Blogging the democratic revolution
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…
Norman Geras has found a report from Women for Women International that is an extensive public opinion poll of 1,000 women in Iraq. Now, the fact that there is now a country in the Middle East where a poll performed on women can be performed is incredible enough, but hear these responses… > 94% of women surveyed want to secure legal rights for women. > 84% of women want the right to vote on the final constitution. > Nearly 80% of women believe that their participation in local and national councils should not be limited. Due to the Interim Constitution…
Here’s the CNN article I don’t think any candidate could solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without intense struggle. So on that note, Mahmoud Abbas is probably the best choice they have at the moment. If we remember correctly, Abbas once served as Prime Minister under Arafat, but quit because Arafat would not hand over the reins of power to him. That seems to give the hint to me that he’s a man willing to cause some change. Now that he’s at the head, let’s see what he can do. He won by a pretty clear margin. Exit polls indicate by about…
Word out of there is that the main opposition leader just got wrongfully denied ballot candidacy. Zamira Sydykova, editor in chief of the Kyrgyz opposition daily “Res Publica,” had this to say about the move by the administration: “I don????????t understand this hysteria,” said Sydykova of “Res Publica.” “I don????????t understand why Äthe authoritiesÅ decided to throw out Otunbaeva from a competition with Bermet, because Bermet already has a huge administrative resource. As they say, ????????the eyes of fear see danger everywhere.???????? I think, through this case, the authorities gave themselves away completely.” This mud is more visible on their…
-Discoshaman has your January 9th update here, complete with pictures. And to think we have to wait 24 hours for each update! -Terry Rogers has a roundup of articles about the reaction in Russia to Yanukovich’s defeat. -And before I forget, don’t you forget to buy your Orange Revolution gear.
The Orange Revolution caused quite a stir among the international crowd these past few months. Supporters and election observers from all of the world flew in to participate and watch. I know I was watching. Most importantly, however, as these revolutions are carried out, lessons are being learned by those who have not yet been able to have one of their own. Students from the Belarus civil resistance group ZUBR have been watching and learning in Kiev. Now, ZUBR has been one of the weaker movements when compared to OTPOR, which ousted Slobodan Milosevic, Georgian KMARA of the Rose Revolution,…
For anyone interested in Yulia Tymoshenko, top choice for Prime Minister in Ukraine, here is her official website photo gallery. Now there’s a government official that doubles as eye candy.
The aim of Publius Pundit is to be a network for the bloggers of the revolution for the benefit of the public knowledge and discourse. Bloggers will therefore be given the ability to post links back to their own blogs when their content is relevant for posting here. There are some rules to follow, however, when posting: 1. The posting must be related to democratic movements, the spread or oppression of liberty, authoritarian governments, and the like. You should know what is and what isn’t acceptable just by quickly browsing over this blog. 2. The posting must be quick and…
For those of you who don’t know the inscrutable Discoshaman, he is the owner of the blog Le Sabot Post-Moderne. For the past two months, he has become a daily read for me without hesitation. This is a man who is in Kiev and truly blogging the revolution. He is joined by his lovely wife TulipGirl and Orange Ukraine with stirring up all kinds of revolutionary trouble in Ukraine. On January 7, the Supreme Court of Ukraine threw out the last of Yanukovich’s claims to election fraud against Yuschenko. Isn’t that ironic? Now, according to Maidan, the Central Election Commission…
After the long overdue death of Yasser Arafat, the Palestinians are finally going to the polls. Mahmoud Abbas, a close adviser to Arafat, seems to be the frontrunner. As the news article suggests, he is promising to end the violence; however, he wants to do it through a cease fire without denouncing military groups like Hamas. This is the most troubling part about electing a leader so closely related to a regime that only had talk up its sleeve. You get more of the same: just talk. It seems likely that he will be elected, but for whoever eventually is,…