Stories about International Relations from March, 2006
Serbia & Montenegro: Memories of Belgrade Bombing
Viktor of Belgrade Blog writes about what it felt like to be in Belgrade during the bombing seven years ago.
China: Growing Nationalism
A year after violent anti-Japanese demonstrations swept across China, The Angry Chinese Blogger argues that anti-Japan sentiment is stronger now than ever. “Over the last few years…things appear to have steadily deteriorated, and the rot appears to have filtered down. Spreading beyond the political sphere and into the public domain,”...
Turkmenistan: Agreement
Writing at neweurasia, Peter discusses the agreement between Turkmenistan and Ukraine to settle gas debts and says Russia looks to be the winner in the dispute.
Bolivia: Unfettered Coastal Access
On the recent anniversary of the War of the Pacific Jim Schultz sees little chance of Chile granting Bolivia sovereign coastline, but does see an alternative solution.
Poland: Solidarity 25 Years Ago Isn't Today's Belarus
The beatroot writes about “the difference between [Poland's] Solidarity twenty-five years ago and Belarus today”: the difference is in “imagination, organization and ultimately, Solidarity.”
Belarus: KGB Posing as US Embassy
br23 blog writes about Belarus’ KGB posing as the US embassy and beating an opposition activist unconscious.
Russia: Soviet Humor
Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow translates a Soviet-time joke on how people in the West viewed people in the Soviet Union. The joke's still relevant today.
Polish Blogosphere Update
Apparently, according to Real Warsaw, Poland is single-handedly styming EU progress. Poland's recently elected populist government isn't seen as a solution since future-oriented policies appear off the table. However, according to Bernski in the comments section, the problems may be deeper than a newly elected government — shibboleths such as...
Africa: We Can't Blame Everything on the West
Le Pangolin writes (FR): “So long as we fail to entertain critiques of our destructive ways, we will always be dominated by the West. Imagine for a moment all Africans living in Europe creating investment funds; they could then purchase on [various] stock markets the very companies that determine the...
Belarus: Wishful Thinking aka ‘Foreign Policy Simulation’
A Fistful of Euros reports on a weird blog called Belarus Today: A News Service Dedicated to Belarus and the Belarusian People. It covers such an unlikely event as Lukashenko's assassination – and its pretty violent aftermath. There's a disclaimer at the bottom of the page, however, which reads: “This...
Belarus: Post-Crackdown Belarus
Ivan Lenin – formerly of Minsk, now of New York – translates a post by LJ user lipski, a Minsk resident, on who benefits from the Oktyabrskaya Sq. crackdown, and shares his thoughts on the country's future: “If anything, the West should engage Belarus as much as possible. Isolation would...
Finnish and Spanish Paper Mills Generate Tension in Latin America
The following was originally written in Spanish by Javier from Gualeguaychú, Argentina. The last few months have seen an escalation in tension between Argentina and Uruguay due to the construction of cellulose plants whose by-products will flow into a shared river. The plants in question are the Spanish-owned Ence and...
Myanmar: Material Support
Burma Underground discusses the hypocrisy of the U.S. government opposing the Myanmar junta while denying thousands of Myanmar refugees resettlement in the U.S. because of purported “material support” to terrorists.
Ukraine: Zhirinovsky on ‘Svoboda Slova’
Scott W. Clark of Foreign Notes writes about last week's notorious talk show featuring Russian MP Vladimir Zhirinovsky: “…he was rewarded this morning for his efforts with the honor of being blacklisted for a visa to Ukraine – it was that bad.”
China: Double act
Non-violent Resistance lays into U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Lindsey O. Graham, with many a searing epithet from behind the reporter's notebook at a recent news conference in Beijing. “They couldn't remember vice premier Wu Yi's name, whom they had just been meeting half an hour ago, (“one tough...
DRC: Elections and “Rwandanization”
For Musengeshi Katata from Forum Realisance (FR) a victory for Joseph Kabila in the upcoming election would only prolong the “rwandanization” of the Congo. The “rwandanization” of the Congo started when Laurent Kabila, Joseph's predecessor and father began hiring rwandan and ugandan mercenaries to keep himself in power, says Katata....
Ukraine: Yushchenko's Reaction to Belarus Election
Oleksandr at Messages From Canada discusses Ukrainian president's inadequate response to the fraudulent election in Belarus.
Ukraine: Anti-Lukashenko Rally in Kyiv
LJ user samuel_smith posts photos from a rally (RUS) that took place in front of the Belarusian embassy in Kyiv today. The protesters mocked the recent election in Belarus by casting ballots that had no alternative candidates on them, thus giving Aleksandr Lukashenko 183% of the vote. They also went...
DRC: “I Have a Dream”
Blogger Tony Katombe of Le Blog du Congolais publishes (FR) an eloquent email received from a Belgian reader who thanks him for shedding light on Belgium's past and present entanglements with the DRC. Katombe then embarks on his version of “I Have a Dream” in which through his blog he...
India: Why Commonwealth?
In the context of the Commonwealth games, Karmadude looks up the history of Commonwealth and isn't too sure why India should be a part of this any longer.
Haiti: “Shacking up” with America
Alice Backer links to an article on the new realities of US immigration which helped her understand how Haitian-born hip-hop star Wyclef Jean was able to vote in the recent Haitian elections: “it turns out he's shacked up, not married, to America”.
