Politics
Politics
Fair Observer's analysis of political issues, events and trends and their national, regional and international consequences.
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By Jacob LockeAn analysis of the territorial disputes in the South China Sea between Vietnam, China and the Philippines. Background The Spratly and the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea total less than thirteen km² in actual land. However, their strategic locations along the world’s most heavily trafficked shipping lanes, as well as the precious oil and gas deposits beneath, have made them the subject of fierce territorial disputes between a number of East and Southeast Asian nations. China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Vietnam have all laid claim to some or all of the islands, forcing numerous diplomatic stand-offs and, occasionally, naval showdowns. The exact...
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As the permanent members of the UN Security Council continue to bicker over the Syrian crisis, the ongoing violence has had an adverse effect upon the children of war. While the United Nations have suspended their observer mission inside Syria, violence in the country continues to surge, causing a rising number of refugees in neighbouring countries. The French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, has been latest official to brand the crisis as a civil war. Fabius's statement came on June 13 as he urged for Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan to be enforced under the United Nation's Chapter Seven provision, together with a new set of heavier sanctions. A UN Security Council resolution...
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By Neelam Deo The setting for the third Indo-US Strategic Dialogue is promising: a global shift of economic weight to Asia, US military exhaustion and indebtedness to China and other factors call for a greater convergence in Indo-US interests than ever before. It is essential then, to take bold decisions at the dialogue. As a welcome curtain-raiser to the third round of the Indo-U.S. Strategic Dialogue in Washington DC on June 13, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that India was among the eight countries exempt from sanctions to our financial institutions because of significant reductions to our imports of oil from Iran. While this is a relief, it does underline once again the...
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Politics / Europe / 360° Context / Middle East / Africa / AsiaAn insight into the plight of victims of war as refugee week commences. Background The United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine (UNCCP) defines Palestinian refugees as "persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948, [and] who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict," including both Arabs and Jews. Combined, the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and Israel's invasion and occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 six-day-war prompted over 1 million Palestinian refugees to flee to neighbouring states. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) have since...
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By Omar FarahatAll of Egypt's political forces need to take responsibility for past failures and understand that a consensus is the only way to establish the shape of the future Egyptian state, argues Omar Farahat. The rulings of the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court that resulted in the nullification of the People's Assembly and the continuation of the presidential elections between two extremely polarizing candidates, ushered in an era of institutional chaos that possibly exceeds in uncertainty the turbulent aftermaths of the 1881 and 1919 revolutions. Egypt now awaits a new president who will hold a set of executive powers ambiguously defined in an interim constitutional declaration, the...
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Ten years since the end of Sierra Leone’s eleven-year civil war, what is the impact of the Sierra Leonean Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)? As the site of ongoing attempts to bring about reconciliation, the Sierra Leonean case is significant also for other countries addressing legacies of violence. The Establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission Efforts for reconciliation in Sierra Leone preceded the end of the war. During the war, Sierra Leonean civil society campaigned for a peace process. They emphasized the twin goals of accountability, especially for the victims of the war, as well as peace – linked to reconciliation and reintegration of ex-combatants....
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With the choice of an Islamist or a felool for their next president, Egypt’s revolutionaries are dissatisfied and already looking forward to the next uprising. It is two in the morning, and I wander around a Tahrir Square teeming with activity. Street carts serving chicken liver sandwiches, beans, tea, juice, and sunflower seeds pave the square's curbs to satisfy Tahrir-goers' late-night cravings. Hardcore thawar, (revolutionaries) set up camp in and around the square to rest and prepare for the next day's anti-military rule demonstrations, vowing not to leave until their demands are met. It has nearly been 18 months since the initial uprising that ousted former President...
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This article is part 3 of a multi-part series exploring Tripoli, Lebanon. The series is based on Nicholas A. Heras' extensive experiences in the city between 2006 and 2011, and the continuing lessons its residents have given him. This is the third of seven parts. Tripoli's reputation can make it an intimidating place to travel to for the first-time visitor. The sporadic violence in neighborhoods in the outlying districts of Tripoli is an instant and enduring international headline. Often, Tripoli is portrayed as a parable of Middle Eastern geo-political disaster and an example of the perniciousness of sectarian communal violence and ideological extremism in Lebanon. The city, in...
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360° Analysis / Politics / Europe / BRICAlexander von Hahn analyzes reactions to Putin's election. Vladimir Putin sheds the fig leaf of constitutional correctness and reassumes the title - not the role, which he has been playing for nearly ten years - of Russia’s president for the third term. Many commentators contemplate accepting the reality of yet another decade of his rule. But just how real is this reality? A clue came as the helicopter broadcasting live Putin’s triumphant ride through the Moscow city centre to his Kremlin inauguration passed over the Russian capital’s busiest streets. Europe’s most populous city was eerily empty, swept clean - as if struck by some deadly virus in a horror movie....