Blogging the democratic revolution
In January, Russia’s state-controlled natural gas company Gazprom shut off the pipelines to Ukraine, causing shortages all throughout Europe. It could have been because Ukraine didn’t want to pay higher rates for its gas, but more likely it was political pressure aimed at dislodging the new pro-Western government of Viktor Yushchenko. And it worked. Now it looks like Russia’s favored candidate, Viktor Yanukovich, may be taking the reins of power soon. But if you thought that was bad, it’s not the half of it. Russia maintains “peacekeeper” troops in places where they aren’t want. One such place is the Transdnistria…
Media reports covering the reactions of certain Congressmen earlier in the year portrayed a rather negative outlook for the US-India nuclear deal, signaling another battle between the White House and Congress for approval. But apparently giving equal time to both sides doesn’t equally represent the full scale of the situation, as the deal passed the House 359-68. I could hear the cheers in India all the way from here. For those who voted against it, I have just a few words. You are retarded. Perhaps the implications of this bill have not been fully realized by some, but without it,…
Before the Islamic Courts overran Mogadishu, it was revealed that the CIA was supporting various warlord militias with hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to prevent them from taking over Somalia. The plan failed, however, and the group it advancing on the rest of the country. Life may not be good under the warlords, but the promise of a Taliban-like regime on the horizon doesn’t give much hope to the people of Somalia. However, the United States has a backup plan in Ethiopia, which has now sent troops into Somalia in order to stop the Islamic Courts. The U.S.…
Something that went unnoticed due to the international attention focused on Lebanon was the sentencing of Belarussian opposition candidate Alexander Kozulin to 5 1/2 years in prison on July 13. His crime? Leading protest marches following the obviously fraudulent presidential election last March. You’d think he murdered someone or something. What is interesting, however, is that the candidate of the united democratic forces, Alexander Milinkevich, was never arrested, jailed, or even had any of his rallies broken up at the time. What gives? The Eurasia Daily Monitor gives us a clue: Kazulin has long had close links to state structures,…
I’m thinking, not much. For decades we have sent nearly $3 trillion dollars in aid around the world that was supposed to be used for development but instead has been funneled into the personal checking accounts of dictators. The GDP per capita of the continent has actually fallen in this time, and the countries that we rank as being the most likely to succeed are actually experiencing negative growth. Every feel-good strategy that has been employed up to this point has failed miserable, causing more pain and suffering than there was before. Nice job, Bono. Now, the one chance at…
For many decades Israel has been the fundamental “enemy” of the Muslim Arab world, viewed as an abberation imposed on them by Western imperialist forces. Nowadays things are a bit different. Pan-Arabism is dead only to be revived on special occassions, like Friday or when Mubarak’s poll numbers are dropping. No one fights really hard for the Palestinian cause or even sticks to the anti-Israel line anymore. The issue is warming down and Arab dictatorships just don’t care like they used to. Perhaps something is in the air. Whatever it is, it smells like a wet mullah’s beard on a…
I’ve been really busy settling down here in Switzerland for the next couple weeks before moving on to Ukraine and Belarus. Posting should be normal again on Monday like usual. Enjoy your weekend everyone!
Just before I got on the plane to Switzerland, I was interviewed the other day on BBC’s Pods and Blogs with Chris Vallance. We talked a bit about Publius, and then about the war between Israel and Hezbollah along the theme of my post, “Restoring the Cedar Revolution.” Take a listen, I’ve uploaded the mp3 here. You’ll have to excuse the lack of grace on my part. This is why I stick to writing. . .
A major characteristic of authoritarian regime????????s whose domestic policies have created instability is the seeking of legitimacy through its foreign policy. In the case of Syria, it has raged against Jews as the enemy, the evil, that is the true source of the people????????s suffering. It has supported terrorist groups like Hezbollah for years, seeking the destruction of Israel ???????? impossible as that may seem ???????? because it believes that such a policy and its ???????benefits??????? can continue indefinitely. This is of course impossinble, but for a long time many people really buy it. The regime has been able to…
I think it would be pretty tough to stick to an editorial line here at Publius given the wide array of opinions on the subject among the contributors. Even when we agree, there are points of disagreement on specifics. So what I’ve tried to do is get a response from several of the contributors so that we can have a more wide-ranging debate on both the overall of what’s happening as well as the little details. As of now there are four posts — just scrol down — and there should be more to come as the situation develops.
This is one of my all-time favorite magazine covers. A hot babe hoisted up in the middle of Lebanon’s Cedar Revolution, flashing only peace signs (and unfortunately little else). The girl at the top of this blog’s banner does the same. Democracy stirs in the Middle East, along with something else. Now that’s inspiration. The revolution expelled Syria for the most part from Lebanon, allowing it to hold free and fair elections in which an anti-Syria coalition was formed. However, given the regime’s longterm entrenchment, it’s elements are still very much active and large parts of the country are still…
Winds of Change (via Instapundit), like many others, has noticed the ideological division in many countries that has resulted in complete impasse — the latest being Mexico. It’s “deja vu all over again”. Apparently the ideological tie that afflicted the US Presidential Election six years ago, and the deadlock that Thomas Mann has been writing about for a number of years, isn’t just an American thing. . . . At precisely the time in history when we need to be decisive, we’re afflicted with paralysis. We’ve got two approximately equal sides, equally convinced that they’re right, and in diametric opposition…
Two weeks of all out assault on the Hamas government has led to the group on its knees pleading for peace. Interior Ministry offices were blown to bits, members of parliament were arrested, entire parts of Gaza were temporarily reoccupied, and and Prime Minister Haniya was hiding for his life. A declaration of ceasefire should be no surprise. Hamas has been rendered completely incapable of governing, brought to the realization that it cannot exist unless Israel recognizes it, and not the other way around. It should also not come as a surprise that Israel has declined such a generous offer.…
I will be traveling soon. Do we have any readers in Switzerland, The Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Belarus who would like to meet up? -Robert Mayer
We can now say the the Orange Revolution is officially over. The once-orange Socialist Party has changed sides and teamed up with pro-Russia Viktor Yanukovich’s Party of Regions, along with the Communists, and forged out a new coalition agreement nominating him for the position of prime minister. And they have the votes to get it through. A year and a half later, politically Ukraine is in the same place it was before. Ukraine’s Western-leaning Orange coalition fell apart in acrimony Friday less than a month after its formation, boosting the fortunes of the pro-Russian opposition in this former Soviet republic.…
Honduras has a GDP per capita of $2800; yet, it is a country of riches. The land is endowed with a natural beauty unsurpassed anywhere else in the western hemisphere. Flying in a 14-seater to Roatan, less than an hour out from San Pedro Sula, I saw dozens of small islands wrapped in thriving forests. Crystal clear water became colored as the coral crept up toward the shore, and even from so many feet in the air, the sand on the beach looked whiter than snow. The sight isn????????t unique to the islands though. The mainland is lush with tropical…
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the Mexico’s leftist presidential candidate, wants a vote-by-vote recount and has vowed to call street protests to back up his claim to victory if the numbers don’t turn out in his favor. A colored revoluci????n. MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s left-wing presidential candidate wants every single vote recounted and is threatening to call street protests as he fights an election result giving a razor-thin victory to his conservative rival. Senior aides to Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a combative former mayor of Mexico City, said on Tuesday they want a recount of Sunday’s tight election to include…
Today is a holiday here at Publius. Like everyone else, we’re taking the day off, drinking some beer, and launching some fireworks. If we’re unlucky, that beer will cross our vision and those fireworks might hit something. If anyone is reading this right now, I advise you to do the same. Come back tomorrow. There are a ton of posts that will be ready to read. until then, happy 4th!
On Wednesday, Hamas and Fatah signed on to what is called the prisoner’s document, which included an “implicit” recognition of Israel’s right to exist. Yet no more than two days earlier did militants linked to the former kidnap a soldier serving in the Israeli Defense Forces, Corporal Gilad Shalit. The result? All out war on the Hamas government. In the past few days alone, Israel has launched a major incursion into the Gaza Strip, performing airstrikes and raids on militant targets. Several dozens Hamas MPs have been arrested and will stand trial. Missiles were fired at the Interior Ministry. Furthermore,…
SAN PEDRO SULA, HONDURAS — The shuttle arrived at 5 o????????clock in the morning. Waiting for half an hour outside in Boston????????s extended winter only made me ready to get on the plane faster. Destination: Honduras. The heavy jacket would have to be lost somewhere between Atlanta and the rain forest. There were nine of us in the group, almost all of us from different regions of the world. I was one of three Americans. A Chilean, a Thai, an Englishman, a Lebanese, a Bolivian, and a guy from Dubai were the others. A veritable bonanza of cosmopolitanism. Only a…
Shamil Basayev, the radical field commander who ordered the hostage-taking of Beslan schoolchildren, has been appointed vice president of the Chechen seperatist government by the new president. Which means, should President Dolu Umarov be killed, he will become the new leader of the separatist movement. In so few words, that is not good. PRAGUE, June 28, 2006 (RFE/RL) — The man who claimed responsibility for the 2004 Beslan school siege, rebel field commander Shamil Basayev, has been appointed vice president of the breakaway republic’s separatist government, putting Russia’s most-wanted man next in line to become separatist president. Basayev’s appointment, first…
It feels good to be right sometimes. Really good. When Mauritania’s military staged a bloodless coup against the president last year, I thought it might be wrong — especially given the focus of this blog — to support such a move. Every government in the world was condemning it; the United States more than anyone, with the official statement being, “We oppose any attempts by rogue elements to change governments through extra-constitutional or violent means.” But when preaching democracy, this statement struck me as highly hypocritical. President Taya himself had come to power in an unconstitutional coup over two decades…
Nogales is a city on the border, split right down the center, with a wall running down the middle of it. The line separates more than the city itself, though. The two sides are worlds apart. In American Nogales, tourists cruise across the border within minutes into a mile-wide arena of discount pharmacies and craft shops. There’s a McDonald’s right there; it’s tall, golden arch visible to the south, a constant reminder of American prosperity. Coming from the other direction, swarms of beat up cars scramble for the chance to cross into the land of opportunity, where they can transport…
Not long following the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Russian government has killed its own most wanted terrorist, Chechen rebel leader Adbul-Khalim Sadulayev. PRAGUE, June 17, 2006 (RFE/RL) — Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov announced on June 17 the death during a special operation in the town of Argun, east of Grozny, of Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev, who succeeded Aslan Maskhadov as Chechen president and resistance commander following Maskhadov’s killing in March 2005. Akhmad Zakayev, whom Sadulayev named foreign minister of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria (ChRI) on May 27, confirmed Sadulayev’s death in a telephone interview with RFE/RL’s North Caucasus Service…
On Sunday, Catalonian voters approved a referendum for greater autonomy from Madrid by about 75% of the population with nearly 50% turnout. Below is a summary of what’s at stake: Residents of Catalonia will today vote in a referendum that could see the region granted more autonomy and move further away from Spain’s government. If a yes vote is delivered as expected then the region will become one of the most independent in Europe, effectively achieving nation-within-a-nation status with powers to decide how taxes are spent and how visas are granted to immigrants. Although the majority of Catalans are believed…