Stories about International Relations from January, 2007
Russia: Open Letter to a UK Reporter
Copydude writes an open letter to Justin Penrose, a UK Sunday Mirror reporter who has written on Aleksandr Litvinenko's death.
Russia: Conversation With Litvinenko's Widow, Parts 6-8
David McDuff of A Step At A Time continues with the Marina Litvinenko's interview translation: part 6, part 7, part 8.
Iran:Anti Iranian Government Ad on American TV
Haji Washington says that AFP,the American Foreign Policy Council,has sponsored and launched two ads against Iranian government on USA TV.One ad starts with Ahmadinejad's declaration against Holocaust and continues with the images of Iran-Iraq war.Then at the end, you see a key slogan:Iran ignores nuclear deadline. Ad invites you to...
Cuba: Praying for Fidel
It's unlikely that Cuban president Fidel Castro will be any less of a polarising figure in death than he's been over the course of his long and colourful political career. Since the announcement of his illness and the passing of power to his brother Raúl at the end of July...
Iran:”Khatami has no plan to go Israel”
Mohammad Ali Abtahi,Khatami‘s friend and reformist politician, says “tonight one of the news agencies sent a text mail stating that the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot Has claimed that they have interviewed Mr Khatami in Davos and Mr Khatami has sent regards to Moshe Katsav, the Israeli president, as a fellow...
Iran:We want Peace
Amin Sabeti is refering to Iranian nuclear crisis and says that Iranian people want peace and do not want to pay for another war.He says in these last two years nuclear crisis related problems has made country lost a lot of economic opportunities[Fa].
Romania: EU Residency Permit
Csikszereda Musings has just received his third residency permit for Romania in two years: “Because now, of course, Romania is in the EU, and my ability to stay here is determined by that new status. (Romanians can't stay in the UK longer than 3 months, but fortunately for me the...
Serbia: Blogging from Davos
Belgrade 2.0 announces blog reports from Davos posted by Bozidar Djelic, a Serbian “financial expert.”
Russia: Cops vs Tourists
Russia Blogs warns tourists of some of the dangers of Russia travel: “But there is also a dark side to the extended holidays for unsuspecting travelers visiting Russia’s cities – namely, Russian cops shaking down foreigners for bribes because they lack valid stamps on their visas.”
Senegal: Flooded by Chinese Products
Blog Politique du Senegal is worried (Fr)about imports from China “flooding” local markets: “China has extremely low production costs … By opening its doors wide to Chinese products, Senegal is preventing itself from developing a national production. Meanwhile, the country's industrialization is the only means of providing work to thousands...
The Iranian Nuclear Crisis
The United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to impose sanctions against Iran over its failure to halt its uranium enrichment programme on December 23, 2006. Despite the gravity of the situation, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the UN’s decision as unimportant and vowed to continue uranium enrichment. As a result,...
Elections in Serbia
The first preliminary results of the Serbian parliamentary poll arrived less than an hour after the ballots closed at 20:00 on January 21. Some started celebration while members of the parties that got less than the required 5 percent of the votes burst into despair. The Democratic Party (whose slogan...
Bangladesh: ULFA and Assam
A separatist armed outfit in India causes trouble for Bangladesh. Rezwan on how the government needs to make it's position clear. “With their involvement in the terrorist attacks in Bangladesh or the killing of the poor Biharis in Assam, ULFA is proving that they are just a mercenary group quite...
Central Asia: European Policy
Registan.net writes about German proposals for a new European Union policy on Central Asia, and neweurasia responds, wondering why we don't hear more on Europe's efforts to renew ties with the region.
Armenia: Dink & the Blockade
David of The Armenian Economist writes that though in the wake of the Hrant Dink's murder the Turkish press is making some encouraging statements regarding relations with Armenians, what would really make a difference for Armenians would be to lift the blockade on the state of Armenia.
Russia, Estonia: Advice to Teens
Itching for Eestimaa has some advice for the Russian youth: “I guess every country needs its enemies. But the idea of tiny Estonia being enemy enough to evoke ire among Russian teenagers is cause for concern. Haven't they got better things to do? Discoteques to attend? Ladies to romance? Careers...
Belarus: Mentioned in the State of the Union Address
According to TOL's Belarus Blog, Belarus gets a useless mention in this year's State of the Union address: “It turns out that when things go sour in Iraq, promoting democracy in Belarus and Burma are actually a good card to play for George Bush…”
Europe: Bulgarain Xenophobic MEP
“It’s about time EU politics had some entertainment again,” writes Europhobia. The ‘entertainment’ is the 23-year-old Bulgarian MEP Dimitar Stoyanov, known for the anti-Semitic and anti-Roma views he's not trying to hide.
Myamar: South Africa's Support for Burmese UN Vote
New Mandala highlights South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu's remarks on his government's vote against the US and British backed UN Security Council resolution on Myanmar.
South Korea: teachers arrested for mind crime
Two Korean middle school teachers have been arrested since 18 of Jan for quoting North Korea's view on the nuclear test. interlocals.net has some background about the issue.
Why Independence for Quebec but not Guadeloupe?
Convention pour une Nouvelle Guadeloupe notes (Fr) that French Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal has endorsed the Quebecois party's principle of Quebecois independence. The blog continues: “We notice once more the double standard of socialist conservatives who share the goal of Quebecois Independence but reject the same outcome for Guadeloupe.”...
