About as Juicy as Diplomacy Gets
International diplomacy got really interesting this week as celebrities, UN resolutions, Cold War espionage and diamonds splashed news headlines around the world.
A court room sketch of the spies
1. Running a close second place in the news cycle, only behind the Gulf oil spill relief effort, the US completed an intriguing round-up and swap with Moscow of 10 Russian spies living in America. Very swiftly after their capture, the 10 were traded for 4 individuals tied to western intelligence gathering efforts who sat in Russian jails. Facebook profiles, romantic encounters and disbelief from those who knew the deep-cover agents reignited Cold War nostalgia with a modern twist and increased online readership across many news outlets. Politico.com actually appears to have hit its monthly high right after the story broke. (source: Quantcast)
2. The island of Cyprus’ normally bland and now 36 year old smoldering civil war also got a celebrity spark this week, when Jennifer Lopez decided to cancel a concert in the Northern Turkish Republic of Cyprus due to public pressure. She was due to perform on July 24 for the opening of the Cratos Premium Hotel and Casino in Kyrenia, a beach resort town on the northern side of the island.
The beautiful harbor of Kyrenia, Cyprus won't be the newest exotic concert location for JLo
A statement posted on her website read, “Jennifer Lopez would never knowingly support any state, country, institution or regime that was associated with any form of human rights abuse…After a full review of the relevant circumstances in Cyprus, it was the decision of her advisors to withdraw from the appearance. This was a team decision that reflects our sensitivity to the political realities of the region.”
The conflict has spawned UN resolutions, peacekeeping missions and international court cases since the island split violently into a Greek-speaking south and Turkish-speaking north after a 1974 invasion by Turkey. In 1983, Turkish Cypriots declared the north’s independence, but Turkey is the only country that has recognized the region’s status. Meanwhile, the internationally recognized southern Greek Cypriot side of the island joined the European Union in 2004, further growing the economic development inequalities between the two sides. Remarkably, some saw J Lo’s planned performance as an endorsement of the breakaway state’s legitimacy – a bit of a stretch if you ask me. However, a week on the island in 2005 certainly taught me how seriously Cypriots, both southern and northern, take seemingly little things like this.
3. Lastly, the British supermodel Naomi Campbell announced through her PR firm this week that she will testify as a witness in the war crimes tribunal of Charles Taylor. Taylor, the former leader of Liberia, was captured while on the run by UN peacekeepers in Nigeria in March 2006. He is accused of mass murder, rape and mutilation, including financial support for rebels in Sierra Leone civil war that cut off the limbs of their civilian victims. Taylor, 62, is also accused of destabilizing Liberia and several neighboring countries while amassing a personal fortune from illicit trade in diamonds, guns and timber.
Charles Taylor, the former leader of Liberia, was captured while on the run by UN peacekeepers in Nigeria in March 2006. UN Photo/Mathew Elavanalthoduka
Campbell is being ordered to testify because, according to another celebrity, Mia Farrow, she accepted an enormous rough-cut diamond from Taylor when the two met at a house party hosted by Nelson Mandela in 1997. Farrow, who was also at the party, says Campbell told her about the gift soon after it was presented to her. The supermodel had previously avoided questions on the matter and said she did not want to be involved in the war crimes trial at The Hague, Netherlands. However, after the court issued a subpoena on July 1, ordering her appearance, she faced a prison term of up to seven years, a fine of about $500, or both, if she failed to appear.
International diplomacy probably won’t get this sensational again for a while.
Finally, a serious international evening newscast
This is not breaking news, but its worth a reminder. It is encouraging to see progress on cable news. Beginning Sept 27th, Christiane Amanpour will begin to host one of the few serious international newscasts. With..”her 25 years at CNN, Christiane Amanpour has hopscotched the world, the very model of a foreign correspondent, turning up at seemingly every war, genocide, famine and natural disaster, slipping through previously closed borders and interviewing even the most recalcitrant of foreign leaders.
Chistianne Amanpour
But there is one thing she has never done: anchored her own daily news show.
That will change {in September}, when she starts a nightly program on CNN International, which is retooling its lineup. An edited version of Ms. Amanpour’s show is expected to be shown on the weekends on CNN’s United States channel. Ms. Amanpour said she would continue to travel with the program, “because I’m a field person at heart, in my bones and in my DNA.” (Read Further: NY Times)
CNN deserves credit for going the route of quality and Amanpour deserves ratings for the years of courageous field reporting.
China accuses Anglo-Australian giant of spying and the market responds..
China has held 4 Rio Tinto employees for weeks.
For several weeks, iron ore and steel markets around the globe have been closely monitoring a situation in China, involving senior executives from Rio Tinto the British-Australian mining conglomerate. Stern Hu, an Australian businessman of Chinese origin, was detained on July 5th, 2009 with three other Chinese colleagues of Rio Tinto by the Chinese government for suspected bribery and espionage. For weeks speculation around the case has hinged on slow diplomatic inquiries, but Chinese authorities refused to level official charges.
Analysts and journalists have guessed about the true motivation behind the arrests, but the possibilities are endless considering the strategic importance of iron ore to China’s economic development and the billion USD of business in China for Rio Tinto. On Sunday, China said that it had evidence showing that for at least six years, employees working for the British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto had engaged in commercial espionage, costing the country about $100 billion. The New York Times reported that this sensational allegation was published on (http://www.baomi.org) a Web site affiliated with China’s State Secrets Bureau. (source: David Barboza, NY Times, 8.9.09)
Sam Walsh, chief executive said, “Rio Tinto believes that the allegations in recent media reports that employees were involved in bribery of officials at Chinese steel mills are wholly without foundation. We remain fully supportive of our detained employees, and believe that they acted at all times with integrity and in accordance with Rio Tinto’s strict and publicly stated code of ethical behaviour.” (source: Rio Tino, Press Release, 7.17.09)
When markets open in New York Monday, I predict Rio Tinto (NYSE:RTP) will fall 2-5% more in early trading after ending last week at $163.71.
UPDATE: Concerns about the Anglo-Australian miner’s deteriorating relationship with China, one of its largest customers, took the stock down 5.25% in morning trading.
Watching the Web for Change in Tehran
How Influential is the ‘Marketplace of Ideas?’
By: Colette Mazzucelli*
The 2009 Iranian national elections were striking for the range of media the population used to participate in the debate among the presidential candidates. In the midst of protests about the disputed outcome, which re-elected incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian elites argue that dissent emanates from the Western media rather than the populace. In the days and months ahead, it will be interesting to observe how those who voted for the reformist challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, will air their grievances. How will popular dissent be channeled in a regime driven to act by fear of change? (1) How will Ahmadinejad’s declared victory impact on the increasing rivalries among Iranian elites, which the election revealed?
For these elites, the 2009 elections are not about an overthrow of the system that serves their interests. The last word on matters of religion and state is that of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Supreme Leader’s style is to encourage competition among rival players for influence. Although his institutional position is unassailable, power in Iran is increasingly diffuse. This makes the regime as hard to read from the inside as from beyond the borders of the state. There are those who argue that the 2009 elections reveal the potential to open the Iranian system to democratic forces, particularly since the 60% of the Iranian population under 28 years of age clamors for reforms. This leads observers to inquire about what Snyder and Ballentine have identified as the marketplace of ideas. Continue to read the full article…
What is Dick Cheney trying to do?
Over the past few weeks, former Vice-President Dick Cheney has taken to the airwaves to denounce the Obama administration and defend George Bush’s record on torture, the War in Iraq and other national security issues. In an interview Tuesday, May 12th with Fox News Channel, Cheney reiterated his charge that President Barack Obama’s administration is “dismantling” the national security policies that kept the United States safe after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Last weekend he made the Sunday talk show tour and next week he is giving a high-profile speech to the American Enterprise Institute in Washington on “a blueprint for keeping America safe,” addressing the effectiveness of Bush’s terrorist surveillance program in detecting the threat of Al Qaeda and its operatives in the post-9/11 period.
The former VP, who while in office preferred to operate in secret behind the scenes, has now decided to make a clean break with past precedent and speak out strongly and publicly against the current President. The question is why and why now?
Take into consideration the following developments:
1) A Spanish court has decided to look into opening an investigation against 6 former high-level Bush administration officials on torture charges. The crusading Spanish judge is well known for ordering the arrest of the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who was convicted. Evidence supports the case that their policy decisions were coordinated out of the Vice-President’s office. NYTimes
2) On April 21, Philip Zelikow, who served as a senior advisor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during the Bush administration and was the Director of the 9/11 commission, revealed on Foreign Policy’s “Shadow Government” blog that he wrote a memo in 2005 disputing the conclusions of Bush Justice Department lawyers that torture was legal. The existence of such a memo was a surprise. But Zelikow also disclosed that the “White House attempted to collect and destroy all copies of my memo.” Reps John Conyers and Howard Berman, who chair, respectively, the Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees have written an urgent letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton requesting the memo, saying it may “may shed important light on the process by which these interrogation practices were evaluated, approved, and implemented by the former Administration.” (Read their letter)
3) Today, the US State Department announced that the United Nations General Assembly elected the United States to a three-year term on the UN Human Rights Council. The Department’s press release said that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. Permanent Representative to the U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice are pleased with the outcome of the election and eager to take up the important work of the Council. The US had previously boycotted the UN Human Rights Council, since it was formed in 2005.
So what is Dick Cheney actually trying to accomplish?
