Stories International Relations from May, 2008

Cuba: Las Damas & Obama

  May 29, 2008

Las Damas de Blanco are in the spotlight again, but not for the reasons you might think. They are apparently endorsing US Presidential hopeful Barack Obama - or at least his plan to meet with the Castro regime - and Cuban bloggers have lots to say about it.

France: Is the Prime Minister supporting McCain?

  May 27, 2008

Blogger Corine Lesnes at the Big Picture, Croquis d'Amérique, asks whether French Prime Minister François Fillon would vote for McCain if he had to express a preference (fr): “En visite à Washington, le premier ministre François Fillon a été interrogé par FOX News sur ses préférences. Il n'en a évidemment...

Middle East: Obama’s Man in Gaza

Call him Barack Obama’s man in Gaza. Ibrahim Abu Jayyab, a bookish 23-year-old media studies student, gathers friends to try and rally support for the Democratic candidate by calling U.S. voters from a cybercafé in the Gaza strip. John Liebhardt takes a closer look at why Obama may be ... or may be not ... scoring points with supporters in the Middle East.

Iran: Sitting with Ahmadinejad at the Same Table?

  May 20, 2008

US President George W Bush's address to the Israeli Knesset prompted Senator Barack Obama to condemn Bush for launching a ‘false political attack' against him. Now several Iranian bloggers react to Bush's remarks and the Democrats' reaction to it in this translation of Farsi blogs by Hamid Tehrani.

Israel: Bush's Last Presidential Visit

On the heels of its 60th birthday celebrations, President Bush visited Israel this week, marking his second and last presidential visit to the Middle Eastern state. Maya Norton tunes into the Israeli blogosphere to bring us the latest reactions.

Global: Obama An Apostate?

  May 16, 2008

On May 12, the New York Times published an op-ed by one Edward N. Luttwak from Chevy Chase, Maryland entitled “President Apostate?” Luttwak's op-ed piece details Obama's relationship with Islam (his father, born Muslim, renounced the religion, and Obama became a Christian early in life) and the effects that it could have on global politics and the United States' relations with predominantly Muslim countries.

Watching the U.S. from Down Under

  May 12, 2008

A desire for a new attitude by the U.S. to international relations is a subtext in many recent blog posts in Australia. The concern that John McCain will be more of the same is never far from the surface, writes Kevin Rennie, who reviews blogs from Down Under.

Iran: US Elections from an Iranian Perspective

Iranian bloggers have launched a far-ranging debate about the elections in the United States at the time when such discussions are not seen in mainstream media. Akbar Chanani tunes into the Farsi blogopshere where Iranian bloggers continue to compare between the elections in the US and Iran and discuss their hopes and fears of how the next president in the Oval Office would react towards their country.

Global: Obama Closes the Deal?

  May 7, 2008

They call it a “big step.” That’s what Barack Obama took Tuesday when he won the North Carolina Democratic Primary hands down and was narrowly defeated in Indiana by Senator Hillary Clinton. John Liebhardt brings us the reactions of bloggers around the world commenting early on the two primaries, who say that the show for the Democratic race is nearly over.