· February, 2008

Stories about International Relations from February, 2008

Iran:A petiton against Google Earth

  22 February 2008

More than 4000 people have already signed a petition against Google Earth. The petiton that says: “dear Administrators of Google Earth, we, the undersigned, through this letter, protest your irresponsible, unscientific actions, and demand an immediate and unconditional deletion of “Arabian Gulf” from Google Earth.”

Trinidad & Tobago: Assisting Guyana

  22 February 2008

“Perhaps…this can be the precursor to a properly organised Caribbean-based defence initiative which…moves us one step closer, even through tragedy, to a single pan-Caribbean nation”: Keith in Trinidad shares his thoughts on T&T's offer of assistance to Guyana.

Serbia: Political Unrest, Now and 17 Years Ago

  22 February 2008

Anegdote watched the rioting in Belgrade from his balcony and wrote about how history seems to be repeating itself: “Many people were injured in Belgrade today, and one person died. But that feels like nothing compared to knowing that lunatics are once again politicians and that people are capable of...

Serbia: “People's Protests”

  22 February 2008

Hugh Griffiths writes on his B92 blog about the history of the “so-called ‘people’s protests'” in Serbia – “which are in actual fact not organised by the people themselves, but by those working in state institutions.”

Serbia: Belgrade Riots

  21 February 2008

Limbic Nutrition on the situation in Belgrade: “The violence tonight was fully expected. Western embassies were texting and emailing their citizens all week warning us to stay away from the demonstrations. Since Monday, the day after rioters attacked the US and Slovenian embassies in response to Kosovo’s declaration of independence,...

Lebanon: Danish Cartoons Again

  21 February 2008

“Oh, no. Not again. Not Danish cartoons. Ayatullah Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah sent an official letter to the Danish government regarding Danish cartoons (not pastries). He express his concern that “some Jewish sides that are linked to International Zionism” may be behind Danish cartons,” announces The Angry Arab News Services.

U.S.: 50 Russians for Obama

  21 February 2008

Russia Blog writes about the results of “its own humble, non-scientific poll”: Yuri Mamchur asked 50 Russians about which U.S. presidential candidate they would have preferred – and all 50 said it was Barack Obama.

Syria: The Changing Face of Syria

  21 February 2008

Syria, is a country that is still "officially" considered a Socialist country. The socialist policies in Syria date all the way back to 1958, when Egypt and Syria formed the United Arab Republic, under the leadership of Gamal Abd el-Nasser. It was a very short lived republic that ended in 1961 but marked the turn of Syrian politics and economy into the socialist thinking. That continued after the Baath party took power in the March 8th coup d'etat. But all that is changing now.

Barbados, Cuba: Castro's Legacy

  21 February 2008

As David Thompson praises the Castro legacy, Barbados Free Press says: “A damned shame. We had hoped for better from the new Prime Minister.”

Kenyan Bloggers Outline Political Solutions

  21 February 2008

From the high street cafes to the dark alleys in Nairobi's river road (down town), Kenyans can be heard discussing what former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan should prescribe as the compromise. There are voices of hope and optimism as well as prophets of doom who see the current exercise as mere puppetry. The role of the international community has also been discussed accross the divide. This situation is also reflected in the blogosphere.

Kosovo: “Western Protectorate” Tradition

  20 February 2008

“Kosova’s status as a Western protectorate, replete with a banal, EU-style flag, is therefore entirely in keeping with the tradition of earlier Balkan states that successfully achieved their independence under Great Power guidance,” writes Greater Surbiton.

Kosovo: Views from the Russophone Blogosphere

  20 February 2008

According to the Yandex Blogs portal, over 3,700 posts on Kosovo independence have appeared in the Russian-language blogosphere in the past three days. Some of these posts have received dozens, if not hundreds, of comments. Below are a few snippets of this lively discussion, all translated from Russian.