New Term Nonpermanent Seats on the UNSC

Japan, Austria, Turkey, Uganda, and Mexico will replace Indonesia, Belgium, Italy, South Africa, and Panama in the two year terms for nonpermanent seats on the United Nations Security Council beginning on January 1 of next year: UNITED NATIONS — Japan easily drubbed Iran in the election on Friday for a two-year seat on the Security Council, while the recent financial meltdown ...

More on the AKP Ruling in Turkey

Yesterday I noted the ruling regarding the banning (or not, as the case was) of the ruling AK party in Turkey. Here's a follow-up which focuses mostly on the funding cut imposed by the court.

AKP Escapes Ban (Barely)

Via the BBC: Turkey's ruling party escapes ban Turkey's Constitutional Court has decided not to ban the ruling AK Party, accused of undermining the country's secular system. But the judges did cut half the AKP's treasury funding for this year. That'll show 'em! (I honestly have no idea which funds or what they are used for--and the story does not elaborate.) In all ...

Institutionalizing Counter-Terrorism

Bernard Finel argues that we have done a poor job of formalizing rules to deal with the fight against international terrorists. Few, even today, question the legitimacy of the U.S. campaign to remove the Taliban. But has this case set a broader precedent? And if so, what are the parameters of this precedent. Does any country unilaterally have the right to ...

Haggling over Haggling

Will Wilkinson reports that he didn't buy as many things as he would have liked on a recent trip to Turkey because the cultural proclivity to haggling left him cold. He suspects this experience is generalizable. [P]robably hundreds of my dollars stayed in my pocket because I didn’t have good information about the quality of products and I knew ...

Does John McCain Want to Kill the UN?

During a major foreign policy address yesterday, John McCain talked about his plan to create a League of Democracies. Charles Krauthammer sees a plot to do away with the United Nations: Well, I like the idea of the league of democracies, and only in part because I and others had proposed it about six years ago. What I like about ...

Caption Contest Winners

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Edition OTB Caption ContestTM is now over. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst THE WINNERS First: radio free fred - The Definition For Helium and Ron Paul are Similar (A Non Reactive, Inert, Noble Gas.) Second: floyd - No wonder he talks funny.... It's the Helium! Third: Anderson - Ron Paul denied knowing whose hot air was bearing his name. HONORABLE MENTION charles ...

Ron Paul Phenomenon Not About Ron Paul

Joe Carter, in an interesting reflection on his 30 days working for the Huckabee campaign, makes this observation: The Ron Paul Phenomenon is Not About Ron Paul -- It will take a more astute political mind than I possess to comprehend this Ron Paul phenomenon. All I know is that it has less to do with the candidate than about ...

Pentagon Giving Turkey Intelligence on PKK

The United States is actively supporting Turkey in its attacks against PKK terrorists, although remaining vague on the precise nature of the intelligence provided. The United States has given Turkey intelligence to track Kurdish fighters hiding in Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said on Monday, but he would not say whether Washington gave Ankara precise targets used in weekend raids. Defense Department spokesman ...

The Council Has Spoken!

The Watcher's Council has announced its picks for the most outstanding posts of the preceding week. The winning Council post was Right Wing Nut House's post, “Buchanan's New Book: “Prepare Ye for the End””. Second place honors went to my own post, “The Visual Imagery Society”. I voted for Rick's post so I'm happy with this ...