Stories about International Relations from January, 2008
Kenyan Bloggers back to “almost” normal life
After the unfortunate crisis following the presidential election in Kenya, Kenyan bloggers are back to normal business writing about a variety of non-political subjects.
Brunei: Signing International Agreements
The Daily Brunei Resources explains the process that takes place in the background when two countries sign an international agreement.
Ukraine: A Porous Border
Ukrainian news site Korrespondent.net posted a translation of a Sunday Times story on Ukraine's porous borders and illegal migration. The English-language original has received 16 reader comments so far, the Russian translation - 88 comments. While many readers admitted that the problem of illegal migration existed in Ukraine and that corruption among officials contributed to it, most did not seem happy about the Sunday Times' story.
Egypt: Ashamed of Being Egyptian
“Right now I’m once more feeling ashamed, ashamed of Egypt’s complicity with the Israelis, ashamed because I know that everytime a human being dies in Gaza, an Egyptian has had a hand in his/her death,” writes Egyptian blogger Eman.
Brazil: Gaza, Egypt, Israel and a stupid boycott
“Making the life of people who live in Gaza worse is a tremendous stupidity”, Pedro Dória [pt] gives his thoughts on the Israeli boycott against Gaza.
Slovenia: EU Presidency Update
Marko Bucik writes about Slovenia's “overshadowed” EU presidency: “Then comes Kosovo. This will be perhaps the only headline news for the Slovenian Presidency – be it good or bad news.”
EU, Mauritania: Faraway Fishing
Polish, Latvian and Lithuanian fishers are robbing Mauritania of its fish – all because “the EU has methodically depleted fish stocks in its own waters, and now, it is buying fish quotas from poor countries in the third world,” Jonathan Newton reports.
Bahamas, Cuba: Double Speak
“Such obvious double speak is trite in the 21st Century. And to state that in a country that is of the ‘western liberal ilk’ is quite presumtuous”: Rick Lowe at WeblogBahamas.com is unimpressed with the Cuban Ambassador's statement about the island's recently held elections.
Ukraine: Euro 2012 To-Do List
Orange Ukraine lists what needs to be done to accommodate the Euro 2012 visitors (from 400,000 to 1 million) in Ukraine: “As of this moment, Kyiv has 4,000 hotel rooms. What is required is all the logistics incl. infrastructure (roads, parking, planes, trains, etc.) and upgrading facilities such as hospitals...
Poland: The Primaries in the U.S.
The beatroot writes on “who should Poles vote for, if they could, in US primaries”: “What goes on in Washington should be of keen interest in Warsaw.”
Israel: Israeli Bloggers Respond to Crisis in Palestine
Israel's bloggers take to their keyboards to express their frustration at the one-sided coverage of the crisis in Gaza, Palestine. Maya Norton rounds up their reactions in this post.
Albania: BBC Journalist's Blog
BBC's Mark Mardell blogs about his trip to Albania.
Serbia: Election Politics
A Fistful of Euros posts a detailed roundup on the first round of the Serbian presidential election.
Russia, Serbia: Gazprom Buys NIS
Robert Amsterdam and A Fistful of Euros write about Gazprom's acquisition of “Serbia's national energy monopoly, NIS, at a knockdown price.”
Japan: The Whistle of the Middle East
The sport of handball is receiving the kind of attention from the media and general public it never has before in Japan, as well as in Korea. The dispute came to light when Korea and Japan together appealed to the International Handball Federation for replay of the Olympics qualifiers of...
U.S and China: Martin Luther King and China
Jeremiah Jenne from Granite Studio blogs about Martin Luther King and his comments on the Vietnam War and China. The blogger points out that much of his comments are still valid today.
Philippines: Korean English Teacher Visa Policy
Diplomats from Singapore, Philippines and some other Asian countries are critical of South Korea's new Visa Policy that bars Asians from Teaching English.
Cambodia: National Symbol On Sandal
Cambodian netizens are angry with the Vietnamese who are selling sandals that have Angkor Wat printed on them. The temples at Angkor appear on Cambodian flag and currency notes.
Russia: Rating Western Democracies?
“Stung by Western assessments that Russia is becoming less free, Moscow officials say they will create a new organization of their own to ‘rate’ democracy in the U.S. and other Western countries,” Window on Eurasia reports.
Russia, Moldova: More on Natalia Morar's Case
More on journalist Natalia Morar's case – at Sean's Russia Blog (plus an interesting discussion in the comments section).
Russia: Nashi's EU Visa Problems
Sean's Russia Blog writes: “Natalia Morar is persona non grata in Russia. More and more Nashi activists are becoming persona non grata in the European Union.”