The rise and fall of European Empires

The last 200 years as told through four blobs: The British, Portuguese, French, and Spanish empires. I have to say I learned the most about Portugal which by the late 19th century was bigger than Spain and by 1967 larger than France.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwOA8AfeHM4&feature=player_embedded

Reminded me of the above map from the Strange Maps Blog 

Iraq: A Changing of the Guard, as the Guards depart

The last full U.S combat brigade left Iraq today  and at the same time the new U.S Ambassador, James Jefferies has arrived in Bagdhad. I met him at the 4th of July party at the U.S Embassy in Ankara this year. He is a solid Bostonian with pride for his old High School sports team decades after he left and he even speaks Turkish with a strong Bostonian accent. The two moves symbolize a signifigant shift in emphasis in Iraq.

However, the question remains about who will control the skies in Iraq?

While, it's true that this is the last full combat brigade in Iraq, the U.S is as I understand it still running airpatrols in Iraq. As the Iraqi airforce at the momment is totally non-existent and the situation is ofcourse a tricky one.

McArdle on entrepreneurship in Africa

 I had the distinct pleasure of meeting prolific blogger and writer Megan McArdle in June 2009.
McArdle has forgotten more about finance and economics than I'll ever know. Here is a recent post from her on entrepreneurship in Africa.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/08/are-ngos-killing-african-entrepreneurship/61045/
And also a resposne to it from an African entrepreneur...

http://appfrica.net/blog/2010/08/15/whos-killing-african-entrepreneurship/

Also I want to congradulate her again on her marriage...all the best to you two!

Does language influence culture?

Do the languages we speak alter how we interpret and see the world?

 "The more languages you speak, the more people you are."
Eastern European Proverb

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703467304575383131592767868.html?mod=WSJEUROPE_hpp_MIDDLETopNews#printMode

The Boogeyman Snatched the Breast

As always I'm interested in how language relates to international relations.  This story discusses the crude language used by Iran's Ahmadinejad in his speeches. Really gutter stuff apparently, which has ofcourse long hbeen his appeal. He is the first leader of the Islamic Republic to talk in informal Persian rather than formalized language.

example of message that is displayed when accessing a censored site in Iran

My one criticism of this story is that they did not include any Farsi words except "mameh" which means breast apparently. Is there a tie in with "mammary" in English?

Pakistan: Founded as a secular state

                                  

Really good post on the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah's vision of Pakistan at independence as a secular state. The post is from a Pakistani blogger. Jinnah was a one of kind a Twelver Shia who drank alcohol until his later years and in many ways regretted creating Pakistan. Until the end of his life he casually dreamed of returning to his beautiful home in Bombay.

Lord of the Bling

Now for some good news out of Pakistan despite the insurgencies and floods. A Pakistani jeweler has released what he claims is the world's largest ring named...(wait for it)...the Fragrance of Love...

Here is the original story in the local Pakistani press

The Taliban's Fake Religious War

Really good piece and brief piece on the Taliban's recent slaying of 10 aid workers.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2010/08/10/afghanistan_the_talibans_fake_religious_war/

Does Iran have a nuclear bomb?

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (who I admire in some ways) has made a number of gaffes at the podium of late. Most recently Cameron said that "Iran has got a nuclear weapon." Compare this statement with President Ahmadinejad's comment that "England is a small island west of Africa.".

Cameron we can assume made a slip of tongue and Ahmadinejad was trying perhaps to belittle the U.K. The Islamic Republic of Iran rarely misses out on an opportunity to humiliate and belittle the UK.

 Still, perhaps we should momentarily consider the idea that Iran could already have a nuclear weapon. We are now living 30 years after the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Seeing that Iran has always seen itself as surrounded by enemies why would wait until now to develop a nuclear weapon? The major political events of the past decade have gone in Iran's favor. Iran is less threatened today that it was before. Iran no longer faces threats from Saddam Hussein's Iraq, a Taliban lead Afghanistan or for that matter a strong Pakistan.

For Iran the best time to build a nuke was perhaps during the Iran-Iraq War. Iraq had  its own nuclear weapons program at the time. Also, let's not forget Iran borders Pakistan, a nation which has in the past been willing to sell nuclear weapons technology. Did Dr. Abdul Kadeer Khan or someone similar ever approach Iran? Finally, while researching my M.A thesis I discovered news reports from the mid-1990s about Israeli intelligance projections that Iran would have nuclear weapons in a few years. Ofcourse, such projections come out all the time such as this report.

Regardless, the international efforts to resolve the present crisis should continue and on that note, here is an interesting read on the Iranian negotiating style.

Obama the note-passer

            This week it was leaked to the press that President Barrack Obama sent a “secret letter.” to revered Shia clerk the Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani. What’s up with Obama’s obsession with secret notes?

                More on that in a moment, Sistani has been described as the most powerful man in Iraq a fact that was lost at times on the previous administration. L. Paul Bremer of the Coalition Provisional Authority(CPA) was once advised to contact Sistani shortly after the establishment of the CPA. To which Bremer responded “Who is this person?” Not knowing who the most powerful man in Iraq is when your ruling the country for the moment is a pretty egregious error. Right up with there with disbanding the Iraqi Army. So things have improved a lot we now know who Al-Sistani is!

            The story here is that the Obama administration is a big fan of secret letters as a tool of diplomacy. Obama has already sent multiple secret letters to Iran, which is in keeping with established policy toward Iran from the Clinton years. The BBC Documentary "Iran and the West" reveals that the Clinton Administration sent a secret letter to President Mohammad Khatami of Iran after the Al-Khobar Towers bombing. George W. Bush sent a secret letter to India while in office concerning nuclear issues. 

             But, Obama's penmanship has been more prolific. He has sent secret letters to Russia as part of are all over "Russian reset". Despite talk of a Russian reset it remains likely the iconic symbol of Russian-American relations under Obama will be the spy swap on a tarmac in Vienna.
            Secret notes are a mixture of 1890s diplomacy and high school hijinx. One must wonder if Obama is using them as a tool of diplomacy so frequently to avoid domestic  criticism of his bold foreign policy initiatives. Hopefully this is not the case and it is unfair to speculate. To be fair the exact contents of these secret letters are unknown, so we will have to wait until one of them shows up on Wikileaks one day.