Dance Of Democracy

> Click on image to enlarge <

I went to the Saatchi Gallery's current exhibition entitled "The Empire Strikes Back: Indian Art Today". It was a very interesting exhibition, largely because I'm so used to seeing work that reflects western culture, it was fascinating to see eastern culture in this way. I was surprised at just how political a lot of the work was.

One artwork that stood out to me was "Dance Of Democracy" by Mansoor Ali, it's the picture above. A series of chairs precariously perched together. When you stand in front of it there's a feeling that it may fall any minute, if luck is what holds it all together. You start looking for logical reasons as to why it stays together, glue sticking it? A frame inside it? The chairs have notches that interlink? All to no avail. It somehow against all odds stays in place, as fragile as it is.

I really liked that visual interpretation of democracy, as it is also in it's nature bureaucratic, made up of seats, committees and departments. Thus the humble chair is a prefect choice to symbolise it.

Baghdad Blast

Another bomb was set off in Baghdad today with devastating effect. Now I'm no explosives expert, but I don't see how this kind of damage was caused by a home made bomb. Which begs the question: where are they getting the explosives from?

Berlusconi - Hold Me Close and Call me Papa

I always find articles about Berlusconi entertaining, from his choice of MEPs based purely on there previous modelling career, to his unbelievable comments made at inappropriate times. He's now describing himself as the most persecuted person "in the entire history of the world".

His completely non-dramatic statement comes as the courts have lifted a law granting him immunity while in office, he now faces corruption charges and trials. The BBC report that:

In an impassioned statement, he then mistakenly told reporters he had spent millions of euros on "judges", before correcting himself to say "lawyers".

A little Freudian slip there perhaps? I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's probably not going to see the inside of a jail cell.

Women Can Wear Trousers

I never realised that the Islamic authority in Cario were so fashion aware:

Egypt's top Islamic authority defended women's rights to wear trousers in public following a high profile court case in neighbouring Sudan were women were flogged for dressing in pants, the local press reported Wednesday.

Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa said in response to a question during a public lecture that trousers covering women's bodies are permitted, though they should be loose and not see through. He specified that "stretch" pants were in particular unacceptable.

Good call sir, stretch pants, particularly the sparkly, pink or animal print ones are unacceptable. It's not the 1980s ladies, it's about 1900, two world wars to prove you are just as capable as a man and a social revolution later, and then you may be able to wear those leggings. In the mean time, they're not the most protective choice of clothing for the flogging, not such absurd advice from Grand Stylist Mufti after all.

Money, Money, Money

The G20 finance ministers' are meeting this weekend and Nick Dearden on the Guardian has written an interesting article on ditching the dollar for buying oil. There has been growing talk of a Global Bank for some time now, but America had dominated the banking world, now however China does. There is a very interesting graph on the FT, that shows the influence that China will have on these talks. As an added bonus, if you move the slider at the bottom of it, you can watch Britain's wealth go titsup.com.

This subject however is of particular interest to me, given I'm a firm believer in following the money. Greed has shaped our history for thousands of years more land, gold, power, influence, whatever form it takes it will play a big factor in whether anything happens with moving away from the dollar.

Democratic Party of Japan Win Election

In a remarkable result the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have lost the election ending 50 years of almost unbroken rule in spectator fashion. The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) have won 300 of the 480 seats. This marks a real start to a two party system in Japan, I hope new administration deliver the change obliviously desired by the people.

Oh and take note Brown, revolutions do happen by the ballot box.

Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi was unsurprisingly found guilty yet again by the regime of Burma. The court sentenced her to three years in prison but that was immediately reduced to 18 months on the orders of the military government, who also said she could serve the time in her Rangoon home. This of course would keep her out of the public eye while elections take place in Burma. Yet also seem lenient in the wake of public opinion. It doesn't however change the fact she is a political prisoner.

I have a great deal of respect for Aung San Suu Kyi, what a remarkable woman. She won the 1990 general election, she should be Prime Minister. Instead was put under detention by the military regime and prevented from assuming office. She has spent the last 19 years imprisoned, isolated, under house arrest or unable to leave Burma. Yet she endures with such calm dignity, as if she knows her day will come.

This sentence presents a chance for it to come sooner, the international community needs to unite, until now they have been divided on how best to deal with Burma or acting in isolation. The fact the regime lowered the sentence shows they are not immune to international pressure or completely unconcerned. That is something to exploit and I truly hope they do.

Afghanistan Mission - British Troops

In light of the tragic rise in British deaths, Afghanistan has moved back into the headlines. Questions surrounding equipment and the mission's point are being raised. The government have said that troops are on the offensive, the Taliban will be defeated and they are well equipped. I can't judge if that's true, though the mission's point and plan does raise serious questions.

Armies by their nature are a destructive force and sometimes you do need to destroy, yet you need a constructive force to, they speak of destroying the Taliban, but what gets built after that? When you are fighting an ideology, you don't just destroy it by killing people. It's Afghanistan's government that will be the constructive force here, as it will be the state that controls the army, schools, police and hospitals. It is the state who will create an ideology for people to believe in. An army alone can never do that.

David Miliband has defended the UK military presence saying Afghanistan is "a launch pad for attacks" by terrorists. 7/7 was perpetrated by British Muslims, terrorists don't need to go to Afghanistan to launch an attack. Our foreign policy always has and always will effect terrorism within our shore lines, just as our national policy does. This never was, nor will it be, the Waterloo of terrorism, it's wrong to portray it as such.

People often compare the conflict in the Middle East to the Second World War, though I disagree with the parallel, there is something to learn from it. The allies never just focused on the conflict, but had a narrative, a start, middle and end plan. We have become entrenched in Afghanistan and we will never be able to leave if our plan doesn't include doing so. This conflict will just become Vietnam, though I could say it's already becoming that. There's still a prospect of something constructive coming from this, if the plan wasn't so destructive driven.

You Can't Get the Commies These Days

North Korea have launched on state TV their first beer advert. From watching it there is a nice attention to detail, the beer appears within a mushroom cloud and the sound effects are like missiles shooting skywards.


Update: In a curious twist to this, it turns out the "Pride of Pyongyang" is made using a brewery the North Koreans brought from the Wiltshire town of Trowbridge.

Iran and British Government Reaction

The government's foreign policy makes me despair, I dread them giving a response to international situations, which consistently is just a reaction to events. Iran has been no different.

Their supreme leader calls Britain "Evil" and the government react like it's a "Yo Mama" insult. They've now topped this when today Iran ordered two UK diplomats to leave the country, Brown responds by expelling two Iranian diplomats from Britain. A tic for tac foreign policy, wonderful, I'm sure it won't be used as propaganda in Iran, nor isolate them further. When someone is picking a fight there are times to keep quiet in order not to escalate things, this is one them.

The protesters are being called terrorists and traitors, giving the Iranian government any means to reduce or discredit their message is not helpful to their plight. Particularly since Britain and the US are perceived to have rigged elections in Iran before. It is possible to support the Iranian people and the principles of democracy without, counter-productively, involving ourselves directly in an internal political struggle. As the out come of this situation has to be resolved by the Iranians, otherwise it will have no legitimacy, politics and religion are too intertwined in Iran.

It is just unbelievably ironic that when the government shouldn't have followed America's lead in the Middle East they did, now they should they don't.

Iran's Election - Protests and Investigation

It's been quite difficult to work out what's happening, in-between the sensationalist reporting and the state clampdown. Things are slightly clearer today:

Iran's Supreme Leader has ordered an investigation into the disputed re-election of President Ahmadinejad, reversing his earlier decree that the result was fair.

It's understood that he met with Mousavi and agreed to investigate allegations of vote-rigging. Ahmadinejad stance however on this is now very clear:

Elections in Iran are the cleanest. Today, we should appreciate the great triumph of the people of Iran against the united front of all the world arrogance (the West) and the psychological war launched by the enemy.

The worlds press visa's to report on the election run out today, which is a worrying prospect given what the police were willing to do in front of the cameras, let alone what they will do now. Reports coming out of Iran suggest the police have been given orders to use live ammunition on the crowds. A lot will rest on Ayatollah Khamenei (Iran's Supreme Leader) intention, if he uses the investigation to entrench Ahmadinejad position or overturn it. That won't be just limited to Iran, the international community will most likely use it as there reaction guide.

Most people think the chance of the vote or non vote being over turned is remote, though there is a lot of pressure on Ayatollah Khamenei. This is where everyone finds out who really controls Iran and what happens in the next 4 years.


For those wanting information as to what happening in Iran, Twitter is being used by Iranians to report, a channel has been setup to collect it all together.

The Guardian and New York Times both have good live blogs, that are drawing on the MSM and social networking reports.

Ahmadinejad Claims Victory in Iran's Election

Ahmadinejad's main challenger Mousavi had been widely expected to win by a landslide or at least do well enough to trigger a run-off. It doesn't seem plausible that everyone got it so wrong, particularly with such a high turn out. When people who have never voted before go out to vote, desire for change is very strong. That combined with Ahmadinejad getting more votes in all other candidates home towns, that's really unbelievable outside of Zimbabwe.

Yet perhaps the problem is as Abbas Barzegar article states "Iran isn't Tehran", the poorer working people in Iran always had the deciding vote and their vote was for Ahmadinejad. He positioned himself as a man of the people. Perhaps we looked at this election with too Westen eyes and not enough understanding of the whole of Iran.

Mousavi is to dispute the results and in an article on Tehran Bureau his spokesman says it was a coup and the results were never counted. Mousavi himself has posted a letter calling the dishonesty dangerous.

It's very sad for the Iranians that wanted change and wanted it through the ballot box. It now puts Iran into a hostile situation, both with Mousavi supporters feeling wronged and Ahmadinejad reaction to this yet to be seen. Hopefully he may try to defuse a potential backlash to avert a political crisis. Unfortunately articles and events so far suggest otherwise.

Irans Election - 2009

Iran goes to the polls on Friday in an election that could lead to real change, both internally and externally. The main challenger to Ahmadinejad is Mir Hossein Mousavi. He has captured the youth and women of Iran's desire for change. So who's message will win out, the traditionalist or modernist?

There was an interesting Panorama on Iran's election, you can see it on iPlayer.

Kim Jong II Names Successor

Following on from my other posts on North Korea. It's being reported that Kim Jong Un has been named to succeed his father. He is Kim Jong's youngest son, little is known about him other than he was schooled in Switzerland, has a military background, seems to be slightly more Western interested, though not as much as his older brother who was thought to be successor and he's a heavy drinker. Which is slightly worrying.

Atsuhito Isozaki, assistant professor of North Korean politics said:

Before 2012, North Korea must convince the army and the public that Jong Un is the best successor. To pave the way for Jong Un's leadership, it is highly likely that North Korea will turn recent nuclear and missile tests into his achievements.

It's an original campaign, different from a leaflet through the post.

North Korea Threatens to Attack South Korea

Morten Morland cartoon

This situation just got stranger, North Korea has declared it is abandoning the truce that ended the Korean war, and will attack South Korea if it joined US-led inspections of vessels suspected of carrying weapons. Why try to provoke as much as this?

A test for Obama perhaps, their hostile intent has always been US facing. Who can tell with North Korea whether he's struck the right note. The international community is still speaking in one voice and more pressure is being placed on China to get involved. It is a concern that if China stop filling the void sanctions create, that civilians will be the only ones suffering. It's a really difficult balance to maintain, given they have no other recourse.

There far are too many unknowns in this situation, but if Obama and South Korea aren't panicking with the information they have. I think it's most likely that something internally is happening, yet due to their scary state controlled news we're not aware of it.

North Korea - Nuclear Test

Great the nutter has a nuke, Kim Jong II has tested a nuclear weapon. From the data they have on the test, it's an explosion of up to 20 kilotons, which is comparable to the American bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He followed this up today with firing short range missiles into the Sea of Japan.

What's worrying is how volatile the situation and he is, it leaves the international community treading on egg shells. Military action seems very unlikely, given he clearly has weapons and is mad enough to use them. Sanctions have largely been by passed or only effected civilians, no doubt allowing Kim Jong to use it as propaganda. Diplomacy and negotiations to date have only gone so far, before Kim Jong withdraws and does something like this.

The international community response seems to still be the diplomatic one, though Obama is pushing for the one voice together approach. He and the UN/EU may be a good position now to really put pressure on China to include there voice among everyone else's. Their main tactic however may just be trying to keep a lid on it in order to wait out Kim Jong, given he clearly doesn't look well. His son Kim Jong Nam will inherit his position, he seems to be slightly less unstable, and could prove to be open to negotiations.

Kim Jong typically makes a point and steps down from his hostile position, though with a powerful nuclear weapon in the situation, it could push this into a Cold War area. The big unknown here is if he's on borrowed time with an illness he has nothing to lose. The diplomatic approach is by far the best response given it's not a good idea to push people, when you don't know how far you can.