Blogging the democratic revolution
Picked up an interview between Jamie Glazov and Natan Sharansky, co-author of “The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror” via A Step At A Time If I remember correctly, this was the most recent book on President Bush’s reading list. This book is getting quite a bit of good…
Discoshaman has posted his Ukraine news roundup for January 16th. – Katerinchuk, from Yushchenko’s HQ, spoke today about the unprofessioanl nature of Yanukovych’s Supreme Court complaint. Remember, that this is coming from a partisan source. Here’s what he had to say: 1. The majority of the complaints are identical, regardless of their ostensible city of…
It is the fourth anniversary of the ZUBR Belarus opposition movement on the 14th. Complete with pictures. On, and on the 10th, the Georgian Parliament voted in support of Mikhail Marynich, an opposition leader who has been sentenced to five years of imprisonment. I love it when democratic movements support each other, even if it’s…
Just yesterday, there were only 18 tents erected. That has grown to 50 tents and 8000 people. Of course, that’s nothing. This comes on the heels of the Supreme Court agreeing to investigate to Yanukovich’s complaints today. In response, Maidan is collecting evidence of falsification of complaint allegations by Yanukovich.
It seems there is some rumblings over secrecy in Georgian privatization. And for good reason, because when this happens in third world countries, there tends to be large-scale embezzlement. Well, it happens at the UN too, but that’s another story… Some independent analysts disagree. The lack of public information–and public knowledge–about the sales underway can…
So is named a huge, seven page article at Transitions Online. Read the whole thing. I went in rather skeptical, but all of my points of contention were addressed. In fact, I think it covers just about everything. One thing I don’t agree with was the need for at least a little bit of pluralism…
As seen here. “I don????????t have any doubt that parliament will support my candidacy if Yushchenko will propose it to the parliament,” Tymoshenko said. And due to a written agreement with Yushchenko, she’ll have no problem getting the nomination either. Nice to hear. But there was something I found somewhat misleading about the article: Some…
Pejmanesque is where I saw it first. The article is here. This report is heavily contradicting initial stories of “the most transparent ÄelectionÅ in modern Arab history.” Now that I think about that statement, it probably was more transparent than previous elections. But that doesn’t erase the mass fraud. “This proves that what happened is…
John Burgess at Crossroads Arabia has a suggestion for an article that is simply must read. I’m inclined to agree.
Israel earlier decided to cut off all ties with Abbas due to recent militant strikes in Gaza. Being sworn in today, Abbas will have a lot to handle. Many people are calling what Israel is doing a blockade to the roadmap for peace. I don’t think so. I think this is a test for Abbas…
Here’s the story. Looks like, instead of the opposition trying to create instability, it would be the government trying to disenfranchise the resistence by making accusations before any honest investigations are made. It very well could have been opposition forces, but then again, what is a political office to the government when they are seeking…
And now a week later, it seems that the protesting has not let up. A little surprising; I thought it would have been dispersed much harsher. The government doesn’t really need to react though. They’ll possibly grant Roza Otunbaeva her ability to run… but that won’t change that most of the major media in the…
A very rare occassion, The Argus notes, that President Karimov of Uzbekistan will give an interview. Apparently, however, the leader holds a firm grasp of the potential for democracy and what it will do to his government if the people are unsatisfied. This is a good thing for the people of a nation to realize,…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
-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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…