Author Archives: Curzon

About Curzon

Lord George Nathaniel Curzon (1859 - 1925) entered the British House of Commons as a Conservative MP in 1886, where he served as undersecretary of India and Foreign Affairs. He was appointed Viceroy of India at the turn of the 20th century where he delineated the North West Frontier Province, ordered a military expedition to Tibet, and unsuccessfully tried to partition the province of Bengal during his six-year tenure. Curzon served as Leader of the House of Lords in Prime Minister Lloyd George's War Cabinet and became Foreign Secretary in January 1919, where his most famous act was the drawing of the Curzon Line between a new Polish state and Russia. His publications include Russia in Central Asia (1889) and Persia and the Persian Question (1892). In real life, "Curzon" is a US citizen from the East Coast who has been a financial analyst, freelance translator, and university professor; he is currently on assignment in Tokyo.

Genocide in Sudan, Part 2? The Worst Case Scenario for Southern Sudan Independence

Posted on 6/19/2011 by Curzon

Sudan is scheduled to be cleaved in two, as previously posted on here, here and here. While many are celebrating this as a great move for freedom, the problem from the beginning has been deciding where Southern Sudan begins, as … Continue reading →

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Expanding the GCC

Posted on 5/17/2011 by Curzon

I previously described the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) as the future EU of Arabia. It is certainly the most successful multinational cooperative body outside the EU, and is made up of the six monarchies of the Gulf: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, … Continue reading →

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Osama’s Will, Arabic Names, and Romanization of Arabic

Posted on 5/12/2011 by Curzon

Osama’s “Will” was recently released by a Kuwaiti newspaper. The title of the document is misleading — a will, as a document that distributes assets and property, is not recognized in Islam, as inheritance must take place in accordance with … Continue reading →

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Koizumi Yukon: Canadian General Election 2011

Posted on 5/3/2011 by Curzon

Yesterday was the 41st Canadian General Election to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada in which the conservative government won what I would call a Koizumi-esque victory. The election saw a number of historical firsts, and may … Continue reading →

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How Osama Bin Laden was found and killed

Posted on 5/2/2011 by Curzon

It was announced several hours ago that Osama Bin Laden was killed in a raid on his private compound on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. The raid was almost a year in the making, but the raid itself was over … Continue reading →

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The 2011 Geography of the Mexican Drug War

Posted on 4/27/2011 by Curzon

STRATFOR has a status update on the Mexican drug cartel wars, with an interesting animated map on developments over the past year. The full report is only for subscribers, but the most important point in the summary report is: all … Continue reading →

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Another connection between the Royals in Jordan and Britain

Posted on 4/25/2011 by Curzon

Last year, I wrote about how Jordan’s King has an English mother. Now, we see a somewhat similar reversal — the newest member of the British Royal Family, and the likely future queen, spent two-and-a-half years as a young child … Continue reading →

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How a lone hen turkey saved our relationship with the Saudis

Posted on 4/20/2011 by Curzon

This is a story from more than six months ago being noticed in the Middle East — how a lone hen turkey on Bush’s ranch saved our relationship with then Crown Price and Regent of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah bin Abdul … Continue reading →

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In Defense of Dubai

Posted on 4/17/2011 by Curzon

Reuters has as one of its “pictures of the day” a photo of Sunil. Sunil is a 14 year-old working at a brick quarry in western India. He is paid two Indian rupees ($0.04) for each brick he carries out … Continue reading →

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Kuwait House of National Memorial Museum, Part 1

Posted on 4/11/2011 by Curzon

Kuwait is not well known for its tourism. Indeed, I have heard it called one of the most boring countries you can visit. (When I visited, I was most excited by the ruined oil fields.) Yet one of the country’s … Continue reading →

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