Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha officially submitted the country’s application for EU candidacy status during a visit in Prague to the rotating Czech presidency of the European Union.
This is a big step for this small Balkan country. They still have much to do in the way of reforms in order to bring themselves in line with the EU's standards. Most of the reforms in need of change fall under the categories of justice, freedom and security. These are pretty important categories, but they are also broad and subjective. How do you measure freedom? I'm sure the EU has a very scientific method of devising a citizenry's freedom, but...
Justice is a little easier to define, but it is still a rather vague category. For example, in the US, justice in one state/region can be defined differently in another state/region. Gay marriage in Iowa? Legally approved, so here it's considered just that same sex couples can marry. But in New York? Not so much. Justice varies quite a bit within each region due to different feelings of what constitutes it. It's very subjective, but you can measure "justice" by legal standards, which I'm sure the EU has another awesome scientific/statistical method to devise this.
Security is a tough one. Especially for the region. After all, one would hardly consider Greece "secure" with all of the riots and bombings, but they are a prominent member of the EU. How can you reconcile this? Albania is a relatively secure nation for the region. They are also luckier than neighboring Macedonia, as Greece isn't debating their legal name.
The bid to join the EU comes on the heels of Albania's admittance into NATO as full member on April 1st. Proof that they are making strides in their international relations, and their desire to be accepted by the West.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
News updates because I haven't posted in a while
There have been several developments of late that I wish to weigh in on, so here it is.
Pirates of Somalia
These brilliant little fellas decided to attack a US flagged merchant ship for the first time last week. The result? A bunch of dead pirates. The aftershock of dead pirates? A lot of hub-bub about the pirates becoming nastier because of harsh US and French (I know right?) responses.
Why this is a load of crap: A firm slap to the Somalian pirates is just what is needed. Sure, they might get more violent in the future, killing merchant sailors that stray too far off the path laid out for them. The US Navy needs to stick to a hard line when it comes to piracy. Let them know that a ship destroyed is more acceptable than a ship in enemy hands. When have we dealt with terrorists so even-handedly as some of our wimpier allies? Never, unless you go back to pre-Madisonian days when we had NO navy to speak of. Then it was a matter of Tripoli pirates, now its Somali pirates. We have the naval capacity to bombard their safe-havens on shore.
Which leads me to the second point. Somalia's government demands sovereignty in dealing with the pirates. This government needs all of the help in can get. The US should work with them to pinpoint and destroy known pirate bases. The government is on a knife's edge with the withdrawal of AU forces. Muslim extremists, and some general nut-jobs, are threatening to turn this country into a new Afghanistan. If you think Afghanistan was an important trade route because of the oil, wait until the Red Sea becomes impassable. Even the French have their panties in a wad of this region, they and the British have a vested interest in the trade through the Suez Canal. In addition, if this region becomes even more destabilized, with Egypt losing revenue from trade, what will happen to the ME peace processes?
Somalian pirates lead to more than a hijacked vessel every now and then. This problem needs to be dealt with firmly by the UN, with the US, UK and France at the fore. Otherwise it could lead to dire consequences down the road.
Swat valley welcomes Shari'a law
Oh come ON PAKISTAN!!! They don't like the US bombing, rather accurately, Taliban bases within their borders. Now they are allowing territories to dictate legal matters based on religious doctrine? Women are being stoned to death for not wearing veils, or attempting to go to school!
I don't care if they DO have nukes. Let India eat them alive. The problem with this region stems from Pakistan. Now that we don't have a strong alliance like we had under the Bush regime, allied with Musharraf, we have no control over them and no one in the region trusts them. They are the destabilizer in the region.
Israel shows promising signs under bizarre circumstances
This is a strange one. With the arrival of a hard-line, right wing, nigh on extremist regime in Israel, things are looking up for Palestine. Is it all a ploy to garner public support? Maybe, but Netanyahu really appears genuine in his desire to establish a Palestinian state. He might not come right out and say it, but his actions definitely support this hypothesis. In a meeting with Tony Blair, he expressed his interest in overseeing the foundation of new era in Palestinian relationships.
The government has been laying more blame on Iran for instability in the region, claiming that Iran’s primary objective is to expand its power in the Middle East. Israel almost seems to be forgiving of Palestinians. Almost saying, “It’s okay, we know that deep down inside, it was Iran talking.”
What does this mean for the peace process? Moderation for one thing. Perhaps the Israelis can deal with the Palestinian problem ethically and take away the primary battle cry of their enemies. They would gain much more by effectively helping the Palestinian cause than they would ever gain by undermining it. Even in the face of rocket attacks, the peace initiative will prove more fruitful in the long run.
Rebound in the US economic outlook
While there hasn’t been a lot of great news coming from Wall Street, there have been substantial signs of improvement. Several banks and financial institutions are planning on repaying their debts to the Federal Government using profits from the last quarter. This won’t lead to an instant rebound in the realm of unemployment, but this type of turnaround wasn’t expected until at least the fourth quarter of ‘09. Some of us might have predicted that it wouldn’t be as bad as all that, but we can’t all be rockstars right?
And how’s the news from retail? Crappy mostly. But Hobby Lobby recently announced that they would be upping their corporate minimum wage to ten dollars an hour, which is quite a bit higher than the federal minimum wage of chicken feed. Ten dollars an hour does not equate to a king’s ransom, but for retail workers, it’s pretty freakin’ nice. Believe me, as a department manager, I made around that and was damned glad for it.
Pirates of Somalia
These brilliant little fellas decided to attack a US flagged merchant ship for the first time last week. The result? A bunch of dead pirates. The aftershock of dead pirates? A lot of hub-bub about the pirates becoming nastier because of harsh US and French (I know right?) responses.
Why this is a load of crap: A firm slap to the Somalian pirates is just what is needed. Sure, they might get more violent in the future, killing merchant sailors that stray too far off the path laid out for them. The US Navy needs to stick to a hard line when it comes to piracy. Let them know that a ship destroyed is more acceptable than a ship in enemy hands. When have we dealt with terrorists so even-handedly as some of our wimpier allies? Never, unless you go back to pre-Madisonian days when we had NO navy to speak of. Then it was a matter of Tripoli pirates, now its Somali pirates. We have the naval capacity to bombard their safe-havens on shore.
Which leads me to the second point. Somalia's government demands sovereignty in dealing with the pirates. This government needs all of the help in can get. The US should work with them to pinpoint and destroy known pirate bases. The government is on a knife's edge with the withdrawal of AU forces. Muslim extremists, and some general nut-jobs, are threatening to turn this country into a new Afghanistan. If you think Afghanistan was an important trade route because of the oil, wait until the Red Sea becomes impassable. Even the French have their panties in a wad of this region, they and the British have a vested interest in the trade through the Suez Canal. In addition, if this region becomes even more destabilized, with Egypt losing revenue from trade, what will happen to the ME peace processes?
Somalian pirates lead to more than a hijacked vessel every now and then. This problem needs to be dealt with firmly by the UN, with the US, UK and France at the fore. Otherwise it could lead to dire consequences down the road.
Swat valley welcomes Shari'a law
Oh come ON PAKISTAN!!! They don't like the US bombing, rather accurately, Taliban bases within their borders. Now they are allowing territories to dictate legal matters based on religious doctrine? Women are being stoned to death for not wearing veils, or attempting to go to school!
I don't care if they DO have nukes. Let India eat them alive. The problem with this region stems from Pakistan. Now that we don't have a strong alliance like we had under the Bush regime, allied with Musharraf, we have no control over them and no one in the region trusts them. They are the destabilizer in the region.
Israel shows promising signs under bizarre circumstances
This is a strange one. With the arrival of a hard-line, right wing, nigh on extremist regime in Israel, things are looking up for Palestine. Is it all a ploy to garner public support? Maybe, but Netanyahu really appears genuine in his desire to establish a Palestinian state. He might not come right out and say it, but his actions definitely support this hypothesis. In a meeting with Tony Blair, he expressed his interest in overseeing the foundation of new era in Palestinian relationships.
The government has been laying more blame on Iran for instability in the region, claiming that Iran’s primary objective is to expand its power in the Middle East. Israel almost seems to be forgiving of Palestinians. Almost saying, “It’s okay, we know that deep down inside, it was Iran talking.”
What does this mean for the peace process? Moderation for one thing. Perhaps the Israelis can deal with the Palestinian problem ethically and take away the primary battle cry of their enemies. They would gain much more by effectively helping the Palestinian cause than they would ever gain by undermining it. Even in the face of rocket attacks, the peace initiative will prove more fruitful in the long run.
Rebound in the US economic outlook
While there hasn’t been a lot of great news coming from Wall Street, there have been substantial signs of improvement. Several banks and financial institutions are planning on repaying their debts to the Federal Government using profits from the last quarter. This won’t lead to an instant rebound in the realm of unemployment, but this type of turnaround wasn’t expected until at least the fourth quarter of ‘09. Some of us might have predicted that it wouldn’t be as bad as all that, but we can’t all be rockstars right?
And how’s the news from retail? Crappy mostly. But Hobby Lobby recently announced that they would be upping their corporate minimum wage to ten dollars an hour, which is quite a bit higher than the federal minimum wage of chicken feed. Ten dollars an hour does not equate to a king’s ransom, but for retail workers, it’s pretty freakin’ nice. Believe me, as a department manager, I made around that and was damned glad for it.
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