerned him most was “finding that next lone-wolf terrorist before he strikes.” Read more »

The celebration of the independence of the United States, which was declared on July4th, 1776 is a time for historical reflection and for the remembrance of those nations which assisted in this struggle to achieve independence. The role of France is often and rightly recalled in public teaching and discourse in the United States. However, the very important and even crucial role of Spain is all too often omitted. Spain contributed both financial resources and military forces to assist the United States of America during the period of its war for independence.

The National Security Agency, America’s code-making and code-breaking organization, was created on November 4th, 1952 by Executive Order of President Harry Truman, after studies had been done with respect to how best to organize US signals intelligence activities.

On July 4, 1952,  the national legislative assembly of the Republic of Korea approved constitutional amendments providing for a bicameral congress, popular presidential elections and control of the cabinet by the legislature.

In 1952 the President of Lebanon, Bishara Khoury, in office since 1943, was faced with a general strike and demands for his resignation. The strike had broad popular support and was organized by the Social National Front (SNF) that was formed by nine members of the Lebanese legislative assembly and counted among its leadership such prominent individuals as Emile Bustani, Kamal Jumblatt and Camille Shamun. President Khoury asked the Army Chief of Staff General Fuad Chehab (also rendered as Shihab) to end the strike of September 11th, which had paralyzed the country. General Shehab refused and on the 18th of September 1952 the President resigned. General Shehab served briefly as the head of a caretaker government until the 23rd of September when the Chamber of Deputies elected Camille Chamoun the new president of Lebanon. The strike and its political result constitute what many Lebanese refer to as a non-violent coup d’etat, hence the term, Rosewater Revolution. This event reverberated down through the years, setting the stage for more political events whose results are still felt today. Of this, more will be written in future articles.

On July 23, 1952 King Farouk was overthrown in a coup led by the Free Officers Movement, headed by an Army General Naguib. Gamal Abdul Nasser subsequently emerged as the leader of this movement and the eventual head of state, though General Naguib ascended to the presidency immediately upon the abdication of the King who was permitted to go into exile. The political trajectory of Egypt was thus set upon a decades long path with Nasser selecting his successor Anwar Sadat who in turn chose Hosni Mubarak. Has this trajectory come to an end? Sadat of course did alter course by establishing relations with Israel, but his will was followed by the military which backed his protege Mubarak’s rise to power after his own assassination.

March 10th, 2011 marked 59 years since a seminal event in Cuban history: el golpe de estado, or coup d’etat of the 10th of March 1952 of Fulgencio Batista.  This action paved the way for the 26th of July Movement to come to power.  In the late 1980s, lecturing at Florida International University, Doctor Carlos Marquez-Sterling, Cuban historian, professor of law and of history, former Minister of Education and the head of the 1940 Constitutional Assembly in Cuba, stated that if the Batista coup of 1952 had never happened, Fidel Castro would never have come to power.  His exacts words were, “Fidel nunca hubiera bajado de la Sierra Maestra.” Fidel would never have come down from the Sierra Maestra.  Marquez-Sterling organized a political party and ran for president against the Batista candidate in the tainted elections of 1958.  He believed in and used non-violent political means to oppose the dictatorship of Batista, but to no avail.