Word: regionalization
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...Obama raised expectations after taking office by promising the region speedy movement toward settling the Middle East's most toxic conflict. So far, the Administration's efforts have produced precious little progress - and unfortunately for Obama, the Palestinians may no longer be waiting for Washington to do more to press the Israelis. Instead, they are growing more inclined to do that themselves, in ways that could quickly turn the Middle East into a crisis for the Administration...
...Kenya's Laikipia region, located north of Nairobi near Mount Kenya, is known for its wide-open spaces, hills and climate - hot in the day and cool at night. It is home to dozens of landowners - some of whom snapped up their lots before Kenya won independence from Britain in 1963 - as well as Africa's most fabled animals: lions, leopards and elephants. This, and the fact that there's no malaria, makes Laikipia a popular destination for tourists looking to get off the beaten track. Yet the emptiness also appeals to the British army, which has been training...
...finds itself caught up in the politics of faraway warmaking. As Britain increases its troop levels in Afghanistan (numbers there have doubled to about 10,000 in the past three years), it has ramped up its training exercises in Kenya, with more than 3,000 soldiers passing through the region each year. The army says Laikipia is perhaps its best training ground because the conditions there - high altitude, extreme heat, hilly terrain - are remarkably similar to those found in Afghanistan...
...never been this high," says Anthony King, executive director of the Laikipia Wildlife Forum, a conservation group. "Clearly, army training and other land uses [like wildlife tourism] may not always be compatible. There are definitely people who have invested heavily in tourism who are deeply concerned about the [region's] image. But if it's managed well, the army doesn't have to be a threat to wild animals." (See pictures of British soldiers in Afghanistan...
...army's presence in Kenya hasn't been without complications, though. In 2002 the British government paid about $7 million in compensation to 233 people who had been injured or had relatives killed by stray ordnance in the region. British soldiers were accused of raping some 2,000 local women over the decades, but in 2006 a military investigation concluded that there was not enough evidence to bring the claims to court...