· August, 2009

Stories about International Relations from August, 2009

East Timor: Tour de Timor

  31 August 2009

Tour de Timor has 300 registered competitors, 50 International volunteers and thousands of Timorese volunteers. The race was organized to promote peace.

Caucasus: Peace Corps blogs on Twitter

  31 August 2009

With most bloggers located in the capitals of the three South Caucasus republics, U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) have been indispensible in posting entries from the regions of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. However, with old PCVs being replaced by new ones when their service ends, it's often been difficult to...

China and Taiwan: Dalai Lama's visit, inevitably political

  31 August 2009

Yesterday Dalai Lama arrived in Taiwan on a visit that has been denounced by China. The trip, requested by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to President Ma Ying-jeou, aimed at comforting victims of Typhoon Morakot. Dalai Lama explained in the airport that “I'm a monk. I was asked to say prayers...

Myanmar: Tension in the Sino-Burmese border

  31 August 2009

ESWN collects news reports on the military conflict between the Burmese government and the Kokang Ceasefire Group near the Sino-Burmese border. The situation has been getting worse in the past few days and thousands of Burmese refugees fled to China. Last Friday, a bomb fired across the border killed one...

Hungary: St. Stephen

  30 August 2009

Hungarian Spectrum writes: “Because there are so many references to St. Stephen nowadays in Hungary I thought I ought to write a post on what ‘Hungary’ looked liked in his days.”

East Timor: “Happy Day” of freedom vote

  30 August 2009

Timorese bloggers have celebrated the 10th anniversary of the popular referendum which led to the territory's formal independence. One commemorates the "happy day", another recalls his determination to drive out the Indonesian military occupiers, and yet another uses the day to question the current moment in Timor.

Japan: We will not forget Hiroshima and Nagasaki

  30 August 2009

64 years ago, on the 6th and the 9th of August, atomic bombs were dropped by the U.S. forces on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Over 200,000 people died and every year, ceremonies are held to commemorate those victims and to remind humanity of the horrors of war and of the use...

Ghana: Ghanaians wont be chewing their chicken bones

  28 August 2009

Ghanaians will not be chewing their chicken bones!: “It turns out the Ghanaian parliament and U.S. Congress are working on passing a Bill known as the “Biosafety Act” which will allow the introduction of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) into Ghana's food chain.”

Japan: Marines and Okinawa

  28 August 2009

Peter Ennis at NBR Forum explains [en] the “role” of the U.S. Marines in Okinawa. “The US Marines are so heavily based on Okinawa for one reason:Budget. Japan picks up most of the bill. War plans for the Korean Peninsula virtually do not include the US Marines.” [via Tobias Harris,...

Bahamas: Economic Priorities?

  28 August 2009

“Rumour has it that cash flow is hard to come by for the government…yet the country opens a consulate office in Atlanta, Georgia”: Rick Lowe at Weblog Bahamas wonders what on earth the government could be thinking.

Maldives: Defense Arrangement With India

  27 August 2009

Mohamed Nasheed, a Member of Parliament, writes in his blog how and why he initiated a motion in the Maldives parliament pointing out the need to make sure that the recently proposed Defense arrangement with India conforms to the Maldivian constitution and has the prior approval of the parliament.

Bahamas, Jamaica: Thoughts on the IMF

  27 August 2009

Rick Lowe at Weblog Bahamas takes issue with an article in a Jamaican newspaper which laments the fact that the country “now has to pay the piper (IMF)”, saying: “Of course I am no fan of the IMF, but to suggest that a country ignore its debt is simply irresponsible…it...

Pakistan: Bloggers Vs. The US Citizenship And Immigration Services

  27 August 2009

Talkhaba informs that “a newly formed network of Pakistani Bloggers namely Union of Patriotic Bloggers for Sovereign Pakistan (UPBSP) has started (the) ‘Containment of USA’ Campaign which aims at containing US and confining it to its diplomatic role guaranteed under the international law.” Their first target was to take the...