Blogging the democratic revolution
Michael Ledeen of NRO has a strong piece on the movement toward democracy and revolution throughout the globe. The tidal wave has even reached into the planet’s darkest corners, most recently shaking the foundations of the North Korean hermit kingdom. A new leader is announced at the same time the monsters in Pyongyang whisper “We’ve got nukes” and demand legitimacy from George W. Bush. Given the opacity of the country, and the irrationality of its leaders, nobody seems to know whether the Dear Leader is still alive, or, if he is, why the transition has been proclaimed. But the North…
Zed has posted a large roundup of the news coming out of and surrounding Burma. Check it out!
The front page news isn’t bringing it to you, but Transition Trends is: The recall of US, UK, French and Indian ambassadors from Kathmandu yesterday was a very welcome sign of co-ordinated international action to protest the royal coup there on 1 February. It’s especially welcome from the US, which seemed less than engaged on the issue recently. Recalling an ambassador “for consultations” is not the same as serious pressure like a threat to military assistance and other aid would be, but it’s a start. By the way, I’ve heard through the grapevine that the US has told the king…
Ali has posted an incredible piece on the Iraq elections, doing the math for all of the parties and such but makes a very notable observation: One of my neighbors received his family’s ballot with his father’s name included even though he died a year ago. Under reporting of deaths was not that uncommon but it became more common after the last war as a result of the total collapse of the system for months. Another neighbor had his two sons’ names registered although they both left Iraq since 1995. This means that many Iraqis outside Iraq, regardless whether they…
John Burgess posts an unsigned editorial in Arab news condemning Syria for the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. It may take weeks, if not years, before we know who killed Rafik Hariri. Whoever was behind the dastardly deed clearly wanted to achieve two objectives. The first was to deprive the emerging Lebanese opposition front from a credible leader capable of cutting across sectarian divides in the name of national unity. The second was to create the impression that without Syrian troops on its soil, Lebanon would be plunged into chaos and civil war. It is important that the Lebanese…
Discoshaman has got it all summed up for you today, so check it out. UPDATE: Dan McMinn notes that the honeymoon period is over. And Aussiegirl posts the entire transcript of a speech by Ambassador John Tefft, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, on the challenges ahead for the United States and Ukraine.
If there ever was a dedicated fanboy of older women, it is me. Well, maybe not, but Orange Revolution posted a good picture I seemed to have missed from Yulia’s photo gallery. Karate chop!
Abdymok has a map of the governor appointment in Ukraine.
Winds of Change has pictures of the new Afghanistan military academy. Blog de Connard is uploading pictures during his trip to Argentina. Abdymok has a few pictures of Hillary Clinton and John McCain during their visit to Ukraine. Lyndon Allin from Scraps of Moscow has loads of pictures, you just have to keep scrolling. And Neeka links to some gallieries of note by the BBC and World Press Photo. And here are a couple of pictures from where I lived in Chile, during one of the few winter’s they have actually gotten snow in Santiago.
Andy notes that the only opposition party in Russia today is the communists. Actually, the KPRF has been the main opposition party in Russia for most (if not all) of the last decade. I haven’t followed it’s fortunes all that closely for a few years but, several years back, it seemed to have comfortably reconciled itself to working within the new, more democratic, system. In the late 1990s the KPRF dominated the Duma and, instead the legislative process grinding to a halt before a brick wall of communist obstruction, the Duma during that period was one of the most effective…
Today’s — er, yesterday’s update is online. You may have noticed my nap ran a little long, so I’m not really sure what day it is yet.
That’s what Daniel Drezner is asking, and as easy as it is for us to discuss theory on these issues, it is much harder to put into practice. Personally, just looking at a map of the region, I take hope in that it is surrounded on three sides by now-free countries. When the time comes, I think Poland and Ukraine will play a big role in supporting “regime change” just as Poland aided its friends in Ukraine this time around. In any case, he wants your own ideas on how it should be done. Leave some comments there if you…
Look at this map, it shows which parties won which regions in Iraq. President Bush won’t be pleased that it’s half blue!
I will be doing my daily updates a bit later tonight. I had quite a few exams today, a research paper to write, and my interview with Harvard (that went extremely well). I’ll take a nap, and in a couple of hours, get on it. In the meantime, you can donate to my, er, college fund.
Zed from INBB is developing a new blog called World Democracy News that will feature a weekly column. Show some support!
Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri has been assassinated by a suicide bomber. A Shia terrorist group calling itself “Victory and Jihad” has taken credit, and the Lebanese opposition is blaming Syria, of whom Hariri was a critic. I was just watching a news report on Al-Jazeera covering this, and it is looking like Lebanon, once known as the “Switzerland of the Middle East,” may soon become the Ukraine of the Middle East. The crowds gathering in the streets and the political opposition’s press conference certainly reminded me of recent events in that country. Syria has long maintained control over…
Daniel Drezner posts a large roundup, along with some of his own comments, from mainstream media writers about the future effects of the Iraq election. UPDATE: More from Pejman.
You may remember me directing you toward a post about how an Iraqi democrat’s family was killed for his views and actions. Neo Conneli has the rest of the story on this guy’s background, and the lack of coverage in the western media.
Regime Change Iran posts a disturbing article in which an Iranian hardliner makes a choice declaration: ???????We don????????t need any guardian. And if necessary we will select our own president, ministers and parliament members. For without the Hezbollah forces the Islamic Revolution will collapse from within.??????? the hardliner added. On Iran????????s nuclear issue, Kharrazi noted: ???????We have oil, gas and all other natural resources and thus we don????????t need interaction with other countries. We are able to produce atomic bombs and we will do that. We shouldn????????t be afraid of anyone. The US is no more than a barking dog???????…
Chrenkoff’s Good News from Iraq installment number 21 is up! Like always, I hope you have a few hours of extra time to read it.
Matt has some recently released poll results that show slightly more Israelis would prefer kicking the Palestinians out over evacuating from the occupied territories. It was 38% for the former and 37% for the latter. Either way, including doing nothing, is simply masochistic. Some ways less than others, which is why it is better to pull out than to shove out.
Big Pharoah has a “joke of the day” for all of us. Of course, it isn’t really that funny: I have a lovely habit. Every morning I pick up my Al Ahram paper, the number one paper in Egypt, to see how they prioritize their headlines on the front page. This tends to give me an indication of what the paper wants to convey as “important” and as “not very important”. The major headline today went to the security conference in Germany! (did anyone hear about it??). Then a headline a little bit underneath announcing the score of a major…
Andy notes that rallies are taking place all over Russia, from both sides of the Putin/Pensions issue. Young members of the Young Yabloko party wearing orange scarves and bandannas also attended the rally. “The orange I’m wearing does not mean that I support the current Ukrainian leadership, but it is a symbol of freedom and democracy for me,” said Alexei Leontyev, 22. “People achieved what they wanted in Ukraine, and I want the same for Russia.” I guess that means the protesters aren’t all communists.
Terry Rogers posts an interview with Yury Yekhanurov, chairman of the parliamentary committee on industry and entrepreneurship, about developing small and medium sized businesses. ???????Will small business develop in the current police state system? My neighbors, who work at a market, have to pay kickbacks to the police and the tax people, on top of the rent. This way you can go bankrupt in no time at all.??????? ???????This is commonplace in a state that is corrupt to the bone. Even during the elections we estimated that 5.8% of the popular vote would be stolen owing to the administrative resource.…
Nathan has got his Valentine’s Day Edition (well, maybe not) of Election and Democracy Watch up. Check it out.