Tag: Politician

Another Inquiry or Another Whitewash?

www.antiwarart.co.uk/
Protestors outside the inquiry / Photo: Chris John Beckett/flickr

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair will be recalled for a second round of questioning after conflicting testimonies were given to the Iraq Inquiry.

It is unclear, however, what the consequences could be if Blair is found guilty of promoting false information regarding the existence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in making the case for war. There seems to be a culture of inquiry in the UK that reinforces our democratic conscience but often results in ambiguous or anticlimactic conclusions.

BBC reports in 2003 quoted a government source claiming the 45-minute dossier had been ‘sexed up’ to justify the Iraq invasion. The Hutton Inquiry was held after the source, Ministry of Defence employee David Kelly, was found dead having apparently committed suicide. The inquiry cleared the government of any wrongdoing and heavily criticized the BBC’s actions – a verdict widely condemned by the press as a whitewash.

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The Kremlin’s Love-Hate Relationship with the Internet

Vladimir Putin is watching you / Photo: Limbic, flickr

“On the internet 50 percent is porn material. Why should we refer to the internet?” This was Vladimir Putin’s answer to widespread claims on Russian internet websites that the October regional elections were rigged.

But while dismissing the internet as an irrelevant source of information, Putin does take the internet seriously when it comes to quieting his critics. Alexei Dymovsky, the police officer who spoke out publicly about widespread police corruption via YouTube, was duly arrested on Friday (and facing dubious charges).

At least on the surface, Putin’s younger successor Dmitry Medvedev seems to have a more positive approach to the internet as an information platform. Over a year ago, Medvedev proudly discovered the blog as a means of communication with the Russian public. Taking stock of his blogging experience on the occasion of his video blog‘s first anniversary, Medvedev draws the following, rather trite conclusion:

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From 11 to 5

Nixie clock / Photo: Public domain, Wikipedia
Nixie clock / Photo: Public domain, Wikipedia

Russia is the largest country on the planet and as such faces special challenges. Who else has to organize such a vast territory that at the moment spans over 11 time zones? Did you know that the difference between Omsk Time and Magadan Time is exactly 5 hours?

To ease the burden of space and time, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed to actually reduce the number of time zones in the country from 11 to 5. Pointing to the economic advantages of the reduction, he underlined benefits for communication and traveling. It’s definitely an organizational challenge if a businessman in Kaliningrad in Russia’s far west is calling a business partner in Vladivostok, which is in the far east.

Yet, time is not only in Russia a political issue – also China decided after the Communist Revolution of 1949 to abolish the up until then existing 5 time zones in favor of only one zone, of course that of Beijing. Whether or not this has helped to strengthen the central leadership and to unify the national political movements no one can say, but one can imagine what that means for the inhabitants of western China.

Changing time and its measurement goes over the powers of most politicians, as the fate of the Soviet calendar as well as of its French Republican counterpart proves. So it remains to be seen how far Medvedev’s proposal will get.

Where Is Turkey Going?

Prime Minister of Turkey Erdogan, courtesy of the United Nations/flickr
Prime Minister of Turkey Erdogan, courtesy of the United Nations/flickr

Political relations between Turkey and its neighbors have significantly changed. We can distinguish six major shifts in Turkish foreign policy within the last three months that could be considered historic:

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ISN Weekly Theme: French Foreign Policy

Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel, photo: Chesi- Fotos CC/flickr
Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel, photo: Chesi- Fotos CC/flickr

Nicolas Sarkozy, two years into his office as president, continues to chart a bold, if unfocused course in French foreign affairs. Although rhetoric has so far been stronger than action, Sarkozy has forged warmer ties with the US, assumed an active role in regional crisis management and pushed for further European integration. And with the Lisbon Treaty ratified Sarkozy seems to have gotten what he wanted on this crucial front.