As the world forgets about Honduras again, the former President’s hopes of returning to power look to be ebbing. Soon the country will be looking to new elections. Hurrah. Here is an interesting piece about how the Organisation of American States might have managed its diplomacy differently. By suspending Honduras […]
Today is the 70th anniversary of one of the greatest crimes in history: the Molotov/Ribbentrop Pact. These two villains scrawled a line through a map of Europe to show who would grab what, then signed it. Here it is in two legendary cartoons by Herblock and Low:
Have soared! The Treasury statistics show that the UK’s net contribution to the EU will increase from £4.1 billion this year to £6.4 billion in 2010/11… Last night the Conservatives branded government "incompetence" for the rise in contributions. The Opposition said the increased payments were the result of the "selling […]
Andrew Ian Dodge adds a further gloss in a comment on my posting below: Yep, its me. One hopes that no one would fake being me. I understand your point of view and needless to say respect it as its private "property". In any case your policy needs to be […]
Canada is being more assertive in staking out its claims to its northern Arctic waters. But it’s not enough to talk tough. You have to be tough. Here is a fine example of Canadian self-inflicted weakness, if not eventual self-inflicted extinction. Part of the fact that key parts of the Canadian […]
If you are looking for a good example of why the Bosnia situation is so problematic, take national symbols. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two Entities formally established under the Dayton Peace Accords of 1995. The other is Republika Srpska. In principle any citizen of […]
William Hague’s interview with the Independent earlier this week was especially gloomy about Bosnia: Mr Hague, who also had extensive meetings with political leaders in a visit to Bosnia last autumn, said he feared the tensions could deteriorate into something worse. He said: "In some form [Bosnia] could break down […]
The British government are not planning on holding an enquiry into their possible complicity in overseas torture: Kim Howells, Labour chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee which scrutinises the secret services, said the issue of UK complicity in torture had been "clarified as far as it can be on […]
There have been strong reactions in ‘Western’ capitals to the latest punishment handed out to Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma, the key effect of which is to stop her running in the next round of national elections. Malaysia too is dismayed. President Sarkozy and the British government are talking […]
Remember Honduras? Remember witty Ivor, who commented on my earlier postings: This is splendidly comical. On one side, the United Nations, the OAS, the United States government and, apparently, most informed opinion worldwide. Lined up against them, someone who spent 12 months as Honduran Minister of Culture – a political big-hitter, […]
