Domestic Politics Archive

WASHINGTON — Much of the controversy surrounding a congressional committee’s approval of a resolution condemning as genocide the massacre of Armenians during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire has focused on the action’s geopolitical ramifications. But a key question remains unanswered: How did the world’s most powerful body of lawmakers come to feel compelled to register a position on an event that happened almost a century ago? By some accounts, the answer is simple: lobbying. Others, however, contend that the power of the Armenian lobby in the United States has been exaggerated and that the genocide resolution has gotten traction […]

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced that he will submit the EU “Reform” Treaty agreed upon in Lisbon last week to the French parliament for ratification. In so doing, is he proposing to ratify a treaty that is essentially identical to the “Constitutional” Treaty that French voters rejected in a referendum in 2005? French constitutional law scholar Anne-Marie Le Pourhiet says yes — and outlines the drastic consequences of such an action. -o- On Oct. 5, the proposed European “Amending Treaty” — commonly known as the “Reform” Treaty — was made public. Upon reading the text, one understands why its […]

When French President Nicolas Sarkozy attended a Bush family barbeque in Kennebunkport this summer he brought with him his wife Cecilia’s regrets. Her excuse was a sore throat, which some saw as a deliberate snub of her would-be hosts, the American president and his father. On Nov. 6, Bush is scheduled to host a White House dinner for Sarkozy, and again Cecilia will not be present. This time, though, there is no doubting the reason: The Sarkozys were divorced last Thursday. The breakup came after five months in which Sarkozy’s wife clearly had problems fitting into her new role as […]

Following months of bickering, Poland’s populist-conservative coalition government finally collapsed in September after two years in power. Early elections are scheduled for this Sunday, Oct. 21. Some suggest that they may turn into a referendum on de-Communization. To grasp the players and issues at stake, a whistle stop tour of Poland’s political history and geography is in order. The Grand Transformation Poland’s current political order took shape at the end of the 1980s. Far from being an outcome of the democratic process, it is the ultimate progeny of behind-the-scenes maneuvering and backstage deals. It was not the general electorate but […]

“Daddy, I thought you were coming home after Bayram,” read somber headlines in newspapers across Turkey Oct. 10, capturing the sentiments of the daughters of a soldier killed by a PKK ambush in southeastern Turkey. Bayram is the three-day celebration that started Oct. 12 to mark the end of the month of Ramadan. It is custom for fathers, sons, brothers and husbands fulfilling their military duties to return home on Bayram to briefly visit their loved ones, and bring presents and candies to children. The last two weeks have seen the assassination of 30 soldiers in the perilous southeastern border […]

HONG KONG — Australians will go to the polls on Nov. 24 after Prime Minister John Howard staked what’s left of his enormous political career and called an election that most analysts believe he will lose, heralding an overhaul of Canberra’s political landscape that would shape key policy at home and abroad. The announcement came after Howard made the ritual visit to Queen Elizabeth II’s representative in Australia, the Governor General Michael Jeffery, on Sunday, where he requested parliament be dissolved and an election called. Howard is U.S. President George W. Bush’s staunchest remaining war ally, and the U.S. leader […]

ROME — A design to create a unified party of the center-left in Italy risks undermining the very government it supports and is unlikely to appease Italians, who are increasingly disgruntled with the political status quo in their country. The new Partito Democratico (Democratic Party) will officially be born on Oct. 14, when Italians will choose the party’s leadership and constituent assembly in nationwide primary elections. But many fear that the baptism of the new center-left party will be the last rites for Prodi and his troubled government. Italy’s fractious ruling coalition, lead by Prime Minister Romano Prodi, has seemed […]

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — After a week of mass protests against Myanmar’s military regime, the scale of which had not been seen in two decades, the uprising has been effectively crushed by the country’s armed forces. Sunday saw the numbers of demonstrators on the streets of Yangon plummet from an estimated 100,000 earlier in the week to several dozen, while sources on the ground confirm that today (Monday) streets in the former capitol remain vacant. While protests inside the country have been effectively extinguished by security forces, demonstrations continue outside Myanmar’s embassies in capitols around the world. Meanwhile, United Nations […]