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March 26, 2005
Shortage of Arabic Speakers Hampers U.S.' Public Diplomacy Effort
"America's acute shortage of Arabic speakers is in danger of crippling the nations efforts to counter terrorist threats, communicate with prisoners, and build bridges to the Muslim world," writes William Fisher in Arab News. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 25, 2005
Washington Post: 'U.N. Report Quotes Threat By Assad to Harm Hariri'
Washington Post staff writer Colum Lynch said in March 25, 2005 article that "Syrian President Bashar Assad threatened former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri with "physical harm" last summer if Hariri challenged Assad's dominance over Lebanese political life, contributing to a climate of violence that led to the Feb. 14 slayings of Hariri and 19 others, according to testimony in a report released Thursday [March 24, 2005] by a U.N. fact-finding team." Mr. Lynch also wrote: The report, which calls for an international investigation into Hariri's death, describes an August meeting in Damascus at which Assad ordered the Lebanese billionaire to support amending Lebanon's constitution, according to testimony from "various" sources who discussed the meeting with Hariri. The amendment, approved Sept. 3, allowed Emile Lahoud, the Syrian-backed Lebanese president, to remain in office for three more years.
The alleged threat against Mr. Hariri was reported on March 22, 2005 by The New York Times.. Here is the Washington Post report.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Security Council Extends U.N.'s Afghanistan Mandate
On March 24, 2005, the U.N. Security Council, "stressing the central and impartial role that the United Nations continues to play in promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan, extended the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission there for an additional 12 months," according to a Security Council press release.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Annan: All Parties Must Work to Safeguard Lebanon
During his March 23, 2005 address to Summit of the League of Arab States meeting in Algiers, United nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said this about Lebanon: In Lebanon, the vicious assassination of former Prime Minister [Rafik] Hariri was a severe blow. He was a Lebanese patriot, a formidable statesman and a vital presence in the international community. Within the next few days, I expect to release the report of the fact-finding I established in the wake of the killing and I believe a comprehensive investigation may well also be necessary. All parties must now work together to safeguard Lebanon's stability and national unity. I am encouraged by the commitment given by President [Bashar] Assad to me and my Special Envoy [Terje Roed-Larsen] that he will fully and completely implement Security Council resolution 1559. I expect the full withdrawal of all Syrian troops, including the intelligence apparatus and military assets, to take place before the Lebanese parliamentary elections. Those elections must be free and fair, and must take place as scheduled. The United Nations is willing to help if needed.
He said his "Special Envoy will be back in the region in the first week of April to continue his dialogue, and I stand ready to help the parties to implement the resolution in any way I can." Here's the entire address.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Report on Hariri Assassination Delayed
Majdoline Hatoum , a staff writer for The Daily Star of Lebanon, noted in a report in the paper's March 25, 2005 edition that, "UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has delayed the release of a UN report into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and failed to indicate when it would be made public.
"The decision by Annan came as Lebanese President Emile Lahoud said he "might" appeal to the international community to help "unveil the truth" about Hariri's murder against a backdrop of a series of bombings near Beirut in the last week which have left three people dead," Ms. Hatoum wrote. She said Mr. Annan "received the report into Hariri's death yesterday [March 24, 2005] from the UN fact-finding mission to Lebanon, led by Irish Deputy Police Commissioner Peter Fitzgerald.
Mr. Fitzgerald "was due to deliver the report to the UN Security Council last night, but decided to postpone the move at the last minute," The Daily Star noted, adding that, "a UN spokesperson in New York said: "The Secretary General just wanted a little bit more time to prepare the ground for this report." Here's more of the Hatoum Report.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
I'll Miss Richard Boucher
Richard Boucher, "the former ambassador to Cyprus and chief U.S. diplomat in Hong Kong," who was "spokesman or deputy spokesman under six secretaries of state," according to Reuters," has been replaced by Sean McCormack, 40, who "served as spokesman for then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and as deputy White House press secretary for foreign policy before Ms. Rice became secretary of state. He has also served in U.S. embassies in Algeria and Turkey," Reuters noted. I will miss receiving daily transcripts of daily State Department briefings with Mr. Boucher handling questions with the deftness of a professional athlete. .
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 24, 2005
U.S., France Reportedly Mapping Post-Syrian Plans
Los Angeles Times writers Tyler Marshall and Sonni Efron report that, "In crafting a policy on Lebanon, the Bush administration has adopted a more measured approach, departing from the rigid style that characterized its diplomacy during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq." It is based on "the new cooperation" between President George W. Bush and French President Jacques Chirac "and the almost daily contact that U.S. and French officials have maintained during the crisis contrasted with the bitter rift that emerged between the two countries over Iraq two years ago," they contend. Here's more of their analysis.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Diplomacy and Japan's Territorial Dispute With its Neighbors
"Japan is now in serious territorial disputes with all of its neighbors -- Taiwan, China, South Korea and Russia," argues Gregory Clark, vice president of Akita International University and a former Moscow-based Australian diplomat, in the March 24, 2005 issue of The Japan Times. "True, this could prove there is something wrong with all of Japan's neighbors," he noted, adding: "But it could also prove that there is something wrong in the way Japan handles territorial problems with its neighbors. There is no clearer example of this than the dispute with Russia. Read more of Mr. Clark's analysis in "Northern Territories dispute highlights flawed diplomacy."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The Economic Times: 'Diplomacy Pushes Trade to the Edge
G. Ganapathy Subramaniam of The Economic Times of India reports that "Trade diplomacy is becoming increasingly ticklish for India as powerful multinationals, backed by European and American governments, are rocking the boat over major deals, especially in the civil aviation and defence sectors." Here's more of his analysis.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
A New Face Won't Change U.S. Image in Middle East
Hearst Newspapers Columnist Helen Thomas contends that, "If the United States is trying to win the hearts and minds of the people in the turbulent Middle East, a new face won't cut it. It's not the person. It's the policy that needs changing," she opined in a March 22, 2005 column.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Scott Gray on 'The Quiet Diplomacy of Condoleezza Rice'
Scott Gray at OpinionEditorials.Com says "Condoleezza Rice was the essence of the race card early in the Bush administration; the African-American woman was a member of the most diverse cabinet in American history. After four years as National Security Advisor and proving herself one of the most eloquent members of the Bush administration, she was chosen to be Colin Powell's replacement in the State Department. Congressional Democrats chose to fight Dr. Rice's nomination as Secretary State, but it has obviously paid off." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 22, 2005
Arab League Holds Summit in Algiers
"Arab leaders open a two-day summit in the Algerian capital on Tuesday [March 22, 2005] to discuss a 17-point agenda, including a resolution to revive a plan for peace with Israel that the Jewish state rejected three years ago," according to an Agence France Presse (AFP) report in Khaleej Times. The report said "Only 14 Arab heads of state or rulers out of the 22-member Arab League are expected to attend the summit, which coincides with the 60th anniversary of the pan-Arab organization." The league is one of the least influential organizations on the diplomatic scene.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
RIA Novosti: Kyrgyz President's Actions Might Be Too Late
RIA Novosti reported March 22, 2005 that "Things are still hanging on a knife's edge in the Osh and Jalal-Abad southern regions of Kyrgyzstan. According to witnesses, about a thousand people who spent the night in front of the Osh regional government building are now beginning a rally there," the news outlet said. "More people have been coming to the central square since morning." Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Will Kyrgyzstan's Government Heed Demands to Resign
The Russian news agency Interfax reported that Ravshan Zheyenbekov, a candidate who lost in Kyrgyzstan's recent parliamentary elections, told one of its correspondents on March 22, 2005 that "The population of the Talas region in northern Kyrgyzstan has joined the southern regions in demanding the resignation of the government and announced plans to create its own government." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Rice Lectures China on Anti-Secession Law
An Agence France Press (AFP) report in todays issue of The China Post of Taiwan says "U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Monday [March 21, 2005] urged China to reduce tensions in the Taiwan Strait, saying an anti-secession law was not welcome and unhelpful for any eventual reunification."
"The anti-secession law was not a welcome development because anything that is unilateral that increases tensions, which clearly the anti-secession law did increase tensions, is not good," Ms. Rice told journalists after talks with Chinese leaders, according to AFP. Ms. Rice, according to the wire service, added: "I did talk to my Chinese counterparts about hopefully taking measures in the wake of this anti-secession law, taking measures that would demonstrate a willingness to reduce tensions in the cross-strait environment."
"We are not pleased when either side does anything unilaterally to either try to change the status quo or that increases tensions." lecturing China on unilateralism sounds hypocritical coming from an administration known for its unilateralist policy on international affairs. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
North Korean Premier visits China
North Korean Premier Pak Pong-ju began a visit to China on March 22, 2005 "to study the economic miracle wrought by his country's giant neighbor," according to a report in China Daily.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 02:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Some Nations Seeking Permanent U.N Security Council Seats
Brazil, Germany, India and Japan want the United Nations General Assembly to adopt a resolution by this summer that will grant them permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council, according to Edith M. Lederer, an Associated Press writer. "But Pakistan, Italy and other mid-size countries are still pushing a rival plan to expand the U.N.'s most powerful body," she noted. Read the story here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 02:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 20, 2005
Peter Taylor: 'We Have Been Here Before'
Peter Taylor of The Guardian: There's never been a St Patrick's Day like it. Gerry Adams, traditionally feted in Washington as the Irish Mandela, found the door of the White House metaphorically shut in his face, while the five sisters of Robert McCartney and his partner shook the president's hand. The media, most of which had long abandoned Ireland, loved the story and its unlikely heroines." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
George Kennan's Profound Imapct on Diplomacy
National Public Radio senior analyst and Christian Science Monitor contributing columnist Daniel Schorr takes a look at the "profound effect" that former diplomat George Kennan "had on averting a hot and possibly nuclear war instead of a half-century of cold war, that ended as he predicted it would." Mr. Kennan died March 17, 2005.Here's more on Mr. Kennan.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The Belgravia Dispatch on Good News From Iraq
Gregory Djerejian of The Belgravia Dispatch, a good news cheerleader on Iraq who seems to see nothing wrong with imposing democracy at the barrel of a gun, has a post on what he calls "more good news from Iraq".
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The Modi Visa Issue
Anand Bhisey of Rediff.Com reported March 20 that Bharatiya Janata Party president Lal Kishenchand Advani, "continuing his tirade against the United States for its decision to deny Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi a visa," on March 20 said "the U.S. is a large country, but I doubt if it has an intelligence to match." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The EU Dispute Over Opening Negotiations With Croatia
The European Parliament's "Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday [March 17, 2005] contested the [European] Council's decision not to open accession negotiations with Croatia yet," according to European Union @the United Nations. The website said, "In a letter MEPs are proposing that a committee be set up to monitor whether or not Croatia is cooperating with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague but that in the meantime negotiations should start. Should this committee find that Croatia is indeed not fully cooperating, then negotiations should be halted."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The Washington Diplomat Profiles Representative Hoekstra
The Washington Diplomat has an insightful article on Representative Peter Hoekstra, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, who "is examining the complex challenges that confront America's intelligence community in obvious ways." See "Key Lawmaker Says U.S. Needs Strategic Plan for Intelligence."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 19, 2005
Syria, U.S. Relations: 'Honeymoon and Heartbreak'
Dr Sami Moubayed, a Syrian political analyst, notes in Asia Times Online that, "In December 1990, US secretary of state James Baker described Syria as "a major Arab country who happens to share the same goals as we do". In December 2004, U.S. President George W Bush said, "Syria is a very weak country, and therefore it cannot be trusted." The huge difference in US policy toward Syria over these 15 years shows, if anything, how difficult it is today to mend a very fractured and perhaps irreparable relationship," Dr. Moubayed wrote. Here's more of his analysis."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 16, 2005
Hypocrisy and Occupation
Is the U.S. occupation of Iraq any different than Syria's occupation of Lebanon? No! Occupation is occupation. Why is the Bush Administration demanding that Syria leave Lebanon by May 2005 but it is making no effort to leave Iraq? This reminds me of what many parents use to tell their children: "Do as I say, not as I do." It was hypocrisy then and it's hypocrisy now.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Syria Comment Offers More on 'The Game is Up' on Resolution 1559
Joshua Landis at Syria Comment reported today that "a number of readers took exception with my 1559 is Finished - The Game is Up post of two days ago." Here's his insightful analysis of the diplomatic chatter surrounding Syria leaving Lebanon.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:44 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
President Bush's Foreign Policy Team
The Fields Report, which offers "commentary on international affairs," points to what it calls a "great article in the current Foreign Policy about President Bush's foreign policy team, mainly the national security council." The article is headlined "Inside the Committee that Runs the World."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
'Hypocrisy and Pusillanimity' in the Face of IRA Terrorism
Foreign Dispatches opined in a March 16, 2005 post that "Simon Jenkins says all the right things today about American hypocrisy and British pusillanimity in the face of IRA terrorism." Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Why is Pakistan Cozying Up to Israel?
Syed Saleem Shahzad, writing in the March 17, 2005 edition of Asia Times Online, said, "in the changing world, where many Arab countries, as well as the Palestinian leadership, have adopted a more flexible policy toward Israel, decision-makers in Pakistan are developing a strategy to better relations with the Jewish state, though without compromising Islamabad's standing among Islamic countries." Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Russian Daily Casts Doubt on Moscow's Version of Maskhadov's Death
Daily Times of Pakistan reports that "Russia said on Tuesday [March 15, 2005] that it was able to locate and kill Chechnya’s moderate rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov last week [March 8, 2005] after people seeking a 10-million-dollar bounty on his head provided the authorities with necessary information."
The paper noted that "on Tuesday [March 15, 2005] the Moskovsky Komsomolets tabloid, one of Russia’s most popular dailies known as MK, said that its reporter had inspected the house [where Mr. Maskhadov was rfeportedly hiding] before its demolition and that Maskhadov could not have possibly hidden out there for months, in secret from even the wife of the owner of the house." Here's more Daily Times' report.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:41 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Kavkaz Center.Com: Moscow Telling Stories About Maskhadov
Kavkaz Center.Com reported March 16, 2005 that "Moscow has launched another version about the death of President [Aslan] Maskhadov. Almost a week after the murder Russian FSB (Federal Security Service, former KGB) reported that the Chechen President was allegedly betrayed and that the traitor allegedly received 10 million US dollars for the information provided," Kavkaz Center.Com said. "Besides, the story is still circulating, claiming that President Maskhadov was captured alive, interrogated and then shot dead." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Croatia's EU Membership Negotiations Hit a Snag
Zaman Online reported today that "Great Britain and the Netherlands have announced that the start of European Union (EU) membership negotiations with Croatia will be postponed." The Zaman report said "British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said in an announcement that:" Negotiations cannot begin tomorrow. The conditions outlined for Croatia to begin negotiations demanded that they cooperate with The Hague; however, I am sorry to say that the evidence we have obtained shows that Zagreb has not cooperated with The Hague." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Is U.S. Policy Towards Hezbollah Changing?
Gregory Djerejian at The Belgravia Dispatch says "US Policy Towards Hezbollah...looks to be changing ever so slightly given the dynamics underway in Lebanon. Namely, in order to keep a large, united anti-Syrian Lebanese front--Bush (despite McClellan's, and the State Department's, protestations to the contrary) seems to be giving Hezbollah something of an opening (a small one, to be sure)," he wrote on March 16, 2005. Here's more of his analysis.
NOTE: This post is also at The Foreign News Observer.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Juan Cole on 'The Blogging Phenomenon'
Juan Cole at the always interesting Informed Comment discusses Newsweek Columnist Steven Levy's "Blogging Beyond the Men's Club" that, according to Mr. Cole, "asks why blogging is dominated by white males, and what the implications of this configuration are if blogging replaces traditional media. "He quotes presenters at a recent Harvard conference who worried that the newsrooms of the major print media have only recently begun to be diversified with regard to gender and race, and that the white male bloggers could crowd out the voices of these professional journalists," Mr. Cole said in a March 16, 2005 post.
He critique's Jeff Jarvis position on Blogging and journalism. Hopefully, Mr. Jarvis' response will be civil and not the name calling and sarcasm he often uses in referring to Mr. Cole. As for Mr. Levy's "column about blogs in Newsweek," Mr. Jarvis thinks "...well, not to put too fine a point on it," it's "a crock." Here's a link to his post. Here's more of Mr. Cole's commentary.
NOTE: This post is also at The Foreign News Observer.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 14, 2005
Syria Comment: 1559 is Finished - The Game is Up
Syria Comment, which offers "thoughts on Syrian politics, history and religion, offers a view of Syria's gamesmanship in Lebanon that put the Lebanese situation into sharper focus. Joshua Landis, the University of Oklahoma assistant professor who publishes the blog wrote on March 13, 2005: "It's all over." That is how one reporter described the situation in Lebanon after touching base with Western Embassies in Damascus. "There is no more threat of sanctions. No use of force," he was told. Now that the Syrians have agreed to withdraw their troops, UN Resolution 1559 is dead."The resolution demanding the disarming of Lebanese parties cannot be carried out. France and Russia have opposed it. Hizbullah demonstrated that it is much too strong.
Mr. Landis said, "in the American embassy in Damascus, the view is that the game is finished. Now everyone is trying to understand who won. Did the US win because Syria pulled out its troops? Or, did it lose because it got too greedy with 1559 and insisted on stuffing in the articles on Hizbullah and local "terrorist groups," which no one else will now support." Read Mr. Landis' conclusion.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 13, 2005
Reality, Morality and the United Nations
Fabiana at Foreign Affairs Blog, in critiquing "this post of Andy McCarthy at The Corner argues that:... the U.N. has never been and should never be a morality-based institution. It is and can only be reality-based because it has to deal with reality: an anarchical and asymmetrical world where bad and good states inevitably coexist; if they did not try to get along somehow, war would be a frequent international event. Despite its inherent flaws, reflexive of an imperfect international system, as well as other flaws that can be corrected with reform, the U.N. is as effective as it could be. If it were fundamentally different than it is today or did not exist at all, international relations would be adversely affected."
Read the full article here. The Diplomatic Times Review welcomes comments on Fabiana's observations.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 11, 2005
China Daily On the Many Dimensions of Chinese Diplomacy
In discussing the many dimensions of Chinese diplomacy in a March 7, 2005 editorial, China Daily said "The Cold War has hatched a small profession specializing in churning out allegations about the so-called China threat, allegedly both as a danger to world peace and the global economy. The trick has been laughably simple just keep recycling the old allegations every time China comes to insist on its own rights," the publication said in an article printed in People's Daily. Some of [Chinese Foreign Minister] Li's [Zhaoxing] words are a wake-up call. This business has no future." Here's more on Chinese diplomacy.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 12:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Secretary of State Rice to Visit South Korea March 19-20, 2005
The Korea Times reports that "U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit Seoul March 19-20 [2005] as part of an Asian trip. The central issue of her visit will be North Korea's nuclear weapons program, officials in Seoul and Washington said" March 10, 2005, according to the publication. Here's more on the visit.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 12:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
John Hughes on 'US-China Relations'
John Hughes, a former editor of The Christian Science Monitor and an assistant secretary of State in the Reagan administration, contends that, "while United States policymakers are preoccupied with the Middle East and North Korea, trouble may be looming in China." Read why.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 10, 2005
Foreign Opinion About China's 'Anti-secession' Bill
Melody Chin reported in the March 10, 2005, issue of the Taipei Times that, "following the US' opposition to Beijing's call in its "anti-secession" bill for possible non-peaceful action directed at Taiwan, responses to the law from international foreign representative offices in Taipei were mixed..." Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Canada's Receives Uninvited Foreign Officials
Embassy reported March 9, 2005 that "two high-level Chilean Ministers, including the country's candidate for the top post of the Organization of American States, slipped into Ottawa this week and met with Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew. Jose Miguel Insulza, the Chilean Minister of the Interior, took a day away from a heavy lobbying campaign in the Caribbean and elsewhere to meet with political officials in Ottawa on March 7," Embassy said. "Chilean Foreign Minister Ignacio Walker joined Mr. Insulza." The publication said "Foreign Affairs Canada says it didn't extend the invitation, nevertheless the federal government welcomed the visit." Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Chosunilbo: 'National Security Calls for Quiet, Very Quiet Diplomacy'
South Korea's Chosunilbo said in an editorial that "President Roh Moo-hyun on Monday [March 7, 2005] made it clear that he has no truck with a "flexible engagement" plan by which the U.S. Forces in Korea can be deployed when a conflict takes place elsewhere in Northeast Asia. "The clear thing is that our citizens will not become embroiled in Northeast Asian conflicts without our consent. This is a firm principle we cannot abandon under any circumstances," the paper quoted Mr. Roh as saying. "In case a conflict flares up between China and Taiwan, for example, Korea cannot be drawn into an armed confrontation along with part of the USFK," Chosunilbo said. Here's the editorial.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Foreign Minister: Angola's Role in Africa Restricted to Diplomacy
The Angola Press Agency reported March 7, 2005, that, "the Foreign Affairs minister of Angola, João Bernardo de Miranda, said Monday [March 7, 2005] that his government will always continue to give its contribution to Africa, although small, due to new preoccupations relating to the country's economic and social development." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
A Commentary on the ASEAN-EU Partnership
On March 11, 2005, Indonesia will host "the 15th regular meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the European Union (EU) and of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)," according to Benita Ferrero-Waldner of the The Jakarta Post Online. The meeting "takes place barely three months after the worst natural disaster of recent history took hundreds of thousands of lives and destroyed the livelihoods of millions in coastal areas throughout the Indian Ocean." Here's more on the meeting.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
'Russia is a Very Important Actor on the European Stage'
Rene van der Linden, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, told Interfax "Russia is a very important actor in the European stage. It is a key partner for us and we need Russia's full support for the important decisions to be taken at this Summit with respect to the position of the Council of Europe in the European architecture," he said ahead of a planned visit to Russia. "Personally, I would appeal to my interlocutors to sustain Russia's commitment to our organization and to help set the course for our future development." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 09, 2005
Pressure Mounts on Irish Republican Army
It is time for the IRA to go out of business,"Mitchell Reiss, President George W. Bush's Northern Ireland envoy said in a radio interview, according to The Times of London. "And it is time for Sinn Fein to be able to say that explicitly without ambiguity, without ambivalence that criminality will not be tolerated," he added. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Vatikiotis:' Prudence Remains the Key in Sulawesi Sea'
Michael Vatikiotis, in an opinion piece in the March 10, 2005 issue of the New Straits Times, reports that "the dispute over an oil concession area that lies between Sabah and Kalimantan has affected relations between Indonesia and Malaysia. Perhaps jointly developing the area will help cool the tensions and to split the cost of development," he said, adding: Things were going so well between Indonesia and Malaysia that it is hard to believe that one of Asean's most critical relationships is foundering on a territorial dispute. The war of words and dispatching of warships to a disputed area of the Sulawesi Sea threatens the closest relationship the two countries have enjoyed since either gained independence, and could undermine a crucial investment lifeline that has helped Indonesia emerge from years of economic sterility with the help of capital from neighbouring countries like Malaysia.
Mr. Vatikiotis said "the new Indonesian- Malaysian relationship was built around a personal chemistry established between newly-elected Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi." Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Kogan: 'How Diplomacy Can Defuse the North Korean Crisis'
Eugene B. Kogan, in a March 9, 2005 special to The Japan Times headlined "How diplomacy can defuse the North Korean crisis," wrote: "The sure way to miss success is to miss the opportunity," a wise man once observed." He noted that, "Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura asked U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to visit Japan "at the earliest possible opportunity" during a bilateral security meeting in Washington on Feb. 19. When that visit takes place,"Mr. Kogan suggested, "Machimura must urge Rice to take the above maxim to heart if the United States, Japan and their regional allies are to be successful in bringing North Korea back to the six-party negotiating table." Here's the entire article.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Malaysia, Indonesia in Diplomatic Row Over Ambalat
Wahyu Susilo of Jakarta Post.Com says "The diplomatic tensions between Indonesia and Malaysia have been escalating over a border dispute concerning the oil in the Ambalat block. It started nearly two weeks ago when Malaysia's state oil company Petronas claimed that the oil field in the Sulawesi Sea was its exploitation area, and proceeded to sell a concession to the multinational company, Shell," the publication said. Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 08, 2005
Italy Wants Investigation into Killing of Agent in Iraq
Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini todays "dismissed speculation that U.S. forces might have deliberately fired on the Italians, but he told parliament that the U.S. military's account of the shooting did not tally with Italy's, Reuters reported March 8, 2005.
"It was certainly an accident, an accident caused by a series of circumstances and coincidences," Mr. Fini was quoted as saying. ""But this doesn't mean, in fact it makes it necessary, to demand that events are clarified ... to identify those responsible, and if people are to blame then to request and obtain that the guilty parties are punished," he added. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 06, 2005
Interfax: Russians Positive About U.S.-Russian Relations
Interfax, the Russian news agency, reported march 5, 2005, that "Russian citizens are on the whole positive about the current state of relations between Russia and the U.S." Interfax said, "according to the Bashkirova and Partners firm, which polled 1,500 respondents shortly after the Bratislava summit, 47% of Russian citizens described Russian-American relations as relations of allies, or partners, or as neutral. Just about 4% of those surveyed described relations between the two countries as hostile and 28% said partnership between the two countries is not equal, with the U.S. playing a dominant role." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
AU Foreign Ministers Meet in Addis Ababa
African Union's executive council of foreign ministers is meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 7 and 8, 2005, according to the Independent Online of South Africa.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
'There Will Be No Relief for Syria's Bashar al-Assad'
Joshua M. Landis, publisher of Syria Comment and an Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern Studies in the History Department and the School of International and Area Studies at the University of Oklahoma, offers an insightful and descriptive perspective on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's March 5, 2005 speech to Syrian Parliament. While Mr. Landis, who is studying in Syria on a Fulbright Scholarship and is married to a Syrian, offers opinions from Syrians, it was his conclusions that caught the attention of The Diplomatic Times Review. His opinion is that Mr. al-Assad is in a Catch 22 no matter what he does. He wrote:Most Syrians appreciated the presidents rhetoric about Arabism and how Syria is protecting its identity and that of the Arabs more generally. They see the recent events as he does a battle between the forces of imperialism and Zionism against those of the embattled Arabs and Syrians.
My own sensibilities led me to see the speech from a Western perspective and, in particular, to wonder how Washington hawks will interpret it. They will find much to criticize. The president gave no time table for withdrawal. He accepted none of the blame for Syria's isolation and explained the sudden consolidation of the Lebanese opposition only in terms of foreign influence and manipulation. He continued to describe the world from a Baathist perspective, as a battle between the forces of good and evil, pitting himself and Syria against George Bush and his nefarious plans for the region. Rather than laying out a vision for Syrias future by announcing an agenda for reforms, he dwelt on old battles and history. He is carving an ever clearer image of himself as the anti-Bush.
In doing this, he may rally some domestic support, but he will only drive Syrias conflict with the West forward. He cannot win this battle, and Washington hawks will push forward their arguments for regime change, claiming that the Syrian regime is irremediable even if it is flexible. The more Bashar resists, the more the US will focus on him as the source of the regions evil. They will say, He doesnt get it. The world has changed, but not Syria. There will be no relief for Bashar al-Asad so long as he digs in his heals and proclaims George Bushs plan for the Middle East a failure. Washington will come after him whether he is flexible or not. No amount of tactical retreat will relieve the pressure. To truly get Washington off his back, he must flee by advancing, as Napoleon would say, and that means reforms. Some analysts here, argue that if he truly reforms, the regime will be undermined. Perhaps it is a catch twenty two? Read more here.I, too, believe there will be no relief for Syria. In fact, any leader that resists U.S. dictates for the Middle East will be targeted. That includes those often viewed as pro-Western, if they show any degree of independence. While change is inevitable in the Middle East, and has been thwarted for decades by pro-U.S. autocrats in the region, I predict that in the end change won't be as beneficial to the West as Western opinion makers think.
NOTE: This post can also be found at The Foreign News Observer.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 05, 2005
Senator Susan Collins' Iraq
The Deep Blade Journal takes a critical look at Senator Susan M. Collins' March 5, 2005 Op-Ed piece in the Bangor [Maine] Daily News about her recent trips to Afghanistan and Iraq. The chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Armed Services Committee said: The most encouraging part of my visit to Iraq was our trip to Fallujah, a city once synonymous with danger and firmly in the insurgents' control. Once a sanctuary for insurgents, Fallujah is now what one Marine described as the "safest city in Iraq" due to a fierce battle in which the Marines rooted out the insurgents and destroyed scores of weapons caches. This success has also encouraged more than a thousand Iraqis in the Fallujah area to have the confidence to come forward to fill police and army positions.
That passage was challenged by Deep Blade, who wrote a worth-reading critique that does not sugarcoat the reality of Fallujah.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Lloyd Axworthy's Open Letter to Condoleeza Rice
Lloyd Axworthy, president of the University of Winnipeg and a former Canadian foreign minister, published an open letter to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in the March 3, 2005 issue of the Winnipeg Free Press. He began the letter with: Dear Condi, I'm glad you've decided to get over your fit of pique and venture north to visit your closest neighbour. It's a chance to learn a thing or two. Maybe more.
I know it seems improbable to your divinely guided master in the White House that mere mortals might disagree with participating in a missile-defence system that has failed in its last three tests, even though the tests themselves were carefully rigged to show results.
But, gosh, we folks above the 49th parallel are somewhat cautious types who can't quite see laying down billions of dollars in a three-dud poker game. Here's the entire letter.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
All Governments Act More on Politics than Principle
David Adesnik at Oxblog has an interesting March 5, 2005 post headlined "YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHO SAID THIS. (REALLY. NEVER.) "
Europeans cannot criticize the United States for waging war in Iraq if they are unwilling to exhibit the moral fiber to stop genocide by acting collectively and with decisiveness...Every day that goes by without meaningful sanctions and even military intervention in Sudan by African, European and if necessary U.N. forces is a day where hundreds of innocent civilians die and thousands are displaced from their land. Every day that goes by without action to stop the Sudan genocide is a day that the anti-Iraq war position so widely held in the rest of the world appears to be based less on principle and more on politics.
"That's right," Mr. Adesnik said."Howard Dean. Maybe there's hope for this guy after all. (Hat tip: Aziz P.")
Questions: What's keeping the U.N. Security Council from imposing sanctions on Sudan? Secondly, does European inaction on Sudan justify the continued occupation of Iraq? I say: no.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 01:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Demanding Syria Leave Lebanon While Occupying Iraq
I wonder how long will it take for the world to demand that President George W. Bush pull U.S. forces out Iraq, just as he and other world-leaders demanded that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad pull Syrian forces out of Lebanon.
Will the U.S. remain an occupier of a foreign country, Iraq, while hypocritically demanding that Syria leave Lebanon?
Will European and American opinion makers and citizens make an exception for the U.S. because they, like most Americans, are predominantly Christian and Iraq is predominantly a Muslim nation?
Are most Americans so much into democratic fundamentalism that they view the killings of Muslims and the destruction of Muslim nations as ok as long as it is done in the name of democracy?
Finally, how long before the proverbial chickens come home to roost? Only time will tell.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 12:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Syria to Withdraw Forces in Lebanon to the Syrian Border
President Bashar al-Assad of Syria announced in an eagerly anticipated statement on March 5, 2005 that "As an extension of measures already taken ... we will withdraw our forces stationed in Lebanon to the Bekaa Valley and then to the border with Syria."
"I have agreed with (Lebanese) President Emile Lahoud that the Supreme Council on Security should meet this week to approve the withdrawal plan and then we will have fulfilled our obligations under the Taif accord and under Resolution 1559," he told Syria's Peoples Assembly, according to Reuters.
After the February 14, 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, Syria came under intense international pressure to withdraw it's troops from Lebanon. Some observers blame Syria for the assassination. However, no hard evidence has been produced that links Syria to the hit. Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 12:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Peter Galbraith: Kurdish Nationalism in Iraq is a Fact
Peter Galbraith, a faculty member of the National War College in Washington and former U.S. ambassador to Croatia," opined in a BitterLemon--International article, which was republished by The Daily Star of Lebanon, that "Kurdish nationalism in Iraq is a fact, and Turkey's ability to influence the drive for statehood (whether merely de facto or recognized) is minimal." He added: Turkey has no meaningful military option. A large-scale armed intervention would confront more than 100,000 well armed Peshmerga operating on their own terrain (a far more formidable force than the Turkish military faced in a 15-year war against the Kurdish Workers Party - the PKK - in southeast Turkey), would shatter relations with the United States and kill Turkey's hopes of joining the European Union.
He said "an economic boycott is a double-edged sword that would also destroy Turkey's lucrative trade with Iraq. Closing the border would inflict particular pain on Kurdish southeast Turkey where popular sympathy is solidly behind the Iraqi Kurds. Here's more of Mr. Galbraith's insightful analysis
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
David Hirst Sees 'The Shadow of Another Iraq'
On March 4, 2005, The Guardian's David Hirst, writing from Damascus, the Syrian capital, asked if the world was seeing "a velvet revolution, Ukrainian style, that will set an example for the whole Middle East? That is how Lebanon's so far peaceful "democratic uprising" likes to see itself. Certainly, something new and profound is under way." Here's more of Mr. Hirst's analysis.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Larger Questions Revolve Around Syria and Lebanon
Joshua Landis at Syria Comment today said everyone in Damascus, the Syrian capital, is waiting for President Bashar Assad's "6:00 speech to the Peoples Assembly with baited breath." He said Syria is a country "not only in a region[al] struggle for control of Lebanon, but it has been swept into a much larger philosophical struggle over the nature of the Middle East. Little Syria has, despite itself, become the axis on which larger world questions may revolve. Are the neoconservatives right? Has President Bush's revolutionary foreign policy based on the use of force to create the liniments of democracy been vindicated? Is his strategy for remaking the larger Middle East on the verge of fulfillment?" Read more of Mr. Landis' analysis.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 04, 2005
Rice, Dlamini-Zuma hold talks in Washington
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South African Foreign Minister Noksazana Dlamini-Zuma held talks in Washington on March 4, 2004. Among subjects they discussed were the elections in Zimbabwe later this month. Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Syria Seems Totally Isolated
Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor of The Times Online of London, and Nick Blanford, the paper's Beirut correspondent, reported March 4, 2005 that "the Syrian regime is now considered so isolated and weak that in some Washington circles it is likened to lowhanging fruit, ripe for picking." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 08:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 03, 2005
Qaddafi: Transfer Security Council Powers to U.N. General Assembly
"Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi was quoted as saying on Wednesday [March 3, 2005]that the United Nations must scrap the Security Council and give its powers to the General Assembly, if it ever hopes to become a truly democratic organization," according to the Associated Press.
The wire service noted that, "in a full-page advertisement in The Guardian newspaper, [Mr.] Qadhafi called the UN Security Council “an ugly, forceful, and horrible instrument of dictatorship _ an executioner’s whip with no appeal against its judgment, even if its judgment is unfair, biased and harmful.” I totally agree that the Security Council is an anachronistic and undemocratic institution. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 12:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 02, 2005
'Inside the Committee that Runs the World'
While he's attending the International Studies Association annual meeting in Hawaii, and probably won't do much blogging, University of Chicago professor Daniel Drezner is urging his readers to "check out David Rothkopf's fascinating Foreign Policy essay, "Inside the Committee that Runs the World." It's about the foreign policy divisions that have emerged within the Bush administration," Mr. Drezner said in a March 2, 2005 post, adding" I've blogged about Rothkopf's argument before, but the FP article is the fullest treatment I've seen on this topic -- plus lots of inside dirt." Here's Mr. Drezner's summary of the Rothkopf article.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Latest Issue of Syria Today Posted to Web
The latest edition of Syria Today has been posted on the web. As Joshua Landis at Syria Comment notes, "This is the third issue of the new Magazine put out in Syria in English."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Did Syria steals Blair's Thunder at Summit On Palestine?
Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor for The Times (of London) Online, reported March 2, 2005 that "Lebanon dominated a conference yesterday [March 1, 2005] aimed at boosting support for the Palestinians, as America, France, Russia and other participants spoke out against continued Syrian involvement in the affairs of its smaller neighbour."
"Tony Blair succeeded in galvanising the support of 30 countries and international organisations at his one-day conference devoted to the Palestinian Authority yesterday, but key players were distracted by dramatic events in Lebanon," Mr. Beeston told Times readers.
NOTE: This item is also posted at The Foreign News Observer.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 01, 2005
Analyst: Mid-East's New Era Dawns Blood-red
Nicolas Rothwell of The Australian, in an analysis of political earthquake taking place in the Middle East, maintains that "with the fall of an old government in Beirut, the staging of a summit in London to set up a Palestinian state, and the announcement of multi-candidate presidential elections in Egypt, it is at last plain that a new era has dawned in the Middle East." Here's his analysis.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
BBC: Beirut Drama Dominates Arab Media
The BBC reported today that "newspapers in Lebanon have greeted the fall of the government on Monday [February 28, 2005] as a historic moment and proof of people power on the streets of Lebanon." How does other publications in the region view developments? Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack