· August, 2010

Stories about War & Conflict from August, 2010

Armenia-Azerbaijan: More dialogue through film

With national television in Armenia and Azerbaijan controlled by the authorities or government-linked individuals, there is little opportunity for independent reporting. Now more objective and human interest stories can be found on the Internet.

30 August 2010

Mexico: Fleeing Monterrey

Hernando y la Silla writes [es] about why people are leaving Monterrey, a city that “has become the center of the conflict between the various criminal gangs.”

30 August 2010

Guinea-Bissau: An Armored Mercedes Benz

António Aly Silva on Ditadura de Consenso [pt] tells of the battles between the widow of assassinated head of state Nino Vieira and the President over an armored Mercedes Benz,...

29 August 2010

Afghanistan: The Helmand Food Zone Fiasco

Joel Hafvenstein writes about the British “Food Zone” program, which was considered to be a better effort comparing to other counternarcotics activties in Afghanistan. But “when examined closely, there’s no...

29 August 2010

Azerbaijan: Lilit

Gulara Azimzadeh's blog [AZ/EN/RU] reflects on a meeting between Armenia and Azerbaijani youth at an event in Georgia. In particular, she writes, although nationalists and a rhetoric of hatred exists...

26 August 2010

Lebanon: Giving Palestinian Refugees the Right to Work

Lebanon is home to over 400,000 Palestinian refugees, who are not allowed to own property, cannot access the health care system, and need a special permit to leave their refugee camps. On August 17, the Lebanese parliament passed a law granting Palestinian refugees the same employment rights as other foreigners. Bloggers and tweeps react to this development.

24 August 2010

Global: Spreading Peace Through Images

Recently, a group of young entrepreneurs and photographers came upon the idea of spreading humanity, good will and positivity through images. On Aug. 16, their project - International Guild of Visual Peacemakers (IGVP) - came alive on-line. Danica Radisic interviews IGVP's co-founder and president Mario Mattei.

23 August 2010

Armenia: Suicide soldier

Following the recent suicide of an officer in the Armenian army who is believed to have suffered from victimization and intimidation from fellow soldiers, Unzipped posts a photograph of graffiti...

23 August 2010

MENA: The Bigger Picture Behind Eden Abergil's Facebook Photos

When ex-Israeli soldier Eden Abergil's Facebook photo album "IDF-the best days of my life" was revealed to contain pictures of her posing mockingly alongside blindfolded Palestinian detainees, the blogosphere was outraged. In this post, Katharine Ganly takes a look at some of the different reactions from the MENA region.

21 August 2010

Liberia: Charles Taylor Trial Update

Alpha Sesay writes about the testimony Isa Sesay, the former interim leader of the Sierra Leonean rebel group that Charles Taylor is accused of providing support at the Charles Taylor...

20 August 2010

Colombia: Ongoing Online Reactions to Mass Grave La Macarena

The discovery of a mass grave holding more that 2,000 bodies next to a military base in Colombia has sparked a heated and ongoing debate. Although the story was reported months ago, the lack of transparency and clear facts from the media and the government have kept the online discussion going. Colombians have turned to social networks to try to make sense of the macabre discovery.

20 August 2010