Ambassador Hanna Simon (Eritrea) looks into EU's institutions and their functions; discusses the issue of enlargement with special focus on Turkey's accession; and presents her analysis on the Union's weakness.
Click here for more details on the workshop..
The International Process on Global Counter-Terrorism Cooperation, which was was co-sponsored by the governments of Costa Rica, Japan, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Turkey, in cooperation with the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation, concluded on 24 July 2008 with the issuance of the process' final document, which enumerates a series of proposals for strengthening the UN counterterrorism program and implementation of the UN's 2006 Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. More...
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The Implications of Turkey’s Constitutional Court Decision on the Justice and Development Party (AKP)
On August 6, the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings hosted three of Turkey's most astute political observers for a discussion of the court ruling that struck down an attempt to outlaw the Justice and Development Party (AKP). This court case had been described by international media as a battle between the secular and devout sides of Turkey's national "soul." More... |
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GEORGIA-RUSSIA: President George Bush calls on Russia to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia. MAURITANIA: On August 6, President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, the first democratically elected president since independence in 1960, was arrested by his presidential guard and relieved of his duties on a latest coup led by Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz. The United States, the African Union, the European Union, and Nigeria expressed their refusal to recognize the new leaders. PARAGUAY: Fernando Lugo takes office as President on August 15. A Catholic bishop at the time of his election in April, Mr. Lugo takes office from a 61-year rule of the world's longest ruling party, the Colorados. Mr. Lugo's top cabinet members include Alejandro Hamed (Foreign Minister) and Dionisio Borda (Finance Minister). PAKISTAN: Nawaz Sharif (Pakistan Muslim League) and Asif Zardari (PPP) reached a provisional agreement to impeach the President and restore judges. President Perviz Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan for almost a decade, is blamed for many of its troubles. |
The Pacific Islands Forum is seeking a suitably qualified and experienced person to be appointed as secretary general. The secretary general is the most senior regional administrator and is appointed by and answerable directly to Forum leaders through their chair. TONGA: King George Tupou V was crowned King of Tonga - an archipelago of 169 raised coral and volcanic islands in the Pacific with a population of 102,200. Tonga is a constitutional monarchy but the King is chief of state and controls politics. He appoints the prime minister and the cabinet. In the latest wave of reform in Tonga, the King will forfeit most of his powers of appointment and the number of "people's representatives" will be increased the in the upcoming 2010 election. The parliament will choose the Prime Minister who will pick his cabinet members without the King's interference. JAPAN: Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda reshuffled his cabinet and replaced 13 of the 17 ministers. Masahiko Komura was kept as foreign minister and Nobutaka Machimura as chief cabinet secretary. Bunmei Ibuki, the Liberal Democratic Party’s secretary general, is the new finance minister, and Taro Aso as the party’s new secretary general. The governing party must dissolve the lower house of Parliament and hold a general election by September 2009. |
PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM SEEKS NEW SECRETARY GENERAL