current events

[dan greenberg]

let's try something else to get this board going ... IR in current events! wow, fun times, eh? so, how about this whole EU thing, what do you think about it, the reasons it's not getting off the ground? How about the UK's 'red lines' that the UK claims would violate its sovereignty? Do you think it is a violation of sovereignty or an exercise in sovereignty, to donate a part of your sovereignty to a different party for a stronger front? More to come on Saddam ... as that's going to be a great case involving itricacies of international law and state sovereignty rights. Personally, I can't wait!

[Guest]

A lot of different topics which have one thing in common though: Every realist can rejoice about the plentyfull material which support their key assumptions. It' s all about power and national interest.

[MrGreedy]

I think that needs qualifying - it's complex realism that we're seeing rather than simple realism. That is to say regimes and leaderships acting in their interests, rather than a national interest per se, although there is some coincidence in what results. It's also difficult to talk about the national interest of a state in Iraq's situation when doing so almost inevitably entails putting words in people's mouths.

[bubbles]

Would anyone out there agree that finding Saddam has not given validation to Bush's military campaign against Iraq? Since Saddam was found the media, in my opinion, has been glorifying Bush and his ridiculous campaign, saying that he has now obtained validation fir his needlessly violent campaign against Iraq.

Am I the only one that remembers back to March last year when Bush said that Alliance forces were going in to destroy WMD's that Bush thought was there. Nearly a year later not a single WMD has been found in Iraq. Certainly not validation for Bush's ridiculous campaign.