With the arrival of August, political expectations in Russia, informed by the long experience of setbacks and disasters, are turning negative. Second thoughts about the “victorious” war with Georgia that erupted six years ago blend with reflections on the centennial anniversary of World War I (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, August 6). At the same time, liberal-minded pundits… Read more »
Month: August 2014
The Kursk day
Tommorow is indeed the Kursk day – it was on August 12, 2000 that the proud but unfortunate submarine sunk after an explosion on board during exercises in the Barents Sea. This picture of its crew (from a BBC documentary) marks a moment of remembrace. It is rather striking that on the eve of this day,… Read more »
The Art and Importance of Teaching Peace Research
Since 1969, PRIO has organized and taught a graduate-level course on peace research for the University of Oslo International Summer School. For six weeks, students from around the world learn about the most current topics in peace research, including why conflicts start, why and how conflicts endure, how peace can be built in the aftermath… Read more »
State Briefing: Warrap State
Capital: Kuajok Approximate Population: 972,928. Internally Diplaced People (IDP) sheltering in the state: 8,800 Warrap State is located in the north of South Sudan, in the Greater Bahr el-Ghazal region. Warrap borders Abyei, a contested area between Sudan and South Sudan. The majority of Warrap’s inhabitants are Dinka, but Luo, Bongo and other smaller ethnic groups also… Read more »
This Week in South Sudan – Week 32
Monday 4 August An aid worker employed by Norwegian People’s Aid was killed in Maban County. The IGAD peace talks resumed. The Tonj South (Warrap) Commissioner survived an assassination attempt. South Sudanese officials in Canada announced their support for the SPLM/A-in-Opposition. South Sudanese internally displaced people expressed doubt in the peace talks’ ability to solve the… Read more »
West pushes and eases Putin toward a “Diplomatic solution” in Ukraine
Bad news hit the Kremlin thick and fast last week, but on Friday evening (August 1), President Vladimir Putin answered a phone call from US President Barack Obama, who again stressed that the Kremlin’s mounting problems can be resolved diplomatically (whitehouse.gov, August 1). Putin’s personal responsibility for the war in eastern Ukraine is apparently no… Read more »
Israel and Hamas are Both Just Winging It
Israel is more than three weeks into Operation Protective Edge. With over 1328 Palestinians and 59 Israelis dead, numerous commentators have weighed in on what each side hopes to gain from the current violence.
The sanctions and the Arctic
In the debates on the impact of tougher sanction imposed by the US and the EU last week, one of the key issues is the scope of problems that Russia will encounter in developing the “green” oil and gas fields in the Arctic. The Economist calls it Arctic Chill, and many other media speculate that Rosneft will have to… Read more »
Filipino Migration is Extraordinary
The population of the Philippines is surpassing 100 million in late July 2014. That’s a reminder of the country’s importance in global migration. Emigration generally has the strongest impacts in countries with relatively small populations, such as El Salvador, Armenia and Samoa. In fact, as the scatterplot shows, only five countries have remittance inflows representing… Read more »