January 2011 ~ İBG Blog

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Davos 2011: Doha round 'should finish by end of year'

11:47 PM David Cameron, Davos 2011, Doha Round

The Doha round of trade talks needs to be completed by the end of this year if it is to be a success, a report by high level trade experts has recommended. UK Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the report and said 2011 would be the "make or break" year for Doha. The Doha Round was launched in 2001 to boost the world economy and to stimulate growth and wealth in developing countries through trade. But the talks stalled in 2008 over disagreements...

Mubarak dismisses government

1:52 AM day of wrath, demonstrations, Egypt, Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak, Middle East, Upheaval in Egypt

Embattled Egyptian leader says he will name a new government on Saturday. The Egyptian president has dismissed his government, saying that he will replace it with a new one on Saturday. "I have asked the government to resign and tomorrow there will be a new government," Hosni Mubarak said in an address to the nation late on Friday after four days of deadly protests. The president said that change can not be achieved through chaos but through...

China's economy expands faster in 2010, tightening fears grow

12:22 PM China, Economic growth

Graphics shows China's GDP growth from 2006 to 2010. (Xinhua/Zhang Liy...

ASEAN Connected with China, More to Come…

1:00 AM ASEAN, China

ASEAN and China Foreign Ministers met in Kunming, China, yesterday to explore long-term strategic cooperation between the two sides. Connectivity, the 20th anniversary of ASEAN-China dialogue relations, ASEAN-China Free Trade Area, socio-cultural exchanges, cooperation to address non-traditional security issues and the East Asia Summit cooperation were among the key topics discussed. The Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr Surin Pitsuwan, said...

Fears of trade war stalk Davos meeting

6:01 PM Davos, Trade War, World Economic Forum

Of the raft of global risks confronting business and political bigwigs at Davos, the threat of a trade war is one of the scariest. Open markets and trade are the essence of the globalization that delivered rising prosperity for decades until interrupted by the credit crunch and economic downturn. An initial unified global response to the crisis staved off the wave of protectionism that many felt was inevitable. But fears persist that stubborn...

NATO Military Committee meets in follow-up of Lisbon Summit

5:19 PM Brussels, Lisbon Summit, Military Committee Meeting, NATO

The first meeting of NATO’s Military Committee (MC) in Chiefs of Defence Staff (CHODs) session after the Lisbon Summit will take place on 26-27 January 2011. Under the chairmanship of Adm. Giampaolo Di Paola (CMC), top level military representatives of 66 countries will discuss in various formats the implementation of the New Strategic Concept, its military consequences and the evolution of NATO and NATO led operations. Together with NATO’s...

Gül Addresses PACE: “We should form a common European conscience”

1:44 AM Abdullah Gül, European conscience, PACE, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

During his address to the PACE, President Gül spoke of the challenges and threats within Europe, underscoring: “To overcome those menaces, we don’t need to create a unified European Army. What we need today is to construct “a unified European Conscience” for a freer, safer and more egalitarian and united Europe.” President Abdullah Gül addressed the Winter Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). The President launched...

TURKEY STRONGLY RESPONDS TO ISRAEL’S MAVI MARMARA REPORT

3:13 PM Israel, Mavi Marmara, Report, Republic of Turkey

Turkey's report documents that Israeli soldiers killed the injured, sexually harassed the women and tortured those onboard. Turkey has given a strong response to Israel's Mavi Marmara report in which it aspires to clear itself of any blame. Ankara has made its own report public which it submitted to the UN in September. Turkey's report documents that Israeli soldiers killed the injured, sexually harassed the women and tortured those...

Cyprus Talks in Geneva

2:29 PM Ban Ki-moon, Cyprus issue, Cyprus Talks, Derviş Eroğlu, Dimitris Christofias. Negotiations, Geneva, United Nations

The Turkish Cypriot president said Friday he expected a trilateral Cyprus meeting scheduled to take place in Geneva would yield a result in the first quarter of 2011. President Derviş Eroğlu said he expected the parties to work toward a result regarding the Cyprus issue during the trilateral Cyprus meeting set to take place on Jan. 26. The trilateral meeting will be held between United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Eroğlu and...

Political crisis in Belgium

9:04 PM Belgium, Flemish, lack of government, political crisis, Walloons

Tens of thousands protested the lack of government in Belgium. Although 7 months have gone by since the elections on June 13, Belgium still lacks a proper government. Tens of thousands of people joined the protest initiated by students. The demonstrators demanded a new government and unity of the country in capital Brussels. A group of students, who said they were tired of the ongoing political stalemate, led the protests. About 20 to 30 thousand people who filled the streets of Brussels called on politiciants to urgently set up a government. The...

Political crisis in Ireland

12:37 AM Brian Cowen, economic crisis, Fianna Fail Party, Ireland, political crisis

Economic crisis led the country into political deadlock in Ireland. Irisih Prime Minister Brian Cowen resigned from the leadership of Fianna Fail party, following the resignation of 6 ministers from the cabinet earlier this week. Cowen said he will lead the government until general elections in March. However, the opposition and some deputies from his own party showed reactions to this manoeuvre of the prime minister. The opposition defined this will of the prime minister as an insult to democracy. The opposition is planning to take the...

IRAN'S NUCLEAR TALKS BEGIN IN ISTANBUL

12:29 PM Iran, Istanbul Summit, Nuclear Talks

The new round of talks on Iran's nuclear program has begun in Istanbul between Iran and five permanent members of UN Security Council and Germany (5+1) on Friday. EU High representative Catherine Ashton is chairing 5+1 (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany) delegation while Iranian delegation is headed by Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili during two-day talks. The talks in Istanbul's...

What factors affect voter turnout?

1:43 AM comparative politics, compulsory vote, elections, electoral security, POLITICS, public interest for elections, Voter turnout

It is obvious that there is a decline in public interest for elections in the world. There can be a lot of reasons for this, but three of them go to the fore. Three Hypotheses on the determinants of voter turnout;1- Lack of provision of electoral security decreases the voter turnout.2- Noncompulsory voting decreases the voter turnout3- Disbelief in...

EXPLANATORY AND INTERPRETIVE RESEARCH OF THE DYNAMICS OF DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION: DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL FACTORS OF COUPS IN THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, 2005-2010

10:35 PM authoritarianism, coups, democractic transitions, democratic breakdown, dynamics of democratic transition, Kyrgyzstan, kyrgyzstani uprising, nepotism, revolutions, Tulip revolution

Abstract This research focuses on dynamics of regime changes with the intention of analyzing the domestic and international factors that cause coups in the countries through the example of the case of Kyrgyzstan. The answers of the questions of why democratic regimes collapse and why the coups take place in the countries is researched through the exploratory and interpretive analyses of the domestic and international causes of the Tulip Revolution...

South Sudan: Can This Be the World's Newest Nation?

5:36 PM african studies, Juba, newest country of the world, POLITICS, South Sudan

A thousand miles from anywhere, among the empty flatlands and bare rock hills that mark the Sahara's southern edge, Juba is a place of mud huts and plastic-bag roofs where buzzards lift lazily on the afternoon heat and children wash in the muddy waters of the White Nile. It has no landline telephones, no public transport, no power grid, no industry, no agriculture and precious few buildings: hotels, aid compounds and even some government ministries...

Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution

5:13 PM arab awakening, arab revolutions, arab spring, Arab World, arabic rebellions, ash-sha`b yurid isqat an-nizam, Jasmine Revolution, Middle East, Middle East Studies, Tunisia, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali

For 23 years, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali presided over the most tightly run ship in the Arab world. So perfect a police state was his Tunisia, with its ubiquitous informers and portraits of the president, that no one predicted Ben Ali's ship could capsize. Read Full N...