Tag: refugees

Sunday Smack

An Historic Day at the UN 165 member states signed the Paris Agreement on Friday, the first day it was open for signing, which is indeed a new high in the history of multilateral agreements. The EU-Turkey Statement: A Treaty That Violates Democracy (Part 1 of 2) and (Part 2 of 2) We knew that this agreement is wrong on so many levels. Here is another great publication about it. What Does it Mean to Sponsor Terrorism? I think the list of states that directly or indirectly “sponsor” terrorism is too long, and this article only scratches the surface.

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday and happy reading! The USA Sets Sights on Stopping UN Peacekeeper Sexual Abuse It’s about time to make this a priority. Hopefully the next Secretary General in alliance with the most powerful veto-holding member state can show some results. The Surprising Success of Syria’s Quasi-Ceasefire This is just one of the positive signs we see today, but the end is still nowhere in sight.  Refugees in ISIS’ Shadow This great New York Times op-ed (complete with a video) was written by Bono, who by the way, also testified to the US Congress this week about his experiences visiting…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday! Despite all promises, I am not being very active here these days. I am having a very intense, as well as very exciting time profession-wise. Once I settle with at least a fairly consistent workload, I hope to transfer all I have learned and gained there to here, this blog that I still want to build as a creative outlet of my professional self. I don’t make any promises anymore, but I really do hope it is going to be soon. Until then, let’s move on to the next one of our regular Sunday reading sessions. The EU-Turkey…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Easter, everybody! A photo posted by Katalin Tarjan (@katalintarjan) on Mar 27, 2016 at 6:33am PDT After a week like this, I wish everybody to be safe wherever you are! Today’s reads are not at all pleasant, let’s get to them… What the Brussels Attacks Tell Us About the State of ISIS and Europe Today There are tons of analysis to read on the topic these days. It certainly cannot be said that the Belgian intelligence  were not preparing for an attack like this. Yet they were not prepared. I hate to say this, but since this seems to…

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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

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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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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Sunday Smack

Hey everybody! How was you first workweek of 2016? I hope it was better than mine. This is now officially the longest time with no posts at all on the blog, except for all the Sunday Smacks. Which obviously is a must, missing a week would feel like breaking a circle or something – this is now the 143th Sunday Smack and this is really saying something. Even though I had lots of plans for 2016 (with the blog and a lot else), I am just not there right now. Actually, if there ever was a time when I would…

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