Stories about International Relations from June, 2011
China: Sudanese President Bashir's Visit Raises Eyebrows
In the same week that China voices support for an International Criminal Court warrant out on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, it rolls out the red carpet for another ICC fugitive, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Online, it's a much different story.
Palestine: Two Boats Sabotaged as Flotilla Floats Onwards
The Freedom Flotilla 2 to Gaza will be missing an Irish ship, it emerged today. The MV Saoirse has been reportedly sabotaged while at berth in the Turkish coastal town of Göcek and will now not be able to take part in the flotilla, aimed at breaking the Israeli blockade on Gaza and presenting humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.
South Sudan: An Argument Against Arming the South
Here is an argument against arming South Sudan: In recent commentary, some in the advocacy community have suggested that the United States actively move to provide the new Republic of South Sudan with anti-aircraft weapons system technology, including “medium-range surface-to-air missile systems.”
Bermuda: The Attitude/Economics Equation
Politics.bm says that 30 years after tourism's heyday, “Bermudians are wondering where all the tourists went” and fears that the same thing will happen to the country's stake in international business; Vexed Bermoothes echoes his concern about Bermuda's economic outlook, saying: “At the rate we are going, we may soon...
Azerbaijan: Doubts reportedly linger about Eurovision 2012
The Oikotimes, a major Eurovision blog, says that it is still uncertain whether the European Broadcast Union (EBU) is convinced Azerbaijan can host next year's competition. The blog says that it takes more than the oil-rich former Soviet republic spending €100m to do so.
Azerbaijan: Freedom of Eurovision, including for Armenians
Unzipped: Gay Armenia comments on news from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) that it expects Azerbaijan to allow all accredited individuals and ticket holders for next year's Eurovision Song Contest in Baku unfettered entry into the country with firm guarantees for their security. The blog notes that yesterday, for example,...
France-Senegal: Anti-Wade Demonstrators Arrested by French Police
Senegal is eight months from its presidential elections in February 2012. The country's civil society has already protested against various attempts by the incumbent president, 85 year-old Abdoulaye Wade, to hold on to power.
Azerbaijan: Photojournalist detained, deported
whatwaswritten, the blog of Global Voices author Leyla Najafli, translates a story from RFE's Azeri service reporting that Diana Markosyan, a photojournalist from Bloomberg, was detained at Baku airport earlier today. The American-Russian dual citizen of Armenian origin attempted to enter Azerbaijan without a visa as CIS citizens can. However,...
Bermuda: Fiscal Mismanagement
Vexed Bermoothes is appalled at the country's debt.
Kyrgyzstan: Shoring Up the Southern Border
Christya Riedel writes that the number of deadly cross border shootings has escalated on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border, making Kyrgyzstan reinforce its southern borders in order to improve security.
Sri Lanka: China Investing In Land
Indi.ca is concerned that Chinese investors are being allowed to reclaim and own 500 acres of Sri Lankan land from sea paying $700 million to the Sri Lankan government.
Haiti: BBBC Benefits in Question
An interesting post on Bill Clinton's housing initiative, Building Back Better Communities (BBBC), which “seeks to construct housing projects across the nation of Haiti”, but upon closer examination, “seems as though the initiative won't live up to its name and in fact will build worse communities than even before the...
Barbados, St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Racist Comments?
Barbadian bloggers are all over a WikiLeaks cable in which St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves is “quoted extensively”.
Jamaica: Call for End to Anti-Gay Violence
Labrish remembers the life and work of her cousin, who was murdered on account of “his outspoken efforts to bring about an end to homophobia in Jamaica”, saying: “It is beyond time that the appalling homophobia that is a blight on certain parts of Jamaican society come to an end.”
Malaysia: Burmese women groups speak out
Various Burmese women groups working in Malaysia issued a joint statement calling for stronger protection for Burmese women refugees in the region.
Afghanistan: Instability on the Borders
Joshua Foust analyzes the continuous tensions on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and direct fighting between the two country's militaries, and says the situation is aggravating.
Azerbaijan: A military show of strength or rhetoric for domestic consumption?
Etiraz comments on this weekend's annual Army day in Azerbaijan, questioning its country's massive expenditure on military hardware. With a defense budget at least equal to, or reportedly greater than, Armenia's entire state expenditure, the Azerbaijani blog says that the conflict with its neighbor over the disputed territory is more about retaining...
India: Predicting Indo-Pak Talks
JayBlogs posts a hilarious take on what actually happens at Indo-Pak talks.
Syria: French Embassy Website Hacked
On Saturday, June 25, since at least 3PM GMT, the website of the French Embassy in Syria appears to have been hacked: anyone connecting to the French embassy website is automatically redirected to another site (http://th3pro.pro/fr/), where, to the tune of the Syrian national anthem, a message in French and...
Barbados: The Warner Effect
Barbados Underground comments on Jack Warner's FIFA resignation: “Warner is generating ‘heat’ which is not doing T&T and the wider Caribbean any favour in the international arena. All the world waits to hear if the sordid details arising from the Fifa Ethics Report will be leaked to the media. Worrying...
A Syrian Solution for North Korea
Libyan and Syrian cases are significant to North Korea's possible change by exhibiting how quickly ruthless totalitarian regimes can become unstable in the face of resistance, wrote Joshua from the One Free Korea.
