People You Should Know: Pervez Musharraf

Pervez Musharraf

- President of Pakistan and Chief of Army of the Pakistan Army.
- came to power in the wake of a coup d'etat and suspended the constitution twice; since coming to power he has been supported by western countries including the US. He took power on October12, 1999, ousting Nawaz Sharif, the elected Prime Minister, thereby assuming the title of Chief Executive. Later on, he assumed the office of President.
- November 3, 2007, he as Chief of Army Staff, suspended the constitution, jailed the Supreme Court of Pakistan Judges and closed all private television channels. He declared an emergency, however, he had in effect imposed martial law in Pakistan.
- January 12, 2002, Musharraf gave a landmark speech against "Islamic extremism". He unequivocally condemned all acts of terrorism and pledged to combat Islamic extremism and lawlessness within Pakistan itself.
- For an overview of the economy, corruption allegations, poverty alleviation, and relations with foreign nations check out the Wiki entry for Musharraf.

People You Should Know: Mahmoud Abbas

Mahmoud Abbas

- elected president of Palestinian National Authority in January 2005.
- served as the first Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority from March to October 2003 when he resigned citing lack of support from Israel and the United States as well as "internal incitement" against his government.
- considered leading politician in Fatah.
- is regarded as an intellectual pragmatist by some.
- wrote in his book The Other Side: the Secret Relationship Between Nazism and Zionism: "It seems that the interest of the Zionist movement, however, is to inflate this figure [of Holocaust deaths] so that their gains will be greater. This led them to emphasize this figure [six million] in order to gain the solidarity of international public opinion with Zionism. Many scholars have debated the figure of six million and reached stunning conclusions—fixing the number of Jewish victims at only a few hundred thousand." Later saying, "I wrote in detail about the Holocaust and said I did not want to discuss numbers. I quoted an argument between historians in which various numbers of casualties were mentioned. One wrote there were 12 million victims and another wrote there were 800,000. I have no desire to argue with the figures. The Holocaust was a terrible, unforgivable crime against the Jewish nation, a crime against humanity that cannot be accepted by humankind. The Holocaust was a terrible thing and nobody can claim I denied it."
- has often been at odds with Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Palestine.
- On 6/14/2007, Abbas dissolved the Hamas government and declared a state of emergency in response to the increased violence in the Gaza strip. Afterwards, Hamas fighters have claimed to be in control of Abbas' presidential compound. On 6/18, hours after the EU promised to resume direct aid to the Palestinians, Abbas dissolved the National Security Council, a sticking point in the defunct unity government with Hamas. That same day, the United States decided to end its 15-month embargo on the Palestinian Authority and resume aid, attempting to strengthen Abbas's West Bank government. One day later, the Fatah Central Committee cut off all ties and dialogue with Hamas, pending the return of Gaza.

People You Should Know: Felipe Calderon

Felipe Calderón

- President of Mexico, elected for one six-year term that will end in 2012 without possibility for re-election
- a devout Roman Catholic, Calderón opposesabortion, euthanasia, contraception and gay marriage.
- supports balanced fiscal policies, flat taxes, and lower taxes and free trade.
- has also stated that the challenge is not between the political left or right, but a choice between "the past and the future". In his interpretation, moving "towards the past" would mean nationalizations, expropriations, state control of the economy, and authoritarianism while "the future" would represent the contrary: privatizations, liberalization, market control of the economy, and political freedoms.

People You Should Know: Stephen Harper

Stephen Harper

- Prime Minister of Canada
- Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
- M.A. degree in economics from the University of Calgary
- The Harper government has identified five policy priorities, in the areas of federal accountability, tax reform, crime, child care and health care
- To date, the government during Harper's prime ministership has avoided dealing with many of the more controversial social policy positions of the Conservative party, although they have followed through with increasing the legal age of consent from 14 to 16 years, and have promised a free vote to revisit the issue of same-sex marriage.
- Following a debate and vote in the House of Commons, the Harper government renewed the NORAD agreement with the United States, making it permanent and adding maritime defence to the agreement, which previously covered only air defence. Members of the NDP who were highly critical of the agreement, arguing that the arrangement will reduce Canadian sovereignty over the country's internal waters.
- insists on his right to choose who asks questions at press conferences

People You Should Know - Hu Jintao

Hu Jintao

- President of the People Republic of China
- Chairman of the Communist Party of China since 2003
- his political philosophy can be summarized by three slogans — a “Harmonious Society” domestically and a “Peaceful Development” internationally, the former generated by a “Scientific Development Perspective,” which seeks integrated sets of solutions to arrays of economic, environmental and social problems, and recognizes, in inner circles, a need for political reform (though studied, cautious and controlled).
- though the foreign press' freedom in China has been significantly increased, Hu has been very cautious with regards to the Internet, choosing to censor politically sensitive material to a degree more strict than the previous era of Jiang Zemin.

People You Should Know - Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin

- President of Russia since December 31, 1999 (in his second, & according to the current Russian Constitution, last term)
- launched an initiative to replace the direct election of the governors and presidents of Federal subjects of Russia with a system whereby they would be proposed by the President and approved or disapproved by regional legislatures
- in the wake of 9/11 attacks the in the United States, he agreed to the establishment of coalition military bases in Central Asia before and during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan
- opposed the US led invasion of Iraq
- said during the February 2007 annual Munich Conference on Security Policy, that the United States displayed an "almost uncontained hyper use of force in international relations"
- "Russians generally support Putin’s concentration of political power and strongly support the re-nationalization of Russia’s oil and gas industry" - World Public Opinion.Org
- is very accomplished at Judo

People You Should Know: Ahmad Shah Massoud

Ahmad Shah Massoud

- Military leader of the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (UIF, Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islami-yi Milli bara-yi Nijat-i Afghanistan), also known as the Northern Alliance
- fought against both the Soviets and Taliban in Afghanistan
- "Hero of the Afghan Nation"
- "Lion of Panjshir"
- Assassinated on September 9, 2001 by al-Qaeda agents