Stories about International Relations from March, 2010
Laos and the drying of Mekong River
Gretchen Kunze writes how the drying up of the Mekong River is affecting Laos, the only landlocked-country in Southeast Asia
Taiwan: Relations with the Pacific Islands and Australia
Michael Turton looks at Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou's recent visit to the Pacific. He analyses how Australia and Taiwan's involvement in the Solomon Islands has been used for political purposes by both countries.
Sweden: Parliament Recognizes the Assyrian Genocide
The Swedish Parliament has recognized as genocide the massacres that took place within the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1920 against the Armenian, Assyrian and Pontic Greek population - an episode that is also referred to as "Seyfo" by the Assyrian Diaspora. Bloggers react to this development in this post.
Bangladesh: Aktel Becomes Robi
Aktel, one of the leading cell phone service providers in Bangladesh, has renamed its brand as Robi in an attempt to ‘localise’ its branding. Bangladesh Corporate Blog analyzes consumer reactions through netizens’ eyes.
Azerbaijan: DOTCOM arrives in Baku
Late last night, American participants of the U.S. State Department sponsored DOTCOM project to bring Armenian, Azerbaijani and American teenagers together to create socially conscious media arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Tajikistan: Bargaining over dams and shipments
Tajik and Uzbek officials traded barbs during the security conference in Dushanbe. The argument concerned freight train shipments for Tajikistan that have been stalled on Uzbek territory, but as neweurasia’s Dushanbe explains, the real reason is the Roghun dam project.
Japan: Long life to bluefin tuna. The experts’ word.
With 68 countries voting against, CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species that regulates the international trade of wild animals and plants, rejected a ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna, that was slated for listing on Appendix One, i.e. a complete ban.
Japan: A whale of a controversy
Only a few days after The Cove was awarded the Oscar as best documentary, drawing public and media attention around the world to the hunting of cetaceans issue, anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd’s leader Peter Bethune was arrested in Tokyo, re-igniting the controversy between Japan and Australia-New Zealand.
Armenia-Azerbaijan: BBC Azeri Facebook Diary III
As part of the BBC Superpower Season, the BBC's Azeri service approached Global Voices Online's Caucasus editor to participate in its own reflection on the power of the Internet. What follows is the third and final in English
Russia-US: Towards a new Start of nuclear disarmament
Nikolas Gvosdev of The (Ex) Washington Realist reflects upon what now seems a clear road ahead for a renewed Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between Russia and the US, signifying a breakthtrough in nuclear disarmament.
Moldova: Fear for a fifth column
Zimbru of Morning in Moldova argues that Moldova's centre-right politicians underestimate the power of political forces aligned with Russia and thus put the country's democratization and plans to join the European Union in peril.
Jamaica: Blake Dies
Jamaica Salt blogs about the death of Vivian Blake, “the convicted drug boss and reported head of the ’shower posse’”, saying: “This death is all the more relevant right now as Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke is facing an extradition order…”
Armenia-Azerbaijan: BBC Azeri Facebook Diary
As part of the BBC Superpower Season, the BBC's Azeri service approached Global Voices Online's Caucasus editor to participate in its own reflection on the power of the Internet. What follows is a version in English
China: Google.cn migrated to Hong Kong
Finally Google has decided to leave China. Soon after the announcement, Google stopped censoring the search result of google.cn by redirecting the site to google.com.hk. In Google's official blog, David Drummond, the corporate's chief legal officer explains that its decision is due to the Chinese government's “non-negotiable legal requirement” in...
Haiti: Debt Forgiveness
Repeating Islands links to a Business Week report that confirms the Inter-American Development Bank “has agreed to forgive $479 million in debts owed by quake-ravaged Haiti”.
Haiti: The Real “Slavery”
“Exploitation of child domestics is a global problem, not a Haitian ‘slavery’ issue”: The Haitian Blogger republishes a piece by Ezilidanto that exposes the real “slavery” in Haiti.
Jamaica, U.S.A.: On Extradition
Blogging about Jamaica's refusal to extradite Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke to the US, Active Voice says that “there's no level playing field”, while My View of JamDown from UpSo adds: “The fact is that Jamaica is neither America's weed nor cocaine dealer!”
Russia-UK: British troops return to Red Square
Siberian Light questions the recent reports that British troops are to march on Moscow's Red Square for the first time ever on the 9 May Victory Day Parade, illustrating previous visits with pictures and videos.
Russia-US: A Derogatory Dilemma
Streetwise Professor reflects upon US Secretary of State's, Hillary Clinton, visit to Moscow and reacts against her not responding to insults from Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, fearing this will become a pattern in US-Russian relations.
Azerbaijan: Reflections on Novruz
This weekend marked the official start of Novruz, the Zoroastrian holiday marking the beginning of spring. Bloggers comment on the festival.
Lebanon: Runaway Maids
“When a maid runs away from her employer's house, the police station is unable to act because there's no law criminalizing runaway maids. So the police station officer tells the Lebanese employee to say that she stole money,” writes Ethiopian Suicides.
