· January, 2009

Stories about International Relations from January, 2009

China and U.S: The Timing of Charter 08

  27 January 2009

Roland discusses about the timing of Charter 08, a joint statement for political reform signed by more than 300 intellectuals, in relation to the politics in the U.S to account for its impact.

Russia, Ukraine: “Gas War IV”

  27 January 2009

Leopolis analyzes the Ukraine-Russia gas dispute and the agreement signed: “There is a natural temptation to assess the ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ of the Russian-Ukrainian Gas War IV, which emerged from a commercial crisis to a political game.”

Slovenia: A View on Entropa

  27 January 2009

Sleeping With Pengovsky writes that Entropa “takes apart [Slovenia's] totally unfounded conviction that it is the centre of the world and that all great things somehow started here. Even tourism, for crying out loud!”

Poland: “No More Scapegoats”

  27 January 2009

The beatroot writes about what George W. Bush's departure might mean for Poland: “And now Bush has gone, who are they gonna blame for all the other stuff he wasn’t responsible for? Maybe one day we are going to miss Old George. No more scapegoats.”

Poland: A View on Entropa

  27 January 2009

The beatroot comments on Entropa: “I don’t know which is sadder: the state of some contemporary art, which has to delve into crude stereotypes to get its kicks; or politicians like a Giertych, or a Kaczynski who provided, on an enamelled plate, the crude stereotype of Poland in the first...

Russia, Ukraine: “Far From Over”

  27 January 2009

Streetwise Professor writes: “In short, the Gas War is just the surface of things. Under the surface one finds the true dynamic–Russian imperial ambition resisted by a nation struggling to realize an independence long denied, but doing so under a confused, divided, and corrupt leadership.”

Estonia: A Different Path

  26 January 2009

Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa writes that “most international English-language news coverage of the recent riots in Latvia and Lithuania has shocked me by the lack of basic knowledge about Estonia”: “There is a general meme descending in the pages of usually reliable media that the economic crisis is going...

Estonia: Blogger's Response to Edward Lucas

  26 January 2009

AnTyx responds to the Economist's Edward Lucas: “So why does he, or anyone, seriously think that the economic crisis will be a test of Estonia's national spirit? We may become disillusioned with Europe – although on any significant scale, that's highly unlikely – but why would we become disillusioned with...

Czech Republic: News and Culture Roundup

  26 January 2009

A few updates from CzechFolks.com: Josef Lada‘s drawings; Karel Capek‘s life and writings; Vaclav Havel‘s health problems; the launch of a new Czech TV station; the 20th anniversary of Czech and Slovak ATMs; the gas dispute and the former Eastern Bloc countries’ dependency on Russia.

Bosnia & Herzegovina: Support for Florence Hartmann

  26 January 2009

Amila Bosnae writes about the case of Florence Hartmann, journalist and former spokeswoman for Carla del Ponte, who published a book about the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) called “Peace and Punishment” (”Paix et chatiment: Les guerres secretes de la politique et de la justice internationales”, Flammarion,...

United States: Nedjo Ikonic's Deportation Case

  26 January 2009

Kirk Johnson of Americans for Bosnia writes that “the ever-vigilant Daniel at Srebrenica Genocide Blog has passed along a disturbing story about a US District Judge who evidently doesn't think that Federal law–at least not the Genocide Accountability Act–is something he should be bothering with”: “In short–faced with Serb illegal...