Sarkozy's Obama envy...

I was reading a very interesting article and I decided to share it with you guys. It talks about how presidents can affect the relationship between countries, using Sarkozy and Obama, along with Gordon Brown as examples.

The article makes reference to the G20 convention in Pittsburgh earlier this week, and how Sarkozy looked a little jealous of Obama, even though they fought for the same things at the events. The reason for this is that Sarkozy has been a pioneer of several new things during his time as president, and in some measure, Obama has been the follower.

This time, Obama was in the spotlight in an event that was promoted by the Fench president, and he certainly did not like this. The relations between countries are not fractured or anything, but do you think that this situation between the presidents could affect alliances in the future?

To read more, please visit...

http://www.newsweek.com/id/216240

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US and Cuba 'in high-level talks'

Early this month, the Cuban government claimed Barack Obama was not doing enough to end the US trade embargo against the island despite his promise to improve ties. Regardless of Cuban Foreign Minister's statement of the embargo being "obsolete and unacceptable," the US president extended it for one more year and made it clear that the ban would only come down if Cuba were willing to free political prisoners and improve human rights.

However, in a sign of thawing relations, he has eased travel restrictions for Americans wanting to visit Cuba and the two countries are holding direct talks on immigration.

Now recently, it appears that a senior American diplomat has held high-level talks with the Cuban government in Havana. The talks between the two nations were the first of their kind in years.

Cuba's President Raul Castro has previously said he is prepared to negotiate with the Obama administration, providing there are no preconditions. His brother, former President Fidel Castro, also last week praised Mr Obama for his commitment to tackling climate change.

The tense relation between these two countries is not at all recent, the conflict goes back to the mid-XX Century; their different ideologies make it apparently impossible to have a better relationship than the one they already have. I, for one, don't think President Obama, or any future American president for that matter, will remove the embargo if Cuba refuses to change its entire country's way of thinking. Communism has been one of America's foes for a long time, and Cuba is no exception.

Sources:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8281756.stm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba_–_United_States_relations

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8260104.stm

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Mafalda

Mafalda is the most famous creation of Argentinian cartoonist Joaquin Salvador Lavado, better known as Quino. The character is worldly recognised because of her sharp sense of humour and social commentary. Though in her biography, Mafalda is said to have been born in 1962, it was until 1964 that a Mafalda comic strip was published. The beginning of the second half of the XX Century, when the Cold War was present in every person's thoutghs, was a time in which big ideological and political changes occured and decisions were made; and Quino was able to incorporate these events into his art. How?

The character Felipe--a personage famous for his continuous nervous breakdowns--was incorporated after the Indonesian government's nervous breakdown due to its Malaysian neighbors; Susana--the ultimate corny--, the date of her debut into the series matches the date of the peace and disarm declarations and negotiations of Washington, the OAS (Organisation of American States), and Moscow; Manolito--the utterly capitalistic owner of a grocery store--debuts nearly the same day that North Vietnam blows up the American embassy and in return the US makes a North Vietnamese island disappear from the map, claiming that "War is a business and those who make it possible are good merchants."

Mafalda gives us the opportunity of reading a humoured version of what happened in the world from 1964 to 1973 with subjects ranging from Vietnam, racism, the atomic war, Fidel Castro, and Lyndon Johnson up to the Beatles, the creation of the UN, and Soviet Union, the US proposals to the Soviet Union, the Iron Curtain, and more.

"Cuando sea grande voy a trabajar de intérprete en laONU y cuando un delegado le diga a otro que su país es un asco yo voy a traducir que su país es un encanto y, claro, nadie podrá pelearse ¡y se acabarán los líos y las guerras y el mundo estará a salvo!" - Mafalda

"Y, claro, el drama de ser presidente es que si uno se pone a resolver los problemas de estado no le queda tiempo para gobernar." - Mafalda

Source:

TODA MAFALDA by Joaquín Salvador Lavado

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So... is these international, legal blindness?

The world of cinema would not have been the same without Roman Polanski, director of the classic “Chinatown” and famous “The Pianist”, both of them films that helped this man climb up high and jump directly into the restricted rank of legendary and well-respected moviemakers.

During these last few days, his name has been filling the news and tabloids, making headlines all around the world. His initial intentions of attending a ceremony to receive an award for his career achievements were utterly altered by his unexpected arrest in Switzerland, after the US gave orders of finally capturing Polanski.

The incident itself aroused a long catalogue of conflicting opinions. And that is just a side of the story, for his arrest has now escalated into an international-scale concern. I was extremely surprised after reading about France and Poland’s requests for the liberation of the filmmaker. It really made my neurones work a little bit harder –and my heart too, if you wish-. Of course it disappointing and extremely heartbreaking that someone you admire is being held under the force of the law, accused for a criminal act, and knowing he is being arrested for it. But we live in a world controlled by rules and his case is nowhere far from having violated them—he even pledged guilty about his accusation years ago and so he fled to France. Had it been an unrecognized person, stranger for most of the world, his actions would have been fiercely condemned at the very least. Rape is not one of the usually forgiven crimes, but one of those that keep you under the scrutiny of public eye, the harsh words spoken by innumerable tongues, and the punishments of our beloved justice. Our beloved justice I said… really? We seem to only ask for her divine intervention when we want her to. It might be because we never promised justice our unconditional love (though we make her believe we did… and we also fooled ourselves thinking the exact same thing). That must be it. And Polanski’s case is showing how we can easily bend and soften the law whenever we feel it is most “appropriate”. I repeat: I truly admire him for his work, but rape… that is another thing. How could he possibly be above law? Why should he receive more compassion and help from authorities than the rest of men and women that have been sent to jail because of the same crime? This event is really putting at stake the credibility of our laws and the respect we have for them. The issue here goes beyond Roman Polanski's legal condition and the feast his situation is giving to entartainment TV channels. It is about the commitment of our governments towards the law.

The real problem was that this case was not solved since the very beginning. Why did it take the US so much time to try to reinitiate the trial? Did they said: “Oh, well, we’ll free the man and let him do more movies for us, yay” And then what? They did not like his most recent films and tried to arrest him then? Honestly, it is not like he was secretly hidden!

Also, why is Switzerland taking an active role in all this disaster so suddenly? Polanski has been spent years coming and going out of the country without any single problem and, as reports mention, he even has a property there! It is kind of weird that the Swiss authorities decide to arrest him all of the sudden.

And meanwhile, France and Poland have already sent a message to Hillary Clinton so she can take action and reflect on their desire of releasing Roman Polanski and drop out his process of extradition to the US. Sarkozy has requested a rapid solution for all this drama.

Just for your own reflections, a series of quotes done by Frédéric Mitrerrand, Minister of Culture and Communication of France concerning Polanski’s arrest:

"In the same way that there is a generous America that we like, there is also a scary America that has just shown its face."

And from French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner:

"It's a little sinister, this business, to be quite frank.”


For more information in case you are interested :)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10600231
http://www.emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=27405
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/roman-polanski-arrested-switzerland-faces-extradition-1977-statutory/story?id=8685935
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/378af0e0-ac62-11de-a754-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6851581.ece

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What is International Relations?

Well, as it says in the syllabus, this class is mainly about International Relations in all its forms. But what are International Relations, really?

The name says lots about it. The relationships between the Nations of the world. But these relationships are not only in the political areas. Indeed, as we have seen in class, it also covers the social, economic and historic fields, amongst others.

So, for people interested in this career... I can say that it's basically a big mix of lots of careers. You have to learn about so many aspects of life in a nation... I would say this career makes you a jack-of-all-trades.

I've heard people say "So, what is your Escenarios class about?" and the most common answer is "a bit about everything." Well, that is true, but one must not forget that now, more than ever, International Relations is of utmost importance in the professional life. We need to understand how to relate with other nations, whether it be in the Political aspect (with the governments), in the Economic one (with the enterprises) or even in the Social aspect (bringing cultures closer).

You might not think that knowing about the economic aspects of the world will help you if you want to be a doctor, for example. But that doesn't mean you have to forget bout the rest of the areas of International Relations. As a doctor, the social aspect helps alot. You'll know what treatments use with your patients, based on their religious beliefs or the social codes in their country.

In the end, I'm sure that, if we think hard enough, we'll all find something in this class, and in International Relations, to help us in our future careers.

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