International Politics

The Party will be short-lived In Egypt

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/02/military...

Most of these people don't even know what they are celebrating for or really care or understand what they are getting in return. In time, the predictable, corrupt process will pit opposition factions against each other as they scramble and jockey to secure power on the backs of the rubes who just helped them create enough hysteria to get Mubarak down.

"Lying Cheating and Stealing is OK in Russia"

A law suit filed by former shareholders of former Russian oil giant Yukos is making its way through the European Union's court system.

Shareholders argue that the Russian Federation violated a major international energy pact - the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) by buying bankrupt forcefully bankrupting and acquiring Yukos and failing to compensate shareholders.

Georgia, Russia, NATO, Serbia, Kosovo - Cycles of Violence

I missed out on some otherwise excellent conversation about the Georgia-Russia conflict because I was in the middle of settling down in my new home, but I wanted to take a few minutes to weigh in on some issues related to American foreign policy, perceptions of Russia and perceived Russian imperialism, and the impact on the current presidential race. I couldn't agree more with John's diary on the matter, but I wanted to flesh out some of the political issues that are currently important to the region, as well as discuss some historical parallels that may be uncomfortable to revisit, but are nonetheless instructive.

Part of this is motivated by a roundtable discussion I attended this week on this very issue: the panel included historians, political scientists, and former NATO advisers. The most controversial statement was made by a political scientist who has lived and worked in Georgia, and who has no hesitation in comparing the current situation in Georgia to the Serbian conflict - although I disagree on some of the specifics and implications, which I'll note below.

Top Ten Solutions to the World's Problems.

Hat tip to Reason Magazine .

From Copenhagen Consensus 2008 , we get their list of priorities to world-wide problems.

Being that the problems are "world-wide", many do not necessarily directly affect the First World like the U.S. and Europe.

1. Supplying Micronutrients

Sunday Extra EXTRA: A Secession in Bolivia?

From CNN (and little elsewhere in the MSM):

4 of Bolivia's states are attempting to secede from the national government:

Council representatives vowed to legitimize the so-called autonomy statutes through a referendum that would legally separate the natural-gas rich districts from President Evo Morales' government.

Amazon vs. The French Courts and Outcries over Italian Aspirin. The Reality of Rent Seeking

This combines two entries I made at Freedom Democrats :

From The NY Times , we learn that French courts have ruled that Amazon.com may no longer offer free shipping of its sales in France or face heavy fines starting in 2008 if it fails to charge shipping.

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