· August, 2008

Stories about International Relations from August, 2008

Georgia: Ukrainian Bloggers Action

  24 August 2008

Peace in Georgia points its readers to an action staged by Ukrainian bloggers. Following reports that Russian troops and South Ossetian irregulars engaged in looting, the bloggers have set up an online shop for looted Georgian goods.

Bahrain: Eyes on Ruqaya Al Ghasra

She may have placed sixth in the qualifying heats and her dreams of becoming the first Gulf Arab woman to run in an Olympic final may be dashed, but Bahrain's Golden runner Ruqaya Al Ghasra has sure created a stir online. A rough start meant that Ghasra, who was Bahrain's flag bearer at the opening ceremony, was eliminated from the women's 200 metres race - but for tens of thousands of Arab and Muslim women - and men - out there, running her heart out fully covered has brought her more than just gold medals.

South Ossetia: Tskhinvali Photos and Reports

  22 August 2008

On Aug. 21, Columbia Journalism Review published Julia Ioffe's overview of several Russian journalists' blogging from the war in South Ossetia. Featured in her piece are reports by LJ user krig42 (Komsomolskaya Pravda reporter Dmitry Steshin) and LJ user ep-news (Evgeny Poddubny, correspondent for TV Center). Below are a few more blog posts from Russian and North Ossetian journalists, with photos and accounts of what they've seen in the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali over the past week.

China: Where the world's e-waste goes

  22 August 2008

Academic-blogger Bill Chameides at The Huffington Post looks at the issue of e-waste in China, noting that 70% of it worldwide ends up there: “Even though the Chinese government has banned the importation of e-waste, the stuff continues to find its way in.”

Georgia, Russia: The Names of the Dead

  21 August 2008

An ongoing initiative (RUS) to compile a list of “those who died in the war of 2008, whose names are found on the web” – by LJ user hunu: “The list is incomplete, of course. […] I've placed the names of the dead on the same page – of civilians...

Russia: Three Anniversaries

  21 August 2008

Window on Eurasia writes about “the lessons of three anniversaries”: “Today is the 10th anniversary of Russia’s default on its international financial obligations and the 17th anniversary of the launch of the failed coup against Mikhail Gorbachev that precipitated the end of the Soviet Union, and tomorrow is the 40th...

China: Free Wu Dianyuan And Wang Xiuying!

  21 August 2008

On the arrest and sentence to one year of re-education labor for housing activists Wu Dianyuan and Wang Xiuying, aged 79 and 77 respectively, David Seth at Daily Kos writes: We need to call on China to free Wu Dianyuan And Wang Xiuying, and everyone else they are holding to...

Barbados, Antigua: Peter Pays for Paul?

  20 August 2008

Barbados Free Press is not convinced that the CARICOM arrangement is beneficial, referring to an article about the recent double-murder in Antigua to make their point: “The ‘Caribbean Brand’ for tourism…was a disastrous policy created…as part of the effort to prop up the pretense and phony benefits of CARICOM. According...