Tag: Somalia
So, as the busiest week in international diplomacy is over now, here is what I thought of the general debate this year. The 72nd session of the UN General Assembly is well underway and of course keeps going on until next fall. Its most prominent week though with high level officials representing their countries on the GA floor is over now, with the closing of the general debate on Monday. The general debate must seem boring for many. I don’t think there is any one person who sits down and listens to almost 200 speeches in a row for days….
This Monday I attended a special event in Budapest organized by the Hungarian publisher of Loretta Napoleoni’s latest book “Merchants of Men: How Jihadists and ISIS Turned Kidnapping and Refugee Trafficking into a Multi-Billion Dollar Business”, that just came out in Hungarian. Loretta Napoleoni talked about the essence of the book which is the evolution of the financing of terrorist organizations. After 9.11 ransom paid by foreign governments for their kidnapped citizens became the most important source of funding for terrorist organizations throughout most the Arab world. It involved kidnapping of tourists, journalists and aid workers in countries like Libya (where…
Happy Spring, Everybody! This week was yet another sad reminder of the times we live in now. I am leaving for London just this coming week for a short trip (more on this later), and what happened on Westminster Bridge made me think about a lot of things. It is easy to say that we are not going to be frightened (we are not!), but harder not to think I could have been there on the bridge at that very moment. Or not to think whether it is just statistics, like there are so many people in a city like…
Happy Sunday, Everybody! I hope your spring is going well so far! I was on a short holiday for the second half of the week, so I missed Saint Patrick’s Day as well. Hope you all had a good one! I always wear green for work that day, but no-one ever notices (LOL), so this time I celebrated quietly at home. This week the victory of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy in the Netherlands is another hopeful sign that democrats are still in majority, and now alarmed by last year’s events, they don’t take risks by letting others…
Happy Sunday, Everybody! I am well into the process of rescheduling my life to fit in everything I already wanted to and also some more weeks of intense studies. I will be honest, it is not going very well… In spite of all that, I have some pretty exciting things coming up in the next few weeks. But first, I will leave for a short holiday next week. There weren’t too much interesting topics covered this week, there are some weeks like that, but I tried hard to pick something for you. 6 million people are at risk of starving…
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…
Happy last Sunday of the year, people! I hope all your holidays were merry and bright and you are ready for the year end festivities. This one’s going to be the shortest round-up ever, since most of my favorite bloggers spent their well deserved days off this week and even the first half of the week was quite uneventful with not much to write about. There will be the inevitable year-end round-ups, I will devote a separate post for them later next week. See you then! Christmas celebrations are banned in Somalia, Tajikistan and Brunei They say the reason for…
I submitted this photo this week for http://ifuwerentafraid.tumblr.com/. Sheryl Sandberg’s LeanIn.org is asking you what would you do if you weren’t afraid? And this answer pretty much sums up my life right now. Based on the notes it got, I am not alone feeling this way. What would your answer be? Go to http://ifuwerentafraid.tumblr.com/ and submit your photo. On other news, we are after a huge heat-wave in Hungary with all-time-high temperature records breaking almost every day. I still claim I like this weather, although I admit it is less pleasant when you have work to do and errands to run. Or a…
united-nations: It’s a historic day in Somalia! Somalia’s transitional governing arrangements are set to end on Monday, 20 August, heralding a key step in the war-torn country’s peace and national reconciliation process after decades of conflict. The UN News Centre spoke with the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, about the end of the country’s transitional period and what the future holds for the Horn of Africa country.
