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
02 Feb 2012 |
Column
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given mixed signals about whether or not he plans to call for early parliamentary elections this year, but it's a good bet he will. The reason is simple: If U.S. President Barack Obama wins re-election, Netanyahu will likely face continuing friction with the American president, something Netanyahu does not want to surface in the middle of a campaign in 2013.
By Frida Ghitis
26 Jan 2012 |
Column
When the U.S. and Israel announced last week that they had decided to either cancel or postpone the biggest joint military exercise in their history, the news kicked the wheels of the Mideast rumor and speculation machines into high gear. What had started as a determined show of military force and political coordination to send a clear signal to Iran suddenly turned into a mess of mixed messages and confusion.
By Frida Ghitis
19 Jan 2012 |
Column
Protesters calling for the end to the dictatorship of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are waving two different versions of the Syrian flag. It may seem like a small detail, but it points to deep divisions among anti-Assad forces that are keeping them from coordinating their efforts and creating concerns about how well the fractured opposition's leadership would be able to function if it toppled Assad.
By Frida Ghitis
12 Jan 2012 |
Column
As 2012 begins, al-Qaida has suffered a series of harsh blows, leading some to conclude that the group has become a spent force without much of a future. To be sure, 2011 was a devastating year for the organization. But like a virus that mutates to survive its host’s most potent defenses, al-Qaida is already seeking to make the most of a situation that, undoubtedly, has become a threat to its survival.
By Frida Ghitis
05 Jan 2012 |
Column
The ongoing transformation of the Middle East has affected every government and every political organization in the region. In the case of Hamas, the Arab Spring has brought a disorienting combination of extremely good and extremely bad news. Hamas now faces a starkly different world with conflicting forces at play. More importantly for the Hamas leadership, it must urgently make some very difficult decisions.
By Frida Ghitis
22 Dec 2011 |
Column
It's too soon to know how the events of this fast-fading year will ultimately reshape our world, but the upheaval we witnessed in 2011 will most assuredly keep future historians ponderously occupied. It was a year that will have mattered in many ways, many of which we don't yet fully understand, but that clearly represent a turning point. Ten events in particular reshaped the global landscape in 2011.
By Frida Ghitis
15 Dec 2011 |
Column
The sight of Russians speaking out for democracy via social media last weekend brings to mind the political protests that have defined 2011 -- from the Arab uprisings in the Middle East, to the Occupy movement, and now in Russia. It raises the question of just how vital a role the Internet and social media played in this year's protests. Could the historic turmoil of 2011 have happened without the Internet?
By Frida Ghitis
08 Dec 2011 |
Column
It is impossible to predict what the future holds for the Middle East. But there is no question that the future of Lebanon is closely linked to that of its neighbor, Syria. With the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad under growing pressure, the fragile status quo in Lebanon is also in play. If and when the Assad regime is toppled, his fall will unleash fierce political winds in Beirut.
By Frida Ghitis
01 Dec 2011 |
Column
Turkey’s policy of "zero problems" with its neighbors not only had a catchy name, it also seemed to work -- but only for a brief time. Despite its initial promise, the idea of getting along with everyone in a complicated part of the world proved unworkable. Now Ankara is busy looking for a new policy framework -- a new overarching strategy to maximize influence in a time of rapid change.
By Frida Ghitis
17 Nov 2011 |
Column
The order that structured the Arab Middle East for the past several decades is now coming apart, giving way to a new power landscape. The new topography of strength is still very much a work in progress, but it is not too early to ask which countries are emerging as the most powerful and influential. This is a matter of importance for actors in an out of the oil-rich and strategically located region region.
By Frida Ghitis
10 Nov 2011 |
Column
During a time of turmoil in many of the world’s regions, one corner of the globe is receiving little attention -- a sign that things are going well there despite the audible commotion elsewhere. South America, a continent that for decades made unwelcome news, has settled into a steady, if not exactly sedate pace of progress. Though not free of problems, the region looks placid and promisingly stable.
By Frida Ghitis
03 Nov 2011 |
Column
The governments that emerge in the aftermath of the uprisings in the Middle East will face a challenge as daunting as any faced by the men who ruled for decades before them: They must urgently improve living standards for the millions who now demand change -- and they must do it in the wake of unrest that has caused already-dismal economic conditions to worsen even more. The task is monumental.
By Frida Ghitis
27 Oct 2011 |
Column
Last March, in a remote monastery in China’s southwestern Sichuan province, a young Tibetan monk lit the spark that started a quiet but dramatic new revolt against Chinese rule in Tibet. The 20-year-old Phuntsog set himself on fire and later died of his wounds, triggering a wave of self-immolations among Tibetans that has persisted despite China’s efforts to smother the largely silent uprising.
By Frida Ghitis
20 Oct 2011 |
Column
When Israeli officials confirmed they had reached a deal with Hamas that would result in the freeing of Gilad Shalit, the reaction in the country was one of joy mixed with apprehension. Most believe the lopsided trade will make the country less safe. But while the deal does create a number of strategic and tactical problems for Israel, it could also potentially offer important security benefits.
By Frida Ghitis
13 Oct 2011 |
Column
With a variety of major political and military events unfolding across Asia and the Middle East, many countries are re-examining longstanding partnerships and alliances. As a result, the coming months and years will bring about a recasting of important strategic links and a fundamental rethinking of the bilateral and multilateral ties that have served as the bedrock of international affairs in recent years.
By Frida Ghitis
06 Oct 2011 |
Column
One of the more curious aspects of the revolts in the Middle East is how much better monarchies have fared than have other unelected regimes. The region has long been ruled by an assortment of leaders who came to power without the benefit of democratic elections. Despite that similarity, the uprisings have followed remarkably different paths for monarchical regimes than they have in countries ruled by nonroyals.
By Frida Ghitis
29 Sep 2011 |
Column
With the remaining loyalists of Moammar Gadhafi's deposed regime facing their inevitable demise, it comes as no surprise that human rights groups and journalists are finding ample evidence that torture was a routine affair in Gadhafi's Libya. But as Gadhafi's bloody excesses return to the spotlight, so too does the corruption and cynicism exhibited by the regime's fellow travelers from beyond Libya's borders.
By Frida Ghitis
22 Sep 2011 |
Column
When Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in his Tunisian village last December, nobody knew he would send the political order in the Arab world into a long period of turmoil. As the first signs emerged that the spirit of revolt might catch on elsewhere, the term "Arab Spring" quickly engraved itself in the Western lexicon. But not everyone thinks such a hopeful label is the best way to characterize the revolts.
By Frida Ghitis
15 Sep 2011 |
Column
The drawdown of U.S. forces, the uprisings in the Middle East and public exhaustion with the draining American misadventure in Mesopotamia conspired to take Baghdad out of the headlines. That is about to change. A number of events and opposing forces are now converging, and they will determine whether Iraq moves into the arms of Tehran, becomes a reliable ally of Washington or slides back into civil war.
By Frida Ghitis
08 Sep 2011 |
Column
Among the many recent changes reshaping the Middle East's political topography, one of the most striking has come not from masses of protesters chanting in the streets, but from diplomats and politicians flexing their muscles in an effort to prove just how strong they and their country are. That is how the alliance between Israel and Turkey, one of the key features of a bygone era in the Middle East, is collapsing.