U.N. gets in action (Gaza Problem)

The focus of debate in the UN General Assembly were the alleged war crimes committed by Israel and Hamas during last winter's Gaza war.

The Israeli government has ruled out setting up an independent investigative body that would interview Israeli military personnel about alleged war crimes. But many Arab countries and human rights organizations say that internal investigations conducted by Israel would not be transparent enough.

The resolution would call upon both parties of the conflict to set up investigations of the alleged crimes and could lead to further action by the Security Council. In debating the resolution, 43 speakers will present before the 192-member UN body.

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Save our troops from swine flu!

That is what most people must yell to the Pentagon, as only 150,000 vaccines against H1N1 were delivered to U.S. troops when they had asked for 300,000. It is unclear when the other vaccines are arriving.

All the U.S. troops based in the Korean peninsula have been already vaccinated against H1N1, but troops at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are not scheduled to get vaccinations until the end of November. Morel defended plans to vaccinate prisoners at the U.S. naval facility at Guantanamo Bay, after criticism from members of Congress who said the detainees should not get the inoculations before U.S. citizens.

"We should save the vaccine for those who need it most, and as of today, women, children and other at-risk individuals should fall squarely in line under that category. It should be made available to them before we hand it out to terrorists at Gitmo," said Sen. David Vitter, R-Louisiana, in a written statement.

The Pentagon has said detainees at Guatanamo would be offered the vaccine after all U.S. active military and civilians at the Guantanamo base have been vaccinated.

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Death to America

Iranian reformists have chosen key anniversaries to protest the hardline government. Wednesday's was the biggest annual anti-American observance of all. On November 4, 1979, Islamic students stormed the U.S. Embassy. They held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Iranian protesters are seeking to continue their anti-government demonstrations into Wednesday night, despite what police says, violence and arrests.

The protests are timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy. Iran celebrates the embassy takeover as an official holiday, and tens of thousands showed up to hear anti-American speeches in front of the building that once housed the U.S. diplomatic corps. Many chanted "Death to America."

"We were running from the police in the alleys off of the main streets," said Soheil, an opposition protester, who gave only one name for security reasons. "Strangers were opening up their garages so we could hide until the police went away. I ran into a garage for about 15 minutes. When I went back into the main street, I saw riot police arresting a group of young men, then putting them inside a bank and locking the door.

People make this because of their rage to the US. They had had so many problems, they tried to demonstrate they don't appreciate the country at all. I think there are better ways to resolve problems rather than using violence all the time and causing people to get injured or deaths. They can do peaceful protests, agreements, etc. Only God knows how much anger they keep in their souls.

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USA<->Pakistan

Hilary Clinton desires to be in peace with the Pakistanis.

This is a clear affirmation after what she told to a group of students in a politic congress.

In my opinion, this are steps people need to make to get into an agreement. If someone has the initiative, someone will follow, and that's how the chain goes on having a positive result, obviously if the cause is good.

I read that Pakistanis didn't like Clinton's visit, why? Why is these people so angry? I think they don't realize the effort, and the cause.

I agree with Hilary's visit, in which I think she was portraying a good attitude and giving great ideas:

- She was promoting peace

- A good relationship between the two countries (USA-Pakistan)

- And the promotion of a good democracy.

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CRISIS CRISIS AND MORE CRISIS!!

Things haven't been so good with this crisis. Enterprises are cutting more jobs each time. General Motors (GM), one of the biggest car companies announced they're cutting off about 10,000 jobs. The Canadian car parts firm Magna was making a deal to buy the European car unit Opel, but the consequence was to cut off jobs about the same number as GM. Magna's plans for job cuts at Opel and Vauxhall totalled 10,500. Final result: GM denied.

Unite, the main union at Vauxhall, which employs 5,500 people, said its task was to minimise the number of jobs lost, and to ensure they are voluntary. GM's announcement was made by its vice-president John Smith, who did not indicate where the 10,000 cuts are likely to fall. However, he said GM hoped to be able to present the details to European governments "very soon", with agreement in place with governments and unions between January and March of next year.

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Swine Flu in the UK

Professor Andrew Pollard from the University of Oxford is heading a research on swine flu vaccines. This 2 types of vaccines are put to trial in the UK since yesterday.

"We are doing this trial to compare head-to-head the two vaccines which are going to be used in the UK against swine flu to see which one works best in children and which one is best tolerated. We are sort of in a race against time because we know the flu season is already started. We hope to immunise the children over the next 10 days or so. There are very few exclusions - people with immune system problems and egg-allergic children because one of the vaccines is made using egg." - Professor Andrew Pollard

The Baxter vaccine, (the other vaccine put into trial) is made in cell culture, so is suitable for those who have an egg allergy. Among the expected side-effects are sore arms and fevers.

They are aiming to recruit 1,000 youngsters aged six months to 12 years to try the vaccines.

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Help our world. Ecology is in crisis too.

As we may already know, we're not suffering an economic crisis only, our ecology is in crisis too. Are you helping our world to heal? World leaders are, we should be too.

World leaders have been occupied looking for answers to improve our environmental situation. They had had several meetings at the General Assembly in which they have done great progress arguing about major issues as:

• Economic Crisis
• Nuclear Disarmament: "We continue the march for a world without nuclear weapons.” -Council
• Climate Change

Some of the points they talked about in climate changes are:

• The need to limit the global average temperature rise to a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius with most vulnerable countries pushing for an even more stringent 1.5-degree limit.
• China said it would be prepared to take additional actions to reduce energy intensity in the context of an international agreement.
• They should be 5 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020.
• “At long last, leaders focused on climate change financing and got more concrete, with many expressing support for the proposal for $100 billion annually over the next decade for concrete adaptation and mitigation actions,” Mr. Ban said.

The European Union is also involved. Mr. Ban announced its support for a fast track funding facility for adaptation and their readiness to provide €5 billion to €7 billion to get it started.

*Mr. Ban Ki-moon: General Secretary of the United Nations

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32340&Cr=ban&Cr1=

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Who says yes, who says no?

In recent news it is said that the Lisbon Treaty could finally be launched, after 8 years of hard work to make the EU "more democratic, more transparent and more efficient".

Lisbon Treaty Status:

• Approved by parliament: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK
• Defeated by referendum: Irish Republic
• Challenges: Czech and Polish presidents yet to sign treaty

Reason why they are opposing:

Opponents see it as part of a federalist agenda that threatens national sovereignty.

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European Union Decision Making Process

As we all know, the European Union is a very important institution that has big responsibilities. They also need to take big decisions in which they use this process:

Decision-making at European Union level involves various European institutions as the European Commission, the European Parliament (EP), and the Council of the European Union. Decision making process involves three main procedures:

1.- Codecision:

This procedure is used for most EU law-making. It shares legislative power equally between the Council and the Parliament. If Council and Parliament cannot agree on a piece of proposed legislation, it is put before a conciliation committee, composed of equal numbers of Council and Parliament representatives. Once this committee has reached an agreement, the text is sent once again to Parliament and the Council so that they can finally adopt it as law.

2.- Assent

The assent procedure means that the Council has to obtain the European Parliament's assent before certain very important decisions are taken.The procedure is the same as in the case of consultation, except that Parliament cannot amend a proposal: it must either accept or reject it. To accept it, it is requires an absolute majority of the vote cast.The assent procedure is mostly used for agreements with other countries, including the agreements allowing new countries to join the EU.

3.- Consultation

The consultation procedure is used in areas such as agriculture, taxation and competition. Based on a proposal from the Commission, the Council consults Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Parliament can approve the Commission proposal, reject it, or ask for amendments.

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Global Economic Cooperation....G20 Meeting on the way!

I am not going to keep my pleasure a secret! How fitting that we are discussing globalisation and economic integration, whilst under our very noses and in front of our eyes we are witnessing economic events whose impacts are expected to be long-lasting, and perhaps fundamentally change the very nature of the economic system in which we live.

We talk about globalisation, and if you like, you may now say that even regulation is becoming globalised - countries, in the wake of the economic crisis, want to work together more and more, to prevent future problems. Such acts can only serve to economically integrate countries further, albeit without a formal document or agreement.

So my pleasure stems from the fact that all what I speak about in class can be directly connected to the world around us - we are not looking at history, nor are we looking at the future, but today Ladies and Gentlemen. Always take the chance to read and passively learn more - even if you don´t understand everything, constant exposure helps you build knowledge.

A new era of global economic co-operation.


This article written by the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown discusses his (and we can assume the British people) views on what must be done at the upcoming G20 meeting. I want to draw your attention to two parts:

"Now is not the time to lose our focus, however – the recovery is not automatic – rather it is the moment to redouble our efforts. We must not switch off the life support we are giving to our economies. People are still losing their jobs, their homes and – in some cases – their hope and we must not fail them. Complacency is the enemy of recovery.

So at next week's G20 Summit in Pittsburgh concerted international co-operation is again required. To this end, I am proposing a new global compact to entrench economic recovery and secure stability, growth and jobs."


Here, he proposes his idea for a "global compact." Later, he goes on to say......

"Our international financial institutions have a vital role in supporting this drive to recovery and growth, so I have been consulting widely within the G20 and beyond to develop proposals on modernising them.

They must be better placed to meet the challenges of globalisation, promote sustainable global growth and prevent and respond to future crises."

And there you have the connection with globalisation. You see how international institutions, economic globalisation, and the world economy in general, are all connected?

Comments on this article, and an exploration of your own thoughts, are as always most welcome.

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Nuclear Weapons Free Zones

Are you afraid of a nuclear war? Good news! Most of the countries are NWFZ.

A Nuclear-Weapons-Free-Zone or NWFZ is defined by the United Nations. They come to this decision by treaty. The treaty bans the use, development or deployment of nuclear weapons in an specific area. In this map we can see how areas are divided:

Nuclear Weapon Free Zone

Nuclear Weapon States

Nuclear Sharing

Neither, but NPT

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Liberalism and Realism Precursors and Influences

I give you a list of thinkers and influences that made impact in Liberal and Realist ideologies.

Realism precursors:

• Thucydides - 400 BC

Balance of power

• Machiavelli - 1532

The survival of the state is paramount.

• Hobbes - 1668

Anarchy and sovereignty

• Clausewitz - 1832

Military strength

Liberalism Influences:

• Versailles Treaty - 1919 (failed) First major try.
• The United Nations - about 1960
• Other institutions - end of 1960's Used as means of setting international rules and standards.
• Cooperation between states - 1980

Resource:

Cranmer, Skyler J. (2005, September 22). Retrieved September 1, 2009, Web

site: http://www.unc.edu/~skylerc/files/realism-liberalism_third_pass.pdf

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Afghan Elections

As Mexicans who were born in the 90s, we regard democracy as our unchangeable type of government. I even dare say that the idea of eliminating democracy in Mexico is unconceivable for so many of us--if not all. That's why it is for us so weird to read about a nation as old as Afghanistan who's only held democratic elections twice (one in 2001 and the other one in 2009) in its whole time as a sovereign country.
Despite this being a highly anticipated event, the Afghan elections brought disappointment and fear to a great amount of its population. This was due to a lack of security from Taliban attacks, as well as rightful accusations about fraud.

Apparently, members of the well-known political and religious organisation, Taliban, were known to be threatening citizens into voting for a specific candidate or not voting at all. Besides, the current president of Afghanistan who is rerunning for its post has been repeatedly accused of conducting fraud himself. According to Mr Abdullah--an opposite--, thousands of violations were most likely held during the Election Day and throughout the counting process.
Citizens selling and buying votes, under-age voting, and more than one vote per person, are just few of the actions that led to such a ‘deceiving’ image in the preliminary results.
The final results won't be released but for several more weeks. I just hope that democracy and transparency prevails, as difficult as it may sound.
Afghan elections are an interesting topic that I furtherly discussed during our team's last week project, and it is worth keeping track of. For all those interested, I include a link to BBC.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8216809.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8221709.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/south_asia/2009/if_i_were_president/default.stm

*In picture: Abdullah Abdullah is the only one of the main candidates who is not contesting as an independent candidate. He is representing the main United National Front opposition alliance.

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WWII 70th Anniversary

I was reading today's news in CNN and came along some WWII news. It turns out that today is the 70th Anniversary of the Second World War, as it is generally held to be September 1, 1939. Just to let you know, in case you didn't already (like me). One of the articles talks about the commemoration of the anniversary in Poland. Also, while reading the articles I found how useful this class can be as, besides knowing more on the history of each war, they mentioned some important leaders that we saw in class today, one being the German chancellor Angela Merkel. Before today's class I didn't know her name and I didn't even know that Germany was governed by a woman, and I know more about some international leaders. Both articles talk about WWII in Poland, and has some testimonies from actual Polish WWII veterans. Here they are:

Leaders mark 70th Anniversary of World War II

WWII anything but history for Poland

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Excellent Resource - Hiroshima

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Dear Students,

It´s been 64 years since the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. This link provides excellent high-quality photographs of the disaster, for you to appreciate just how destructive the bomb was, and why we really do need to think before we use nuclear weapons.

I will say that this website in general is excellent, but do be advised that some of the images are graphic in nature.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/08/hiroshima_64_years_ago.html

Have a good weekend,



Maestro.

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