Reflexiones internacionalistas

A petición de mis lectores de América Latina, comenzaré a escribir más entradas en español, me parece excelente, para que todos puedan comprender mejor este tema tan complejo del Tíbet. Como bien lo dice la sección del 'sobre mi' en este blog, yo soy internacionalista, y bueno, decidí tocar este tema pero por otro punto de vista. La mayoría de los escritos que he publicado sobre el Tíbet son análisis y críticas dirigidas a la forma en la que el Partido Comunista ha estado manejando la situación, por ende mis críticas han sido tanto en el plano económico como social. Esta ocasión decidí analizar esto bajo un punto de vista muy diferente y que es muy común para los internacionalistas: el plano de análisis geopolítico. Es muy posible que este término no sea muy conocido para varios de mis lectores, por lo que brevemente definiré este término y señalaré su relevancia para analizar la situación del Tíbet. Según el sueco Kjellen, geopolítica es la ciencia que concibe al estado como...

I decided to write about this because I have always asked myself and also because I ask to every person from the Middle East I find on my way or meet anywhere I go, their thoughts about this topic. In the Western hemisphere, many academics, scholars and people in general believe that Islam and democracy are not compatible. There are many arguments that have been used in order to justify this premise, I believe that most of them do not have a solid base, however. I believe we have to be Muslims or at least listen to what they have to say or why not, living with them if we are going to issue a statement about how they manage themselves with their own governments. Firstly, if we are going to talk about Islam, the worst way to talk about it is when our arguments are underlied or based on stereotypes. Islam and Muslims are NOT like the Taliban or for this matter, any kind of terrorists. The image that has been prevailing of Islam today is precisely this one: that they all are terrorists a...

The nation-state has dominated national and international politics nowadays. Since 1815 with the Peace of Westphalia, human communities came together on the basis of cultural, social, historical, etc. similarities and ended up in the world we see today. Some nation-states are still under consolidation, others are in the middle of fragmentation and some others have been in peace since their formation. I am of the idea that borders are just abstract lines, because even before globalisation most, if not all, nation-states faced difficulties while trying to form a common identity and today many still face the problem of not being able to grasp either a sense of belonging or, simply put, form a community that is strong enough. History has taught the world that nationalism, being carried to its extremes can produce conflicts, and on a larger scale, wars. Today one cannot generalise neither impose patrons (any patron: ethnic, cultural, religious, social, etc.) on certain countries and even ...

Inside one of my entries in Spanish, I explained a little bit of why China's development looks more like a smart mirage rather than something real. I took as point of reference for my argument the fact of inequality existing beyond the east coast of the country and later proved it by explaining a bit about the existing situation in both Tibet and Xinjiang. China has caused different impressions and opinions all over the world and indeed, these perceptions are shaped by factors such as culture and nationality. Unfortunately, I have found out that most of the positive opinions held about China around the world come from recognised and not very recognised figures inside the business world. It comes to my attention that it is very true that capitalism makes those who practice it very selective (and sometimes, oblivious) in what respects to adequate perception of reality. There are many things that in my view, do not make China that much of a candidate for a superpower and, since we are...

'The Army has just told to Morsi that he is no longer the President'. This and similar headlines dominated (and will dominate for a while) international news during these last five days. The coup given in Egypt caught the international community by surprise and most likely, it was something unexpected to some of countries who share borders and interests with Egypt. It is true that many analysts worldwide were a bit skeptic about the new regime that got into Egypt after forcing Mubarak to resign in 2011. This skepticism came as a result of some false stereotypes the West holds towards anything that gives the idea of some relation to Islam, in this case 'Muslim Brotherhood' made some analysts concerned of what the new turn in Egypt was going to be. In 2012, when Morsi was elected, there seemed to be a new Egypt in which human rights were going to be respected and policies concerning social issues were going to be fair and the country would direct itself according to dem...

Korea is one of the few countries on the world that still remains effectively divided and technically, still at war. The issue of the Korean War is very complex in what respects to the actors involved, the events and more importantly, the consequences brought to the peninsula. My Master thesis was about the part of foreign policy on the side of North Korea. I had to dig very deep into history, because North Korean foreign policy cannot be understood without elements such as the nucelar programme and the regime. The North Korean regime at the same time, cannot be understood if their national history is not taken into consideration. In the middle of my research, I found out that the topic of reunification is a very improtant matter for both countries and at the same time, a hard thing to explore as a foreigner. Taking as a point of reference this idea of reunification, I tried to relate it to North Korea inside my analysis of its foreign policy. This topic is very delicate for Koreans,...