Blogging the democratic revolution
President Bush is stepping up the verbal pressure on Iran. And remember, verbal pressure from the U.S. can be deadly when ignored. “The Iranians just need to know that the free world is working together to send a very clear message: Don’t develop a nuclear weapon,” Bush said. “And the reason we’re sending that message…
They are recounting 300 ballot boxes from outlying regions to confirm the count. Doesn’t sound so bad to me, but it is somewat demoralizing to those who want to keep the energy high and know the outcome for sure. Iraqi election officials admitted on Wednesday that the result of the country’s elections 11 days ago…
Michael Rowan writes a special opinion piece for El Universal comparing the elections in Iraq to those of Venezuela. One of them doesn’t measure up to standards, and you may not be surprised as to which one it is. In Venezuela, RR voter turnout was very high – but augmented by two million new voters…
Check this out! Not only is the redesign cool, but now there are many new features. You can create an account at Maidan which will allow you to post comments. But that’s not all… it also allows you to create a blog. While that may not be useful to those of us who already have…
Aussiegirl is reflecting on Putin post-9/11 and how he has fallen back into his old KGB ways. On November 15, 2001, President Putin visited the United States and was feted at the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas. He was riding high in the saddle at the time. It looked like Russia was entering the free…
Nathan Hamm has posted his daily article on polical happenings in Russia’s “near abroad.” Democracy is on crack down.
Andy has posted, much to my adoration, his Russia news roundup for the week. Check it out!
The Transitions Trends blogger is somewhat pessimistic to say the least. I have to agree, but mostly because I like to see things done quicker than they are currently being carried out. Praktike has a few good notes and links worth having a look at. My favorite is this tidbit from an interview with Saudi…
Discoshaman is back with another Ukraine update for today. New government policies, evil party disintegration, and the possiblity of a PORA political party. Interesting indeed!
The LA Times is running a story by a female Iranian journalist under a pseudonym. She details the process by which she was taken by the state, interrogated, and imprisoned. It is filled with enraging details and ends with sick irony. TEHRAN ???????? “Excuse me, Miss, but here in my hand I have a warrant…
Dan McMinn from Orange Ukraine weighs in with his thoughts on the cabinet appointments, especially the none-Our Ukraine ones.
John Burgess blogs on the recent cabinet appointments made by King Fahd. He also gives his impression of them and what reforms they have (or haven’t in some cases) made for their country.
And it looks like the people at Beautiful Horizons also do a Latin America roundup!
I noticed a trackback on one of my posts by Winds of Change and followed the link. Apparently, Nathan from The Argus does a monthly roundup of all the news from the Caucasus over there. Make sure to check that out. As I have noted before, love stuff like this.
I recently watched a news broadcast on Al-Jazeera of the Sudanese parliament’s unanimous ratification of the peace agreement between the government and the Sudan’s Peoples’ Liberation Army (SPLA), headed by John Garang. This is certainly good news. Millions have died in this on-again, off-again conflict over the past four decades, and perhaps it really is…
As you have all probably heard by now, Sharon and Abbas have agreed to a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians. SHARM EL SHEIK, Egypt (AP) _ Grinning broadly, the two men clasped hands as they strained to reach across water bottles, their national flags and a bouquet of yellow and white flowers atop a…
Sergei Blagov writes on the possibly of colder relations with Russia after Zhvania’s death. Russian analysts and media outlets believe the death of Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania could have significant repercussions for bilateral relations between Russia and Georgia, as well as for stability within Georgia itself. Official statements out of the Kremlin since Zhvania????????s…
Maidan is reporting staunch French opposition to the inclusion of Ukraine to the EU, despite approval by others. Poland, Germany, and France, with Lithuanian participation, are conducting intensive discussions, having received something more than cooperation within the framework of neighbourhood policy from the European Union. As reported by ProEuropa, based upon the Polish Gazeta.Pl., “the…
Nathan reports that the media has received its orders from the goverment to show the shining light on them and give as little coverage to the opposition as possible. Who would have guessed?
In a marathon-length press conference on February 3, Kremlin political consultant Gleb Pavlovsky laid certain Russian markers in Eurasia ahead of the George W. Bush-Vladimir Putin summit and, by the same token, seized the moment to announce a major redefinition of Russia’s policy in the “post-Soviet space.” Russia has revealed details on its new three-point…
Remember when we were mocking the French (well, it’s not like we ever stopped…) and we renamed french fries to “freedom fries” and french kissing to “freedom kissing?” I was just reading and found out that during World War One, sauerkraut was renamed to “liberty cabbage” and hamburger was renamed to “liberty steak.” It looks…
A few days ago the now late President Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo died. Most disturbingly, his son was given immediate successorship to his father, despite violating their constitution. The UN told them not to do that, so what happened in response? They hastily changed the constitution. Opposition leaders and The African Union are calling this…
I just noticed that the ZUBR website has available for download Gene Sharp’s “From Dictatorship to Democracy.” How cool! I love free stuff.
Nathan is posting daily entries in the elections in Central Asia. Check out his update for today as well as yesterday.