Blogging the democratic revolution
It seems that regime thugs in Tunisia are giving French journalists the kind of treatment American journalists have come to expect from the Sudanese. This is from Al-Sharq al-Awsat, Information Summit: Crisis Between Tunisia & France Because of Assaults on Journalists: On the evening of the “World Summit on the Information Society” which Tunisia is…
So, as you read earlier, I’ll be in New York City all day today for the Pajamas Media shindig at the Rainbow Room. Publius will therefore look more like a LiveJournal today, with me liveblogging and adding to this post all day long. As I write this, it’s 6:30 in the morning. I arrived about…
I’ll be going to the Pajamas Media launch tomorrow in New York City. But first I have to get there. And since I’m too cheap to get a hotel, I’m leaving on the 2 a.m. bus! We might be taking a bit of a detour tomorrow then, with some liveblogging of the conference, pictures, all…
I’ve never been one to put it past Assad to have much class, but this is a bit much. The Syrian government has called unequivocally, through its state-run media, for people to take to the streets of Beirut in order to topple Lebanon’s first independently elected government. Anyone else thinks the heat is starting to…
Miguel Buitrago at the first-rate MABB blog has the whole dynamic explained. The short story is this: Based on current polls, far-left leader Evo Morales is in nearly a tie with his nearest rival. Due to how legislative seats are distributed in the Senate, Morales may not get the majority of votes he needs in…
After nearly three weeks of silence when France was in a desperate time of need for leadership, President Chirac finally made a speech on television outlining his plan for solving the root problems that caused the violent suburban riots. He spoke bluntly of France’s problem with racism, a change of political discourse quite refreshing, but…
Alvaro Vargas Llosa, one of the gold standards of Latin American journalism, has a great new Spanish-language blog with The Independent Institute, a libertarian think tank in Oakland. It’s full of excellent items, and has contributions from first-rate journalists and thinkers from all over the hemisphere. It’s so nicely done – and already I can…
I have just posted my Middle East Week in Review news bulletin for the past week. This week’s bullet-points include links on Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Yemen, Iran and Australia. I have a separate post, Abdullah’s Struggle With Islamic Terrorism, which is a follow-up to last week’s attacks in Amman. It focuses on…
The main Ugandan opposition leader has been arrested and charged with treason, sparking riots all over the country. VIOLENCE broke out in Kampala yesterday after Kizza Besigye, the opposition leader and presidential hopeful, was arrested and charged with treason. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty. Police fired teargas and rubber bullets at…
I just spat my drink out through my nose, or would have if I’d been drinking, when I came across this subtitle at Reason: Palestine, not Iraq, is the best shot at an Arab democracy. I suppose in part that’s because I was recently planning on using the same comparison to make the point that…
Relations have been strained between Mexico and Venezuela since the conclusion of the free trade summit of the Americas. The precise issue at stake: Free Trade. This Sunday, Chavez on his radio program launched a huge hurl of insults directed at President Vicente Fox, resulting in demands from Mexico for an apology within 24 hours:…
President Putin made some cabinet shuffles today. It’s looking interesting. MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin gave his defense minister the additional post of deputy prime minister Monday in a Cabinet shake-up he said was designed to bolster efforts to improve Russia’s military. At a cabinet meeting shown on television station NTV, Putin said the appointment…
Egyptian blogger Abdal Karim Soliman was released from jail after a massive effort pressing for his release. He had been arrested simply for what he wrote on his blog, which was a denunciation of attacks by Muslims on a Coptic nun. It sparked an outrage in the Egyptian blogosphere, prompting a worldwide campaign on his…
Have a good weekend everyone. Like always, blogging resumes on Monday!
Just a month to go before Bolivia’s elections and Eduardo Avila has a roundup of the week’s sentiment from Bolivia’s growing blog community. His excellent Global Voices roundup is here.
It’s final. A court in Colombia has ruled that President Alvaro Uribe can run for office again. A constitutional change is now in effect to allow a president to run for a second term. We’ve been waiting for this news for a long time and it’s reason to celebrate. Uribe is the most popular leader,…
After more than a half century of war and the threat of nuclear disaster, in which tens of thousands of civilians have been killed by military personnel and terrorist groups, peace between India and Pakistan may closer than ever. Ever since the threat of a new war in 2002 sparked international fears of nuclear annihilation…
While much of South America continues to wrassle over whether free trade is of any benefit to them, Asian giant India – once an inward-looking, narrowly nationalistic state – has now called for a free trade pact for South Asia – or, SAFTA. What a democratic revolution, given what India was in, say, 1970! With…
Last week, CUD opposition leaders called for people to take to the streets against Prime Minister Meles, who has become ever more authoritarian following fraudulent parliamentary elections. When they did, the police descended on the demonstrators and killed hundreds, injuring thousands more. They then rounded up the CUD opposition leaders and threw them all in…
A few days ago I predicted that the riots in France would become fodder for the French far-right — the Le Pen and National Front types oft considered xenophobic zealots. Because of the high amounts of violence coming from immigrants, and the weak response by the government, politics will move further to the right. Le…
Boz has an excellent roundup of all the week’s polls around Latin America as this critical coming election year beckons. It’s two weeks’ worth this time. Read it here.
In the post-Summit-of-the-Americas, wake, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez has lashed out at Mexican President Vicente Fox, publicly hurling a slew of insults at the unexpected star of the Argentina gathering. Fox was so brilliant and forceful in his advocacy of free trade for the Americas that he actually did manage to draw a few cameras…
As the French riots near the two-week point – 13 nights now – there is a debate both as to whether a moderate drop-off in violence Tuesday means it is winding down or just fluctuating, as well as the broader question of what the riots mean socially and religiously for France. The purpose of this…
Egypt held it’s parliamentary elections earlier today. Here’s a great overview of what it’s all about and what’s at stake. Here is another list of resources. They marked a huge improvement over the last parliamentary elections, with almost no instances of violence. It’s a step, but still a leap away from real elections. Here’s a…
There are a lot more blogs from Belarus now than there was when Publius was first started. Given that Belarus is biggest focuses for democracy promotion going, I think it would be good to get out the word on some of these blogs; which, by the way, make for very good and interesting reading. –…