Hablando de Rusia, y para los que pensaban que la Argentina da para todo, nuestros amigos rusos de la Duma sí que son realmente creativos. Han impuesto la prohibición de que ningún funcionario público nombre la palabra dólar. Sí, lo que les digo. Todo tiene que ser nominado en rublos. O mejor dicho en no-rublos.

[Vía]

Muy buen comentario el de Yuri Mamchur [EN] acerca de la visita del Presidente Chávez a Rusia, en el cual, entre otras cosas, cerró un importante acuerdo sobre compra de armamento.

Luego de pasarse una vuelta por Minsk y proponer un pacto anticapitalista con el camarada Lukashenko, pasó por Moscú para llevarse a Caracas unos cuantos helicópteros y aviones de combate. Incluso también se dice que acordó la compra de 100.000 rifles de asalto AK-47, los clásicos Kalashnikov.

Obviamente, hay algunos que están atentos al tema, porque Venezuela es firme candidato a ocupar el sillón temporario del Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas que próximamente en octubre dejará Argentina.

Yet there is no crisis of substantive policymaking in Europe. There is only a crisis of Europe’s self-image - a crisis that could easily have been avoided. The constitution is not the solution. It is the problem. The sooner it is behind us, the better.

Three lessons can be drawn from the recent debacle.

First, the constitution’s failure was inevitable. The draft constitution was, above all else, a public relations strategy designed to attract the attention of common Europeans, to stimulate their involvement in democratic debate over the future of Europe - and thus to convince them to fall in love with the EU. Yet political participation does not generally enhance legitimacy and certainly not with EU issues, most of which are simply not important enough to inspire voters. In recent referenda, European publics displayed neither interest in nor knowledge of the constitution itself, or even of EU policies more generally. They simply blamed the Union for their frustration with the things they really care about: national policies toward globalisation, immigration and social spending.

Second, the EU’s tried-and-true de facto constitution, the much-amended Treaty of Rome, is performing very well. Over the past decade, the EU implemented a single market, a single currency, and more effective foreign and internal security policy, while enlarging from 15 to 25 member states. Recently, the budget has been settled, a services directive has passed and now the US is moving toward a more ‘European’ policy on Iran. In no country is there serious opposition to EU membership. Solid majorities favour instead a series of incremental reforms in areas from energy to terrorism, such as those in the constitution.

Third, there is no democratic deficit in Europe. Joint oversight by democratically-elected national governments and directly-elected European parliamentarians, combined with a system of ‘checks and balances’ that would make James Madison proud, are enough to ensure responsive decision-making. No wonder polls show that Europeans trust EU political institutions as much, or more than, their own.

The way forward is clear. What is needed is more pragmatic problem-solving addressed at immediate issues like terrorism, foreign policy co-ordination and over-regulation. Modest treaty reforms should be implemented in a piecemeal practical and quiet way - the polar opposite of the public relations strategy underlying the failed constitution. No one will come out onto the streets of Paris or Amsterdam to oppose a re-organisation of the EU foreign policy bureaucracy or a shift in voting weights - unless, of course, you call it a new constitution. The EU’s secret weapon is that its policies are so boring.

[Vía]

Hoy fue el día más sangriento en lo que va del conflicto, según lo cuentan algunos medios. No sólo eso sino que Israel ha matado ayer “por error” (y nuevamente los daños colaterales) a cuatro observadores de las Naciones Unidas, que protestó “enérgicamente” por la muerte, (sí, muerte) de sus agentes.

Mientras tanto, según dicen otros, la Secretaria de Estado Condoleezza Rice pasea como en Disneylandia. Tanto es así que hasta algunos se juntaron para darle consejos. Para poner un poco de cordura, recomendable leer el análisis de la BBC sobre los futuros escenarios.

Todo esto es muy triste, trágico y absurdo. ¿No les parece una absoluta mierda? Mientras la “alta política” delibera, sigue pasando esto.

[Vía]