Friday, December 7 07 (1)

U.N.'s Monday deadline for resolving Kosovo's political status approaches, as the international community's 'unfinished business' there gives rise to fears of a new Balkan war. If NATO's 26 don't act after today's last minute talks, their wrangling and worrying over Moscow's growing influence (1, 2) will lead unnecessarily to threatening rhetoric and securitization. One hopes the ICG's "Kosovo Blueprint" finds its way to Brussels. The outcry has faded, and the junta's grip remains firm; have Myanmar's Generals weathered the storm?

Friday, December 7 07 (2)

After a year or more of Darfur in the epicentre of the global political spotlight, the interests of vulnerable and impoverished civilians, caught between the government and warring factions, threaten to submerge. International justice unfolds at glacial speed, as the International Criminal Court in Tanzania renders former Rwandan provincial Governor Karera guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. Different conflicts reveal an identical pattern, as Pakistan's Musharraf and Chechnya's Kadyrov flirt with radicals to retain domestic standing.

Monday, December 3 07

Lebanon's political deadlock makes General Suleiman the likely choice as a new consensus head of state. Star power pushed Darfur into the headlines, yet civil wars of equal brutality in Sri Lanka and Ethiopia's Ogaden continue to ravage civilians under the radar. The politics of humanitarian intervention plays right into Sudanese government's hands. Iranian President Ahmadinejad appeals to Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) for "peace and security without foreign intervention". Strong criticism and suggestions of future instability plague Russian parliamentary vote. Is there no difference between falling short of OSCE standards and outright election-rigging? In Canada, Privy Council purse strings are tightening as Afghan mission costs go through the roof.