Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:38:13 +0000 http://www.geopolemics.com/ Webseamsters en-us http://www.geopolemics.com/images/logo.gif http://www.geopolemics.com/ moderator@geopolemics.com http://www.geopolemics.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=96 Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:38:13 +0000 http://www.geopolemics.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=101 Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:29:52 +0000 http://www.geopolemics.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=100 newnations.comMonthly reports on finance, business, trade, economics, & political analysis NEWNATIONS BULLETIN 14 JANUARY 2010 THE STATE OF WORLD DEMOCRACY JANUARY 2010 Newnations presents Worldaudit’s comprehensive annual report on the state of world democracy at the beginning of January 2010 compiled by the same methodology, and reported every year since 1997). All nations (150) with a minimum one million population are included. In January 2010 just thirty six nations out of one hundred and fifty in the world, are fully democratic. A further thirty four nations are perceived as making varying degrees of progress towards democracy. Yet eighty nations are not in the democratic category at all and most of these are outside the rule of law. Denmark has the highest ranking, with Sweden and New Zealand close behind. The consistently successful countries over the 12 years of this audit, are the same - not necessarily in the same order: we give this years top rankings: 1st Denmark, 2nd Sweden, 3d New Zealand, 4th Finland, 5th Switzerland, 6th equal Norway & Netherlands. World Audit’s First and Second divisions totalling 36 nations are unquestionably democratic. 23 of these are Europeans. These divisions include: Germany 11th, UK 13th, USA 15th, France 17th, Japan 29th, Italy 34th. The Third division of 34 countries are we believe, ‘on the cusp’. They share an intention to be democratic and do achieve a qualified freedom, limited perhaps by the inefficiencies of sheer size. We include India 48th, Brazil 53d. More than half of the world’s nations (80 of 150) in our Fourth division, are mostly not within the democratic process at all. This is a greater number than in any previous year. They include Pakistan (106), Saudi Arabia (108), China (121), Russia (134), Libya (146). Eight of the world’s top twelve democracies are constitutional monarchies. Does this mean that this is the most successful democratic model? For the full commentary first go to: World Democracy January 2010 OR Go direct to The Democracy Listings 2010 Also published on our blog: GEOPOLEMICS where readers comments are invited Send this newsletter to a friendNewnations.com Bulletin, 14 January 2010| New Nations - a not for profit company Contact Us: enquiries@newnations.com© New Nations If you wish to stop receiving the New Nations Bulletin, Click here [-913.191366-] Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:11:11 +0000 http://www.geopolemics.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=90 Our New Nations solution to the GEORGIA problem is to model a treaty on that of the Panama Canal Zone and have the EU (whose markets these mainly are for), lease a pipeline corridor for the existing and new pipelines through GEORGIA, with EU nations troops to protect the corridor. That would mean that RUSSIA would not invade, short of WWIII, and it avoids the obvious risks of extending NATO alliance membership to GEORGIA who would of course enjoy enhanced leasing and transit fees. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:59:44 +0000 http://www.geopolemics.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=81 The root problem which will not go away when the western troops leave, is that there is now such visceral hatred and fear between the two rival sects of Islam, and this is not excluded from the Iraqi army and police, who on present form will in the absence of foreign troops, probably be out of civilian control - and of course there are waiting in the wings, the massive sectarian armed militias. It could take a generation to enable the communities to live together without well justified fear. The path that the US is taking with the only possible successor power to themselves, the elected civilian government, ignores the fact that unlike a 'proper' democracy, these politicians are for the most part not elected on any platform of proposed policies, but in the interests of the tribal and sectarian groups from which they come. That can only mean in such a crude and vengeful environment that the sectarian majority will oppress the sectarian minority, who will have no recourse to justice - except that which comes from the barrel of a gun! Our PRESCRIPTION is that Iraq should quickly become a federation. They should recreate (approximately) the boundaries of the three historic Ottoman provinces that preceded the end of WWI and the subsequent 1932 British creation of an independent state of Iraq, which can be seen to have spectacularly failed under quite different forms of government. Government of each component province should be strong and a federal government working from a Baghdad enclave, remodelled on Washington's District of Columbia lines, should be concerned only with such governance (ie foreign policy; divisions of oil-based income, national defence); that cannot effectively be carried out at regional level. The corollary is that the alliance troops should RIGHT NOW be shepherding 'displaced' communities back to where they will be safe from communal murder, once Alliance troops are withdrawn. The awful lesson to be learned is from the terrible communal violence when the British left India and the future Pakistan in 1947, a bloodbath which some estimated as resulting in a million deaths, mostly amongst civilians displaced and seeking to rejoin their own people. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:18:38 +0000