June 2006

The issue of women’s right is a matter of universal concern, given that they constitute about half of the entire population of the world. The status of women in most Islamic countries, which adhere to old-fashioned patriarchal principles, is under international scrutiny. Most Muslim governments that wish to cover up for their own male-dominated views of women hide behind Islam, alleging that they wish to bring about sexual equality but they are forbidden from doing so on the basis of Islamic teachings. This is a deeply flawed argument, because Islam like any other religion has many interpretations. The best proof of this is that some Islamic countries have been able to bring about sexual equality without compromising their Islamic principles. Some Muslim countries, such as Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Turkey have already had female presidents or prime ministers. In fact, it could be argued that Islam has done more for...

HVA GØR NORGE I AFGHANISTAN? – spurte Verdens Gang 7 mars i år utenriksminister Jonas Gard Støre. Svaret var tredelt: for å stabilisere Afghanistan som hjemstedet for Taliban og støttespiller for terror, for å beskytte nordmenn mot terror–tilfeldigvis ble ingen nordmenn rammet i London 7 juli 2005–og for å beskytte norske barn mot heroin på norske gater. Gode norske svar. Men fire dager før, 3 mars, hadde Seddiq Weera, afghansk-kanadisk lege, en artikkel i Toronto Star. Han satt lenge fengslet i Kabul under kommunistene, kom ut med sterk kjensle av at her trenges noe nytt, har pendlet mellom landene og arbeidet utrettelig for fred i Afghanistan. Og Weera forteller en helt annen historie enn den angloamerikansk-norske, og med helt andre svar. Hvorfor er det ingen stabilitet i landet etter fire år med internasjonale tropper og økonomiske støtte? La oss gå tilbake til den fatale Bonn-avtalen av november 2001, etter USAs invasjon 7 oktober. Nord-alliansen hadde...

BRUSSELS – An old saying in Montenegro used to say “Crna Gora i Srbija – to je jedna familija” (“Montenegro and Serbia – one family”). Today, pro-independence graffiti in Montenegro read “Crna i Gora i Baskija – to je jedna familija” (“Montenegro and the Basque Country – one family”). With Montenegro independent, the process of the Europe’s balkanization of the Balkans will have scored one more point. Some say it also paved a chance for many independence-hopefuls around Europe, be it in Catalonia, the Basque Country or Scotland, which have sent their observer missions to Podgorica to monitor the mechanics of intra-state divorce. It might be contrary to the logic of European integration and the equation mark between the European Union and “borderless Europe”, but it is real and it is happening in 2006, just a few weeks before the June summit on “the future of Europe”. As far as...

June 26, 2006 Biljana Vankovska * This article has been shortened and edited by the editor of this hompage  June 26, 2006 SKOPJE, MACEDONIA – You may well have heard the old children’s shaggy dog story about Tomboy, a nickname given to a girl because she behaves like a boy. It came to my mind when I returned from what was supposed to be an important conference organized by the Finish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the prestigious London School of Economics, LSE. Mars, Venus and chameleons I also came to think of that inspirational analysis of Robert Kagan about Mars (USA) and Venus (EU) published in 2002. It seems, however, that the equation between Venus and EU becomes more and more problematic due to the rapidly ageing EU Lady. One might expect her to be armed with the charm and wisdom of her age, but if you...

* This article has been shortened and edited by the editor of this hompage  SKOPJE, MACEDONIA – You may well have heard the old children’s shaggy dog story about Tomboy, a nickname given to a girl because she behaves like a boy. It came to my mind when I returned from what was supposed to be an important conference organized by the Finish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the prestigious London School of Economics, LSE. Mars, Venus and chameleons I also came to think of that inspirational analysis of Robert Kagan about Mars (USA) and Venus (EU) published in 2002. It seems, however, that the equation between Venus and EU becomes more and more problematic due to the rapidly ageing EU Lady. One might expect her to be armed with the charm and wisdom of her age, but if you want my opinion about what can we expect...

1. Diagnosis There are obvious similarities to USA/UK vs Iraq, but possibly less obvious that UK will follow suit or even play a major role (“The Downing Street Memorandum”) this time. The goals of the USA seem to be diverse, like these nine: – regime change, like in 1953, possibly also to reinstate the Shah family, again assuming Iranians will be receptive; – Middle East political control, fearing that control is slipping from USA-Israel to Iran-Hamas and shia/radical Islam; – revenge for the 52 hostages-444 days humiliation; – eliminating any Iranian threat to the US/UK Iraq construction; – eliminating any Iranian threat to Israel, nuclear or not, given the statements by president Ahmadinejad; – securing Iranian oil flow at affordable prices; – protecting the use of dollars against euros for oil trade; – expanding further the military bases encircling Russia-China; – eliminating any Iranian nuclear weapon capability. The last goal...

Project Report Members of the TFF Amahoro Coalition in Burundi, Sept 2005 This is the report of the foundation’s activities in Burundi on a one-year grant of Swedish kronor 304 000 or US$ 42 000 from Sweden’s Folke Bernadotte Academy. TFF and its partners in Burundi want to thank the Academy for its generous support. The foundation’s work in Burundi since 1999 has been financed by donations made to TFF by citizens around the world. We thank every one of them too. TFF director Activities and results up till June 2006 This report has two parts: A) Description of concrete activities, the project development and TFF’s missions to Burundi, and B) Evaluation, summary and future activities. The Amahoro Coalition is central in this report. It consist at the moment of the following 13 Burundian NGOs: • African Public Radio – Radio Publique Africaine (RPA) • Association des Femmes Juristes du Burundi...