We've been hearing from listeners about whether America should get more involved with the recent skirmish between North and South Korea. You had a lot to say, whether you were commenting from Australia, South Korea, or from within the States. 

 

Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi holds the honor of being Pakistan’s number one ranked tennis player; but, as he competes in the U.S. Open, it is clear that he is playing for more than just the gold. Qureshi competes alongside doubles partner Rohann Bopanna; the pair has been dubbed "The Indo-Pak Express" on the international tennis circuit because Qureshi is a Pakistani Muslim, and Bopanna a Hindu from India.

And while the pair has explicitly stated their aim to overcome sixty years of hostility between their countries, the question remains: how can tennis heal the cultural wounds on the subcontinent?

"Skip" Gates and Officer Crowley have been summoned to the White House. Is a productive discussion possible – even over a beer – when sitting under the media spotlight and before the most powerful world leader?

Yes. It’s possible. But it depends in large part on both Gates and Crowley being willing to hear as well as be heard.

1. Good Guys. Good Intentions. Bad Impact. I don’t think either Crowley or Gates intended to end their evenings in the middle of a media firestorm. Gates wanted to get home from a trip and relax; Crowley was on a quiet shift in Cambridge. Setting race aside, we’ve all had the experience of walking into a conversation that we don’t anticipate will be controversial – with a spouse, an airline clerk, our teenager – and walking away from a fight that escalated beyond anything we imagined....(continue reading)

The nation is still buzzing over the arrest of eminent African American scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home in Cambridge, Mass., two weeks ago. Today the president will sit down with Professor Gates and the arresting officer Sergeant James Crowley for a conciliatory beer. Essence Senior Editor Patrik Henry Bass has his own opinion on who "acted stupidly." He joins The Takeaway with his thoughts on race, beer, and the president.

But is sitting down for a beer the best way to resolve conflict? Sheila Heen, author of Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most joins, with her take on conflict resolution, negotiations, and whether beer can fix anything. Or everything.

For more on the Henry Louis Gates, Jr., listen to The Takeaway's stories, America, Still Not 'Post-Racial', Call the Police: Racial Profiling and the Law, and read Takeaway Contributor David Wall Rice's essay, Professor Gates Arrested? No Surprise.

Click through for a transcript of this conversation.

Here are the President's initial comments on the Gates arrest:

For high quality video, click the "HQ" button.

Yesterday, the Sri Lankan government declared victory in the 26-year civil war against ethnic Tamil rebels. After such a protracted struggle, many Sri Lankans know nothing but fighting; healing the nation will take a long time. Will the thousands who've fled the country come back? Today The Takeaway looks at the Tamil diaspora here in the U.S. We are joined by Ahilan Kadirgamar, a spokesman with the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum, a diaspora network pushing for a political solution in Sri Lanka. He's also a fellow at the Asia Society.

Here's M.I.A., who is probably the most famous Tamil in the world, on the Tavis Smiley show discussing the civil war in Sri Lanka:

Today could be the end for a 25-year struggle in Sri Lanka between the rebel Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government. State television in Sri Lanka says the country's military has reclaimed all land previously held by the rebels and that the Supreme Leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels, or LTTE, Velupillai Prabhakaran, has been killed by government forces in fighting in the north of the country. The Northern provinces have been embroiled in escalating violence in recent weeks and thousands of civilians have been displaced. The Takeaway gets the latest update from Sri Lanka from the Head of the BBC’s Tamil Service, Manivannan Thiramalai

Two days of shelling in Sri Lanka's northern war zone killed at least 430 civilians, with some estimates putting the number as high as 1,000. The Sri Lankan military and the Tamil Tiger rebels traded accusations over the shelling. The United Nations called the artillery barrages a "bloodbath" that killed more than 100 children, and a coalition of international human rights groups called for the U.N. Security Council to hold formal talks on the war. The Sri Lankan military has twice said it would stop using heavy weaponry against the Tamils, who are surrounded by tens of thousands of civilians in a narrow strip of land along Sri Lanka's coastline. U.N. figures compiled last month showed that nearly 6,500 civilians had been killed in three months of fighting as the government drove the rebels out of their strongholds in the north in a bid to end the 25-year long civil war. The unrest has also displaced thousands of civilians, a situation that is leading the beleaguered nation into a widespread humanitarian crisis. The Takeaway looks at the increasingly violent civil war in Sri Lanka, with BBC Correspondent Charles Haviland and Manivanna Thirumalai of the BBC's Tamil Service.

The American public is famously divided on almost every issue: from politics to war to the place of religion in society. But in the past five years there is one cause that has united Americans of liberal and conservative leanings and of Muslim, Jewish and Christian faiths: outrage over the ongoing conflict in Sudan's Darfur region. Since former Secretary of State Collin Powell identified the conflict in Darfur as a genocide in 2004, we've been up in arms and out in the streets, demanding an end to abuses by the Sudanese government. But how much has our advocacy actually achieved? And can we accurately call Darfur a genocide? The Takeaway talks to Mahmood Mamdani, a professor of Government at Columbia University and author of the book, Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics and the War on Terror.

This week marks the start of the 15th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide in which an estimated 800,000 ethnic Rwandan Tutsis were killed by ethnic Rwandan Hutus. The genocide destroyed Rwanda’s economy and infrastructure. Today, the Rwandan capital of Kigali is a place of cafes with wi-fi and gourmet coffee even a shopping mall. The Takeaway talks to Jeff Chu, Senior Editor at Fast Company magazine. His story Rwanda Rising, in this month’s issue explores Rwanda President Paul Kagame's aggressive attempts to bust traditional aid models, court western investors, and to turn Rwanda from an impoverished nation into a powerful, popular brand.

After you read his article, be sure to read Jeff Chu's interview with Rwanda's President in Fast Company.

Since August the Congolese government has been battling rebels led by Laurent Nkunda. The fighting has displaced tens of thousands of people and lefty hundreds dead. This week, the Congolese government joined forces with it's former arch enemy Rwanda in an offensive against the rebels and today the Congolese government is reporting the joint force has arrested the rebel leader Nkunda. For the latest we're joined by the BBC's Martin Plaut.

As the crisis in Gaza continues, the world seeks diplomatic solutions for a decades old conflict. As Israel intensifies its hunt for Hamas, the international community pleas for peace, and protests have erupted around the world. And with a certain inauguration happening next week, it is a tough time to be an Israeli diplomat. Ambassador Daniel Carmon is the Deputy Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations he joins us this morning for his take on Gaza.

The United Nations has called for a cease-fire in Gaza.

Israel has paused its military operations in Gaza for three hours to allow food, fuel, and humanitarian aid to reach Palestinian civilians cornered by the fighting. Meanwhile leaders of the European Union and Egypt are trying to cobble together an international cease-fire plan. But how do you broker peace between Israel and Hamas? Alistair Crooke has special insight. He's a former E.U. Mediator and Director of Conflict Forum, and he has negotiated with Hamas before. He joins us from Beirut.

Dr. Ron Lobel is the medical director of a hospital about 17 kilometers from the Gaza border. His hospital treated both Israelis and Palestinians alike, until the borders closed. Now, he joins John and Adaora from Ashkelon, Israel where he puts a human face on the story of two embattled rivals and his patients who can't return home.

For a week straight Israel and Hamas have been locked in nonstop air strikes, leaving over 400 dead and 2,000 wounded. Wars between Israel and Palestine have flared up for over the last 40 years. How long is this particular history destined to repeat itself? And, this time around, what countries are positioned to come out ahead? For a look at the worldwide ripple effects of this latest conflict, we turn to Noah Feldman. Noah Feldman is a law professor at Harvard University and a contributor to The New York Times Magazine. He’s also the author of The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution when Fidel Castro established himself as the Cuban leader and began one of the longest and most controversial relationships in U.S. diplomatic history. Now almost an anachronism of the Cold War, how has the country changed over the last fifty years? How will it look fifty years from now? The BBC's Michael Voss joins John and Adaora from Havana.

Pay close attention to the current conflict between Israel and Palestine, because not only is it incredibly important, but also because you may be witnessing President-elect Barack Obama’s first order of business when he takes office next month. But how will his global political debut mesh with his first foray into middle eastern diplomacy? And what is at risk? Robert Malley, who is the Middle East and North Africa Program Director for the International Crisis Group and served as Special Assistant to President Clinton for Arab Israeli Affairs, joins John and Adaora from Washington.

In Afghanistan and Iraq, war dominates every day. For a brief holiday from Christmas, The Takeaway turns to New York Times correspondent Campbell Robertson.

The Takeaway gets a first-hand update on the worsening situation in Zimbabwe from U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee. He shares his thoughts on president Robert Mugabe, the cholera epidemic and the possibility of a power-sharing deal between Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and Morgan Tsvangirai's opposition MDC.

Riots continue across the nation following the death of a 15 year old Athens boy.