Blogging the democratic revolution
So is named a huge, seven page article at Transitions Online. Read the whole thing. I went in rather skeptical, but all of my points of contention were addressed. In fact, I think it covers just about everything. One thing I don’t agree with was the need for at least a little bit of pluralism in the system for it to happen. With some covert organization, anything is possible. I believe that the more these regimes react negatively to the spread of political and civil liberties, justice, and morality, the quicker they will incite a revolution all by themselves. Oppression…
As seen here. “I don????????t have any doubt that parliament will support my candidacy if Yushchenko will propose it to the parliament,” Tymoshenko said. And due to a written agreement with Yushchenko, she’ll have no problem getting the nomination either. Nice to hear. But there was something I found somewhat misleading about the article: Some critics have suggested that naming Tymoshenko, a Western-leaning former deputy prime minister, to the premier????????s job could deepen the division between western and eastern Ukraine, a rift vividly exposed during the election. “A rift vividly exposed”? You mean, the all of 18 tents set up…
Pejmanesque is where I saw it first. The article is here. This report is heavily contradicting initial stories of “the most transparent ÄelectionÅ in modern Arab history.” Now that I think about that statement, it probably was more transparent than previous elections. But that doesn’t erase the mass fraud. “This proves that what happened is very serious and it must not happen again,” said Dwaik, the commission’s deputy chairman. “These pressures and threats lessened the degree of the integrity of the election, even though overall it was free and fair.” Serious indeed, when 46 members of your commission resign over…
John Burgess at Crossroads Arabia has a suggestion for an article that is simply must read. I’m inclined to agree.
CNN has definitely been putting out some strange headlines. It must be the lack of things going on in the world, as obviously demonstrated on this website. Here is the first one about his reading list, and I think I’ll find myself at Barnes and Noble picking up a copy of “The Case for Democracy” now. My favorite article, however, was about how President Bush like to make up nicknames for people. It makes me wonder if he actually called Vladimir Putin as “Pootie-Poot” to his face. Then again, if I met “Pootie-Poot” face-to-face, I might just end up calling…
Israel earlier decided to cut off all ties with Abbas due to recent militant strikes in Gaza. Being sworn in today, Abbas will have a lot to handle. Many people are calling what Israel is doing a blockade to the roadmap for peace. I don’t think so. I think this is a test for Abbas to see if he is really worth his weight in salt. “You do what you promise to stop the suicide bombers, and we’ll leave you alone.” That sounds fair to me. Talk is cheap, but if Abbas shows action, then we’ll be getting somewhere.
Here’s the story. Looks like, instead of the opposition trying to create instability, it would be the government trying to disenfranchise the resistence by making accusations before any honest investigations are made. It very well could have been opposition forces, but then again, what is a political office to the government when they are seeking re-election?
And now a week later, it seems that the protesting has not let up. A little surprising; I thought it would have been dispersed much harsher. The government doesn’t really need to react though. They’ll possibly grant Roza Otunbaeva her ability to run… but that won’t change that most of the major media in the country will be favoring the current administration. With that kind of advantage, granting the opposition a small personal victory in exchange for a large political victory is priceless. I mean, then they can claim that the elections were fair and open, and that they have…
A very rare occassion, The Argus notes, that President Karimov of Uzbekistan will give an interview. Apparently, however, the leader holds a firm grasp of the potential for democracy and what it will do to his government if the people are unsatisfied. This is a good thing for the people of a nation to realize, but… The Argus notes correctly: At the same time, his firm grasp on the situation is problematic. He has appraised the situation, come to the conclusion that people force governments out of office when extremely dissatisfied, and looked for ways to stave off such a…
Scott Clark updates his lengthy post about the differences between Russia and Ukraine that will hinder possible progress toward its own revolution. I’m not sure what color it’d be anyhow. On that note, Russian politicians are at least really starting to worry. Once they react and start to close the iron fist, they’ll just be setting themselves up for an ousting eventually. Siberian Light has got a weekly Russia news roundup. I’ll have to drop by more often! Russia is now barring people who talk smack about them from entering the country. I wonder what would happen if they would…
Discoshaman has your Ukraine news roundup for both the fourteenth and the fifteenth. And just in case you’re wondering what music he listens to. The brief about Yushchenko being pushed as a potential Nobel peace prize winner is interesting. I hope it will not be rushed and be based upon the merit of his presidency, and not simply the revolution in itself. The first shipments of Orange Ukraine stuff is in the mail! The EU Parliament voted to recognize Ukraine for the possibility of a “clear European perspective, possibly leading to EU membership.” A better article can be found at…
Discoshaman posted regarding keeping his bias out of his Ukraine commentary. This was interesting to me, because I had been pondering a similar question earlier. Should I really be taking news out of countries where I have little expertise, and making analyses of what is happening there? Hmm. Definitely not. I will post analysis commentary in regards to America as well as other subjects I am much more refined in. This way, I will be able to contribute more actively and differently to the blogosphere. This does not mean that I will be posting less. In fact, it will be…
The Financial Times is reporting that after several phone calls between Bush and Allawi, they have decided to not put off elections in Iraq by a month. This comes amid increased violence in the region, when about 4 mostly Sunni provinces are considered not safe enough to vote in. But let’s refer back to my last post about Iraq with statistics saying 78.3% of Iraqis will turn out to vote because of security concerns. For every action, there is a reaction, and the large majority of the Iraqi population is fighting back with the vote. I seriously applaud the decision…
John Burgess over at Crossroads Arabia left a great comment on my recent post Invading Iran not the right idea — for now. It regards a mention in Singer’s article about the lack of U.S. pressure on Saudi Arabia to commit to open elections. Contra the article, the US has been preaching democracy in Saudi Arabia. And even more startling, the Saudis have been listening. Saudi Arabia is conducting the first stage of its first-ever, country-wide elections this month. The elections are for half of the seats on municipal councils. This month, the elections will take place in the central…
Just another before I go to sleep. Blogging is so addictive. I’m leaving this one up to The Argus. He’s got the lowdown on the shutdown of democracy in Kazakhstan. Fantastic commentary on the sad state of support and the disorganization of the opposition.
I’ve only posted twice today; for good reason. My sleep is completely lacking. I’m going to get to bed early tonight, and I have some essays to write. Consider this a half-night off. In the meantime, anyone who is visiting the site currently, please let me know in the comments section of this post any particular issue you would like me to write about.
It all started with Georgia, followed soon after by the larger Orange Revolution in Ukraine. Since then, a domino effect has literally begun toppling the entire region toward the west, as the people of these countries have realized that Russia is no longer in power over them. The real fight is now between them and their own governments; a much easier battle. I’ve talked a bit about recent events in Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, but it seems Armenia is joining the list of unsettled citizens. There are several reasons for Armenia’s distaste for Russia now. It was criticized heavily by Armenia…
Blog-Iran over at Activist Chat posted some commentary regarding an article by Saul Singer: Singer had this to say about Bush’s policy toward Iran: “Branding Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as the “axis of evil” was the right thing to do. But saying that and then not having a policy, much less implementing it, toward Iran is worse than not having said it in the first place. Since then it seems that Bush has learned not to set such bold markers. That’s the wrong lesson; we need more markers and more follow-up.” I agree with the first part of Singer’s…
-Scott Clark at Foreign Notes has some commentary about Kuchma in reference to a Financial Times article calling Kuchma a statesman. -Discoshaman has his daily Ukraine roundup (and sometimes juicy gossip!) available at Le Sabot Post-Moderne. -Dan McMinn of Orange Ukraine has a long post about how Yushchenko needs a sidekick. -Central Election Commission declares Yushchenko the victor of the presidential election. In other news, Yanukovich plans an appeal to the European Court. This after the Ukraine Supreme Court refused to see his last four complains. Maybe that’s because they were unsubstantiated. -The U.S. is praising Ukraine for having commited…
The list from the Heritage Foundation is here, and the story can be found here. The United States has dropped for the first time from the top 10 nations in an annual “index of economic freedom” issued jointly by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal. I know I am talking about this rather late, but as I was pondering it a bit more, I figured if I had something to say, I better say it while it is at least semi-timely. I think the way this news was shaped is very sad. The story should not be “how…
The protests in Kyrgyzstan have actually entered day three now, with more opposition groups joining in. The Argus has the news and some commentary. According to the most recent government response: There are no conditions for ???????velvet revolutions???????? to take place in Kyrgyzstan during the parliamentary and presidential elections, due to be held here in 2005, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Askar Aitmatov said here on Monday. … He urged the opposition not to use various forms of exerting pressure on the authorities, and to refrain from appeals to civil disobedience actions. This is like code for saying “we will stay in…
As seen in the World Tribune. The proposal was made to delay the elections about a month and would not be rescheduled after that. In order for this to go into effect, all sides would need to agree upon it. This may be a good idea, but it really shows a vote of no confidence by the government in its own abilities to conduct its operations. They are apparently very worried about insurgency attacks: Officials said Alawi and other senior ministers have assessed that the rise in insurgency attacks in Baghdad and the Sunni Triangle would dissuade most Sunni voters…
Parliamentary elections for Afghanistan have been given the go ahead for early spring. Violence was low-key during the presidential election due to stepped up security. Afghanistan may not have that benefit this time. This time around, we’re going to see an increased degree of violence from radical Islamist groups such as the old Taliban supporters, but also we’re going to see a lot of groups vying for power in the legislature. Whereas the position of presidency is only held by one person, a person generally very popular and well-known in the country, parliament seats can be acquired through all matter…
It looks like Taiwan’s trade to China took up 36% of its exports. As the article suggests, this is a 28% increase in trade volume from 2003, making China as Taiwan’s biggest market. It will be hard for Taiwan to achieve its national identity apart of China if it becomes too dependant. China is willing to use military force, by all means necessary, to keep Taiwan as part of the greater nation. Given the governmen’t high regards for human rights, I wouldn’t be surprised if they just cut off all trade with Taiwan if they tried to secede. It would…
Maidan broke this story today with a quote by Yuschenko’s press office: “Withdrawing Ukraine’s peacekeeping contingent from Iraq remains one of Yushchenko’s priorities once he takes the office,” a statement released by his press office January 10 says. For Ukraine, I hope this doesn’t hurt diplomatic relations with the U.S. I think after all their country has been through in these past couple of months that withdrawing from Iraq and concentrating on their internal affairs are much more important. While they might no longer be able to contribute to the success of democracy in Iraq, at the very least, they…