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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday, everybody! In Hungary, we are on day 2 of a 4 day weekend, so things are great! Well, the weather could be better, but hey… Hope the weekends of all of you are going great as well! Here’s what I recommend to read… Boots on the Ground in Somalia: Acting “By, With, and Through” a Local Partner to Minimize Friction This was not the first US military action in Somalia, and most certainly not the last of its kind. Salami Slicing Human Rights Accountability: How the European Border and Coast Guard Agency may inherit Frontex’ genetic defect The…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday! I hope March i.e. the first month of Spring started well for you all. How about House of Cards Season 4? I cant wait to start it already. But first, it’s time to do some weekend reading… United Nations Security Council Resolution 2270 Indeed this is the most unique and harshest sanctions regime yet, but – at least for now – it doesn’t seem to stop the DPRK from pursuing a nuclear bomb. In my opinion, the man is insane and no SC resolution can cure that. Election fallout: What Iran’s Vote Means for Hope and Change (and…

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Sunday Smack

Happy last Sunday of February! As one-sixth of 2016 is gone and spring is approaching I am looking forward to welcome changes. Here on the blog and in life as well. I do hope there will be even more than I expect at this time. Happy reading! Getting Serious About Syria: What to do When Containment Doesn’t Work and  Is Syria Obama’s Fault? Although many believe that the new developments on the Syria front will be short lived if they materialize at all. The first post outlines a solution which would lead to results in years. The other is worth reading…

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Sunday Smack

I hope you all had a great weekend! This one is a short Sunday Smack… Can the Government Compel Apple to Speak? This is a though one, right? I mean the “should” and not the “can”. Is one party “righter” than the other? Probably not. It will be tremendously exciting to see how courts would decide it solely on the grounds of law. And even then, how to “compel” a company like Apple to come up with something they don’t want to come up with? Boutros Boutros-Ghali and the 2016 Presidential Elections This is about how much US politics matter when electing a UN…

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united-nations: #ThrowbackThursday Today we remember Boutros Boutros-Ghali.  The Egyptian diplomat served as sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations (1992-1996). He guided the organisation through a tumultuous early 1990’s and helped shape the UN response to post-Cold War realities, drafting a seminal report on preventative diplomacy, peacemaking and peacekeeping.  Boutros Boutros-Ghali died in Cairo on 16th February 2016, aged 93. See his tenure in this UN Photo gallery.   

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday Everybody! Happy Chinese New Year, happy Valentines Day, happy long weekend in the US, and happy whatever you are celebrating around this time. I hope you have some time for today’s posts. Thoughts on the North Korean Nuclear Test and Satellite Launch This post elaborates in detail on my own opinion that what happens in the Korean Peninsula time and again seems to be on repeat. The beginning of the end of border-free Schengen? This is an ever more probable threat as time goes by since the beginning of the migration crisis in Europe. Today is the Day…

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Four important topics from Davos 2016

The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland took place from 20 to 23 January under the theme “Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution”. I am a regular follower of the World Economic Forum’s website, which – regardless of this one week per year in Davos – is a constant resource of informative and inspirational articles for not just economists, but all types of modern professionals. It is also on my bucket list to one day be an attendee of this one week buzz in the life of Davos, Switzerland. Now that I have put it in writing, the…

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Sunday Smack

You might have noticed that despite my promises there was no update on the blog this week. I have several unfinished posts and a bunch of excuses that I will not bother you with. So, no promises this time. Let’s all just accept whatever might come. Like these readings now to finish off your Sundays. ISIS Was Born In An American Detention Facility (And It Wasn’t Gitmo) This is equal parts interesting and disturbing. Julian Assange and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention This was pretty big news this week, with people speculating whether it has any implications for…

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Sunday Smack

Happy last day of January, everybody! For me it feels like New Year all over again or instead of the one I kind of missed a month ago. One of my monthly goals was to reach a professional decision by the end of the month and that I just did on the last workday of it, although kind of reluctantly. Whether it was a good decision, time will tell, I sure will have to live with it for now. On that same note, hopefully this was the last dreadful week for me, at least I refuse to suck it up…

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Sunday Smack

Happy weekend, people! I hope everybody is safe, whether you are affected by severe weather or other dangerous conditions wherever you are. As you might have noticed, this blog might as well be dead if it wasn’t for these Sunday round-ups. But I am bringing it back, I promise, I have at least two posts scheduled for this next week, which according to my favorite boss is going to be “an important week”… So, stay tuned. And thank you for sticking with me through this long hiatus, I hope at least you enjoyed the weekly readings. Let’s see what we…

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