· January, 2007

Stories about International Relations from January, 2007

Kazakhstan: German Relations

  31 January 2007

Ben Paarmann reports on the meeting between the leaders of Kazakhstan and Germany during which Germany offered support for Kazakhstan's bid to chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Ethiopia: Gaddafi won the prize

  31 January 2007

“Gaddafi won the prize for the biggest entourage – three jets and a smaller cargo – and the best outfit – blue/purple/orange wraparound shares. white and yellow robes, green Africa badge and every military medal you can think of,” writes Meskel Square in a post about the arrival of dignitaries...

China: Out of Libya

  31 January 2007

It‘s [zh] since been disabled, but there was one especially eye-catching post on Tianya, one of China's most widely-read bbs forum sites last month. ‘Save us!’ it read. ‘We've been stuck in Libya for over a year and we're about to go crazy here!’ Racist attitude, seen further down, might...

Palestine: Anti-Semites Increasing in Europe

  30 January 2007

Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah wonders why anti-Israeli sentiments are on the increase. He quotes Haaretz saying: “…the number of anti-Semitic incidents rose significantly in Europe last year, according to a joint study released Sunday by the Jewish Agency’s Forum for the Coordination of the Struggle Against Anti-Semitism.” He also links...

South Korea: latest development in Daechuri

  30 January 2007

Days in Daechuri has the latest updates on the anti military base movement in Daechuri: The villagers, exhausted by several years of resistance to government threats and attacks, have in principle agreed to move out of their village. However, other Koreans continue to organize against the US base expansion.

Africa: French Double-Standard Vis-a-Vis China

  29 January 2007

Says Generation Consciente (Fr): “I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry about the French giving ethics lectures to the Chinese presence in Africa, urging them to encourage democracy and peace, as France itself hasn't ceased doing so for a half century through coups, killings of nationalist leaders and...

Israel: More Jews Migrating to Canada

  29 January 2007

Writing in Jewish Sans Frontieres, Mark Elf, reports that Canada is granting residency to growing numbers of Israeli asylum seekers, including ethnic Russians, ultra-orthodox Jews and political dissidents who say they are victims of political or religious persecution in Israel. He also wonders why why the presence of more Jews...

Ukraine, Romania: Serpent Island Dispute

  29 January 2007

Ukraine List writes about a Ukrainian-Romanian dispute over Serpent Island: “The island itself is just a small chunk of limestone (.17 km sq.) with a layer of topsoil. […] The geo-political history of the island is a bit complex […].”

Ukraine: Negative PACE Report

  29 January 2007

Foreign Notes quotes from a PACE report on Ukraine: “The political reality in today's Ukraine shows that, apart from the conduct of free and transparent elections in March 2006, the promises of the Maidan to introduce clean, honest and competent governance and promote the rule of law and transparency at...