Tag: UN

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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March 20 is the International Day of Happiness

And also, happy International Day of Happiness! 🙂 The General Assembly of the United Nations in its resolution 66/281 of 12 July 2012 proclaimed 20 March the International Day of Happiness recognizing the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives. To learn more: http://www.un.org/en/events/happinessday/

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday, everybody! I hope you all had a wonderful week. Mine was especially great and exciting. Check out my Instagram for a clue. 🙂 Let’s see what I have been reading, mostly during my travels this week… Putin’s Announcement on Russia: Unexpected but not Surprising The Russian announcement about them leaving the Syrian war scene met as much astonishment as the one about them entering it. The important question though is what will happen in Geneva now? First Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy to the Human Rights Council I posted several times last…

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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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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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