Stories about International Relations from December, 2006
Russia: Litvinenko's Case
Attempts to untangle the details of Aleksandr Litvinenko's poisoning, from different perspectives: by a reader at La Russophobe – here, and by Copydude – here, here, and here.
Senegal: Migrants to Spain Repatriated
Le Pangolin provides an update on the status of Africans who have migrated to Spain on rafts in the thousands in the past year (Fr): “Spain, which in an initial phase had decided to welcome them under pressure from France and the UK, just changed its position and has hardened...
Russia: The “New Cold War”
A Step At A Time links to Edward Lucas’ piece on the “new cold war.”
Serbia: Vojislav Seselj on Hunger Strike
As the parliamentary poll comes closer Vojislav Seselj‘s hunger strike makes good publicity for the Serbian Radical Party. He is accused of committing crimes against humanity as the leader of a paramilitary force during the civil war in Bosnia & Herzegovina. After all, most of the charges relate to verbal...
Voices from Central Asia
Anara – by teokaye Anara is one of the ‘youth at risk’ that took part in the weekend trip. Instead of going to school, she supports her family by collecting plastic bags at Dordoi bazaar, a massive clothing market made up of thousands of containers. Kyrgyz-US relations The killing of...
Bolivia: EU to Demand Visas
Jorge Gobbi, commenting on news that the EU will soon formally demand every bolivian citizen that enters this region to previously obtain a visa, writes, “Eventually, only those with the right passport will be able to backpack around the world. Or am I being to pessimistic today? Eduardo Avila has...
Bolivia: Summit of the South American Community of Nations
Guest-blogger Gretchen Gordon on today's beginning of the Summit of the South American Community of Nations and the parallel 2nd Summit for a People’s Integration in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Somalia: UN peacekeepers in Somalia
Ethan Zuckerman asks whether sending UN peacekeepers to Somalia is a good thing, “The presence of UN peacekeepers is clearly provocative to UIC forces, who say they’ll consider UN troop “an invading force” – does it make sense to try to destabilize the one force that’s provided stability in Southern...
China and Japan: translating USA
The Japanese translation of USA is “rice country”, while the Chinese translation is “beauty country”. Zhaihua looks into historical documents and tries to explain why there is such a difference. One explanation provided by Chiang Kai-shek in 1934 was that “rice” is edible… (zh)
Kyrgyzstan: Status Revision
Kyrgyz Report says that the shooting of a citizen of Kyrgyzstan by a guard at the US airbase in the country has prompted the country's president to call for a revision of the legal status of the US troops there so they can be tried in Kyrgyz courts.
Serbia: Kosovo's Future
Wu Wei links to “the most detailed and authoritative prediction of what Martti Ahtisaari is going to say about Kosovo's status.” Neretva River wonders whether Russia's veto would plunge Kosovo into violence.
Croatia: Japan's First Embassy in Zagreb
Neretva River offers a glimpse into the history of Croatian-Japanese relationship.
Bulgaria: New Evidence in Tripoli Six Case
Declan Butler writes about the new scientific evidence in the Tripoli Six case.
Japan: difference between minister and commissioner
Japan government has turned Japan Defense Agency into the “Ministry of Defense”. Adamu in Mutant frog discusses about the difference between minister and commissioner in Japan's politics.
Russia: “Poisongate”
An update on “Poisongate” at Sean's Russia Blog.
Russia: BA Polonium Planes Passenger
Ruminations on Russia discovers a personal connection to Litvinenko's case: turns out he flew “back and forth to the UK three times on planes that have, or had traces of Polonium 210 on them.”
The week that was in The Moroccan Blogosphere
Marrakech celebrates the stars The red city of Morocco looks more beautiful with all the glamorous actors taking part in its sixth edition of the International Film Festival. The very good Laila Lalami posts about the event and points a very interesting statement said by Mohammed Majd a Moroccan actor...
Myanmar: Indo-Burma Car Rally
New Mandala writes about a car rally taking place in north-east India and Myanmar. “The rally traverses a route that is maybe just starting to re-emerge as a viable conduit for everyday trade and transportation.”. A former supporter of democracy in Myamar, India is now open to seeking closer with...
Bangladesh: Should India have helped Bangladesh?
Rediff, an Indian portal has a series on the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971 – which had a direct hand in the independence of Bangladesh. Drishtipat links to the same and feels the Bangladeshi perspective is missing. The comments for the post have interesting takes on history and the nature of...
Africa: Japan and Africa
Africa Beat writing about Japan and Africa: “Did you know that Ethiopia once “looked East”…to Japan. Or that in Madagascar, an early attempt to gain independence was prompted not by Western liberalism, but by a desire to pursue Japanese-style economic development?”
Rwanda: hidden agenda?
Angelo Izama writes about the French-Rwanda diplomatic fall-out, “It is not news that France and the Kigali regime are on competing sides of the politics in this grave-filled but resource-rich Great Lakes region. The contest to assign blame for the genocide is a dangerous extension of that competition. It is,...
