Anti-government protesters were in the streets of Bangkok demanding the resignation of the interim government. After Prime Minister Shinawatra was forced to leave office because of corruption charges, she was replaced by her Deputy Prime Minister. But that change was not sufficient for those who want the entire government ousted. Unfortunately, the violent protests are expected to continue as Shinawatra’s supporters have decided to launch a counter-protest. The political process in Thailand has completely broken down, and now we wonder how long the economy will last under these volatile conditions.
Russia celebrated the anniversary of its victory over Germany during World War II today, and it was capped off by a visit to Crimea by President Putin. Not only was the visit provocative, the language of Putin’s speech was somewhat unsettling as he lauded Russia’s “all-conquering” patriotism. The Washington Post had an informative article in today’s edition that outlined Russia’s strategic and economic interests in Ukraine. The stakes for Russia in Ukraine are quite high, and critical to its overall military strength.
The world has focused its attention (finally) on the threat posed by Boko Haram to the political stability of Nigeria. With this increased attention, however, comes increased scrutiny of the effectiveness of the Nigerian government in dealing with this threat. The Nigerian security forces are hardly paragons of efficiency and virtue which makes it difficult for outside help to make much difference in rescuing the kidnapped school girls.
A bus strike in Rio de Janeiro is symptomatic of a number of issues in contemporary Brazil. Concerns about price increases a few months ago led to massive protests in many cities in the country, and there was a police shootout in one of the slums of the city a few days ago that led to a death. But the underlying cause of the protests is a sense within many in the country that the government does not protect the interests of citizens. The money spent on the upcoming World Cup football tournament (the month-long contest begins in June) is a symbol of the indifference of the government to the economic situation of most in the country. In that respect, the protest reflects the sentiment of many on other countries of the world as well.
There was a third act of violence in a train station in China’s northwestern province of Xinjiang a few days ago. The suspicion is that Uighurs who seek greater autonomy from the central Chinese government are responsible for the attacks. The attacks in train stations suggests that the Uighurs regard the train infrastructure as the most vulnerable part of the attempt by the Han Chinese to exercise greater control over Xinjiang. Crippling the transportation network also upsets the Chinese desire to develop land routes to the Middle East so that the country would be less vulnerable to disruptions in the sea lanes bringing critical oil.
The International Space Station has set up four High-Definition Cameras so that you can watch the earth in vivid detail as the station travels. The images are absolutely stunning, and are also mesmerizing. You should check it out. If the video is black, then it’s night. If the video is grey, then they are switching cameras or are being blocked for some reason. Come back at another time. There is no audio, but I would recommend playing something cosmic while you are watching.
Russian President Putin has called on Russian separatists in Donetsk to call off the secession referendum and has announced that he is pulling back Russian troops from the Ukrainian border. The announcement signals a decided shift in tone. Unfortunately, the US Department of Defense asserted that its satellites detected no change in the Russian positions along the border. Moreover, at least some of the separatists do not wish to postpone the referendum. The situation remains in a state of high flux.
Vietnam has claimed that Chinese vessels intentionally rammed two of its ships as they approached an oil rig that China has set up in disputed maritime territory. Additionally, the Philippines has seized a Chinese fishing vessel in disputed territory. It is hard to tell how this situation will unfold, but there does not seem to be an immediate sense of crisis at this time.
A Thai court has ordered Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to leave office after she was found guilty of abusing her power. The ruling throws the political system of Thailand into complete turmoil, after months of protests. The Deputy Prime Minister will oversee the government until scheduled elections on 20 July. The tension reflects a long-standing divide between the urban and rural areas of Thailand.
It seems obvious that there are a variety of nations in the Ukrainian nation-state: those that identify as Ukrainian, those that define themselves as Russian, and other groups, such as the Tatars. What we now know as Ukraine grew from a tiny enclave in 1654 into the territorial entity of 2014. The map below gives a rough idea of how Ukraine has grown since its small beginnings. Much of the growth can be explained by the dynamism of its neighbor, Russia.
Good Jobs First has compiled a list of the subsidies that private corporations in the US receive from Federal, state, and Local communities to help create a favorable business climate. The amount of money granted to these corporations is substantial. Unlike social welfare programs, however, we rarely hear about whether the money is well-used or whether it serves a public purpose.
The Third US National Climate Assessment has been published, and its findings are grim. Climate change is definitely happening, and it definitely appears to be a function of human activity. The following video gives a visual rendition of how CO2 levels have changed over hundreds of thousands of years.
Happy Cinco de Mayo!!! The Battle of Puebla occurred on this date, and the Mexican army defeated a French force twice as large. It was the last battle between European and Latin American armies.
The current front-runner in the Egyptian presidential election, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, the former military leader, declared today that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt “will not exist.” The Brotherhood has a substantial following in Egypt and in other parts of the world so it is difficult to understand what al-Sisi might mean. Unfortunately, his likely election means that Egypt will once again be ruled by a military leader, and the idea of eliminating a large part of the electorate does not sound encouraging.
When I was a child, several of my friends contracted polio; fortunately none of them developed serious cases of paralysis. It was a feared disease, and caused incredible hardship. The world made significant progress in eradicating the disease through intensive vaccination programs since that time, and the victory over polio seemed assured. Unfortunately, those efforts have faltered recently and the disease seems to be making a comeback in several countries, all of whom are engaged in serious conflict: Pakistan, Syria, Cameroon, Somalia, and Iraq are countries in which the disease seems to be spreading. The case of Pakistan is especially tragic, since the vaccinations have been hampered by many who suspect that the healthcare personnel are agents of the US. The suspicion is rooted in the sad reality that the US used a doctor who claimed to be vaccinating children as one of their spies in the capture of Osama bin Laden. A tragic case where a noble cause was undermined by short-term political interest.
How bad does this generation (the cohort lamentably labeled the “Millenials”) have it? The data do not lie.
Nahum Barnea of Ynet.com had an exclusive interview with a high American official about the failure of the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. The interview was remarkable in its candor, and, for the first time, the US placed the failure of the negotiations squarely on the issue of the Israeli settlements. There is a great deal of speculation about who the official was, and I am certain we will be learning more about the interview in the days to come. But there is little question that the US will not be trying to get the two sides together anytime soon, and, unless the settlement issue is addressed by the Israelis, not during the remainder of the Obama Administration.
The Economist has a very thoughtful essay on American foreign policy. It is a comprehensive view of the various issues facing the US, and its viewpoint is sobering. As the US continues to disengage from world affairs, it will leave a partial vacuum in its wake. How other nations perceive that vacuum may lead to conflict. On the whole, however, the American people have signaled very clearly that they no longer wish to use power in a world that they do not really understand and that really does not understand the US very well. We can clearly identify the point at which American disengagement began: it started with the Iraq War in March 2003. The essay is reprinted on Business Insider.
On Tuesday, the Obama Administration will release the National Climate Assessment. Advance copies of the report have been leaked to the press, and the report allegedly argues that climate change has already happened and it should not be considered a threat only in the distant future. It is a 1,300 page document assembled by 300 scientists, and it will form the basis for the Administration’s climate policies in the future. Whether the report actually changes US policies remains to be seen.
Liberalism fostered the growth of representative democracy, and the democratic process has been hailed by many as the most important contribution of the Enlightenment. But the definition of democracy has never been defined outside of the framework of liberalism–as implemented by European societies, the meaning has always been rooted in the rights of individuals to participate in their political governance. But globalization has brought about different frameworks in which the rights of individuals needs to be assessed in light of other societal values. The meanings of democracy are long overdue for a reconsideration, and the traditional definitions seem to be fraying.
The worst fighting so far has broken out in the Ukrainian city of Odessa. Pro-Ukrainian nationalists attacked pro-Russian separatists that had occupied several buildings. As many as 40 people died in the riots, and there is fear that Russia may use the violence as a reason to intervene. The riots were in response to a more vigorous attempt by the Kiev government to control its territory more completely. In a more encouraging sign, pro-Russian separatists released the monitors from the OSCE that had been held hostage for several days.
The World Bank has just published a report that China’s economy will soon be larger than the US’s economy. The US has had the largest economy in the world since 1872, but there is little question that the Chinese economy will inevitably be much bigger. Curiously, the Chinese government has disputed the projection, arguing that there are methodological problems in the study. The real reason for the Chinese demurral, however, is that China does not wish to be identified as the largest economy because many would then expect China to shoulder a larger burden in maintaining the global economy. Apparently, China does not wish to carry the burden of being a hegemon–it identifies its primary task as taking care of its domestic economy.
The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has reached the US. The new coronavirus is more prevalent in the Middle East, but a traveler from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, flew to London, then to Chicago and then boarded a bus to Indiana. The virus is quite lethal (out of 401 patients, 93 have died), but it does not appear to be highly contagious.
Extremists in northern Nigeria have kidnapped 276 girls from local schools, and there are reports that some of the girls as being sold as brides. The extremists, who are identified with the Muslim group, Boko Haram, are part of a coordinated effort to gain greater autonomy from the central government of Nigeria. The government, led by President Goodluck Jonathan, has proven to be impotent in the face of the attacks, and there is widespread dismay at the government’s inability to rescue the girls.
Anatole Kaletsky has written a fascinating essay on why the sanctions against Russia are unlikely to work. In the essay, however, he outlines certain measures, such as working on a new constitution for Ukraine prior to the use of sanctions, might have worked better. In some sense, Kalestsky is arguing that the West should not have been so rigid about Ukrainian sovereignty at the beginning of the crisis. Less adherence to the rules of world order may in fact make a more peaceful world. On the other hand, if sovereignty is always contestable, then there are a lot more fights to choose from. The idea is worth considering.
There is a growing sense in the electronic media that Russian forces will make a move in eastern Ukraine this weekend. I have no idea whether this is likely, but the focus of a lot of the reporting is on the strategic significance of certain areas. The Royal United Service Institute of Great Britain published an analysis of the strategic significance of the area of Slavyansk, an otherwise non-descript region. Apparently, there are 5 million Kalashnikov rifles stored there by the Ukrainian government–the Russians are worried that Ukrainian nationalists might seize to wage a guerrilla war against their forces. And the Washington Post published this graphic showing the most recent movement of troops by both sides.
The situation in the Central African Republic continues to be unstable and horrific. The tensions between the Christians and the Muslims in the country do not reflect religious disagreements at all, but rather the meddling of outsiders in the internal politics of the country. Graeme Wood has written an essay for the New Republic which provides good background material on the violence, and explains why the humanitarian intervention force by the African Union, but spearheaded by the French, does not seem to be helping at all.
An explosion has occurred near the Urumqi south railway station in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. More than 100 people have been killed in political unrest in the Xinjiang region over the last year, and the Chinese government has tried hard to repress the Uighur movement in the region for greater autonomy. Interestingly, the Chinese labelled the attackers as “religious” extremists and not as political dissidents.
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) ordered the police to disperse a protest in Taksim Square. Workers had gathered in the square to celebrate May Day, but the government had issued orders against any demonstrations. The police used tear gas, water cannon, and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds, and the forceful action has further eroded the legitimacy of the government in the eyes of those Turks who wish to see a more liberal democracy in Turkey.
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