Stories about International Relations from November, 2007
Russia: Election and the OSCE
A discussion of the upcoming Russian election and the situation with the OSCE observers over at Crooked Timber.
Romania: More on the Election and Referendum
TOL's Romania writes more about Nov. 25: “A date that will mean a lot for the political landscape of Romania. The European elections will be the first in a series of 5 electoral processes in Romania in less than 2 full years. So they will be seen as an indicator...
Romania: Upcoming Election and Referendum
Kosmopolit writes about the Nov. 25 referendum on changing the voting system in Romania – and on the not-so-popular election to the European Parliament: “…being elected for the European Parliament would mean being “banned” from the Romanian political scene exactly in the important electoral year 2008 (with presidential and parliamentary...
Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela: Chavez at OPEC
Further Thoughts weighs in on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his open demonstration of religious fervour at the OPEC summit in Saudi Arabia.
Serbia, Macedonia: Travel Photos
Novala, Europa has a lot of new photos from Kosovo and Macedonia – here, here, here, and here.
Serbia: Kosovo Election, Before and After
Balkan Baby writes about the post-election Kosovo: “Will the parliament be truly representative though, including members not only of the Kosovar and Serbian communities but also the other minorities participating in the election, namely Ashkali, Bosnjak, Gorani, Turkish, Egyptian and Romani? Probably not, leading to the conclusion once more that...
Serbia: A View on the Status of Kosovo
Balkan Anarchist writes about Kosovo and his own views on the situation: “In the interest of being respectful to both sides in this issue, how about, instead of claiming how Kosovo is just Serbian or only Albanian, we say Kosovo is both Serbian and Albanian! Why not? Not to mention...
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Fear of Another War
TOL's Balkanizer writes: “When Bosnia turns up on the NYT editorial page, things are not good.” And: “…Bosnians, regardless of ethnicity, do not see a clear way out of this crisis.”
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Government Crisis
A Fistful of Euros explains Bosnia and Herzegovina's government crisis: “Short version: the representative of the Serb entity, the Republika Serbska (RS), has resigned from the Council of Ministers. The Presidency (which is really a council composed of three Presidents, one from each ethnicity) accepted his resignation today. Officially this...
Serbia, the EU: Stability and Association Pact
A Fistful of Euros writes about Serbia's Stability and Association Pact with the EU (SAA), to be signed in Jan. 2008: “It looks like Brussels is trying to strengthen the ‘liberal and Western’ strain of Serbia’s politics before December, when problems are likely to arise with Kosovo.”
Russia: “From Russia With Hate”
Via Moscow Through Brown Eyes, a rather shocking video story about the Russian neo-Nazi, posted on Current.com.
Russia: Moscow's Gastarbeiter
Moscow Through Brown Eyes offers an approach to writing about migrant workers in Moscow: “[…] it demands the excavation of Russia’s imperial pasts, a detailed examination of the labor question in the former Soviet Union and the contributions of migrant workers, a serious investigation of the nationalist rhetoric of Russia’s...
Russia, Israel: Football Game
Siberian Light writes about Israel's football victory over Russia.
Russia: Thoughts on the Election
Mark MacKinnon thinks that “there's going to be nothing like a real election to observe” in Russia on Dec. 2.
Russia: Itar-Tass Reviews ‘The New Cold War’
Mark MacKinnon is surprised that his book – The New Cold War – gets a positive review from the Russian state-run Itar-Tass news agency: “Now maybe, just maybe, the Kremlin will give me another visa.”
Israel/Palestine: A New Understanding
There are a lot of grassroots collaborations between Israelis and Palestinians that take place in a variety of arenas, but which get little attention and tend to be marginalized because of the larger political agendas that separate the two groups, writes Matthew in Mideast Youth.
Iraq: Awakening
Can it really be true? Dare I say it? Iraq is actually getting safer? What with a new movement called 'Awakening' throwing Al-Qaeda out of Baghdad suburbs; Reports that violence is markedly down; Iraqis returning in droves; could George Bush's surge really be working? Iraqi bloggers investigate and give the real word from the street.
Haiti: Picture Show
Alice Smeets posts a selection of her “12 best Haiti pictures”.
Egypt: Why is Israel Scared?
“I can't find a reason why Israel is so scared that any Arab or Islamic country would own a nuclear program !! Seriously I do not find a good reason to all what the Israelis are doing whether from leading the world against Iran or attacking Egypt and KSA for...
Estonia: “In the Soviet Times”
Itching for Eestimaa shares a few “in the Soviet times” stories, Estonian and otherwise.
Pakistan: Media and the UAE
Pakistan Politics on Musharraf's influence getting to the UAE – resulting in the Pakistani news channel Geo TV being shut in the UAE as well.
