Ellen's blog post

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/opinion/25kristof.html?ref=opinion



Nicholas Kristof is famous for publicizing horrific human rights violations that the Western world has ignored. He won his first Pulitzer prize for his work regarding the Cambodian sex trade and his second for his work regarding the genocide in Darfur.

His column today, Kristof writes about a school started in Southern Sudan, because of the ambition of Valentino Achak Deng the boy who inspired the book What is the What and the resources of the book’s author Dave Eggers. The school is a boarding school and each class comprises 50% girls. Kristof sites government statistics that last year in all of southern Sudan, only 11 girls sat for graduation exams. This school is attempting to raise that number exponentially. The administrators perpetually have to resist the constant pressure from the government officials to admit their own children. However, the school’s administrators insist that admission is based solely on test scores, with a slight preference given to orphans.

Though this school in itself is not an international event, the girls and boys that it educates may someday become players on the international stage and find peaceful solutions to the turmoil that has enveloped their country. The international support for the school, particularly from United States citizens is proof that international relations is more than just state relations. Realism cannot explain why people feel compassion for those who do not influence or threaten them at all. This school and its international support are proof that people care and effect international relations with no obvious motive other than compassion.

Here is the New York Times article about Powerpoint and the Pentagon-- it shares some similar themes with Gregory's arguments about technology influencing how complex situations are viewed.

Future Pope’s Role in Abuse Case Was Complex

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/world/europe/27vienna.html?ref=world

This is an article about current Pope Benedict’s previous responses to allegations of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, specifically a case during the 1990s involving a high-ranking Austrian cardinal. Given the influence then-Cardinal Ratzinger seemed to hold over the Pope and other important Catholic institutions, his critics are unwilling to forgive what they perceive to be his failure to prosecute more vigorously the sexual crimes committed within the church, despite his more recent demonstrations of remorse regarding the scandal. Though the clergyman at the center of this scandal died in 2003, there is still significant interest in the way is case was handled by the current pope, a prominent example himself of the continued relevance of an undead history. The article refers to the matter as a Rorschach-type evaluation that would serve to predict his future approach to such issues. This is in itself an example of a past that is not yet past, but more broadly, the influence of the Catholic Church and its legacy retains an unsettled legacy developed over millennia of power that continues to hold serious implications for current international relations.

Noriega is extradited to France

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8645584.stm

This article discusses an event that took place about 20 years ago. A Panamanian military leader, Manuel Noriega, who previously had good relations with the US, was convicted of drug trafficking, and spent 17 years in prison in the US. After 17 years, Noriega wanted to return back to Panama to serve the rest of his sentence, but his appeals were rejected and he has now been sent to France to serve the rest of his time. This article brings up the issue of the rights of prisoners of war, one that is very much alive today. With the controversy going on in Guantanamo Bay, it is evident that the lines are still hazy concerning the label of "prisoner of war," and the rights they have. In this sense, this article brings up the past, which is still very present today.

Dream election result for Sudan's President Bashir

James Bond theories arise in Korean ship sinking

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-fg-korea-torpedo-20100427,0,2552538.story

A 1200 ton South Korean patrol boat called the Cheonan split and sunk March 26 while it was on a mission in the disputed sea border between North and South Korea. Investigators are pointing to possible North Korea involvement suggesting the Cheonan was with struck by a floating mine or an enemy torpedo. North Korea has denied responsibility, but at least one North Korean defector and an activist in Seoul have provided details of an elite unit of 13 commandos in mini-submarines. The North Korean defector, Jang Jin-sung, who once worked within Pyongyang's spy network, said he is also convinced the Cheonan was hit by a so-called human torpedo.

I picked this article because it reminded me of our reading of Sex Among Allies from two weeks ago. The tensions that existed then between North Korea and South Korea still exist today. Instead of the prostitutes being the actors, the governments and their militaries are the actors in this situation. However, the alleged “suicide bombers” are also the actors because they are the ones being utilized by the government just as the prostitutes were. In addition, there are realist politics at play here. South Korea is contemplating how to respond to North Korea as to express appropriate retaliation, but not to come off too aggressive as to spark a nuclear war.

Iran marks anniversary of failed US rescue attempt

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100425/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_us

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press Writer – Sun Apr 25, 5:40 pm ET

On Sunday, April 25, hundreds of hard-line Iranians marked the 30th Anniversary of the failed US rescue attempt (of the Americans held hostage at the embassy. The 1980 attempt, Operation Eagle Claw, caused major embarrassment for the US when a helicopter crashed during a sandstorm, killing 8 US servicemen. The crash was (and is) a cause for celebration for some Iranians, however, who saw the event as a "divine miracle" to protect Iran from the "evil" US. Hundreds of people gathered at the crash site, as they have in previous years, nearly 400 southeast of Tehran, to remember and celebrate the event. A "Mosque of Thanks" had been built on the site, and there are plans for a museum on the site as well.

This fits well with the blog theme of "What in the 'past' is not really past?"
It also goes well with Derek Gregory's "The Colonial Present." It goes to show that events that happen in the past (even "one-time" events, like a specific accident) can have great relevance to the present. As Gregory's book implies, when one country intervenes in another there are profound consequences, often unanticipated but nonetheless long-lasting. The chain of events that led to that crash (and the response of some Iranians) is very complex. It is also interesting to think that while the US framed the conflict as Good vs. Evil (with the US being the force of good, of course), some Iranians saw it the opposite way. This just goes to show the extent that rhetoric of war is portrayed as narrative.