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Tag: diplomacy

  • United States & Iran Hold First Talks in 3 Decades

    The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the United States and Iran held the highest level of talks in 36 years. The topic of conversation: Tehran’s nuclear program, enriched Uranium, and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The meeting was held at the United Nations in New York.

    It began with Western nations attempting to coalesce a program that would “inspect, verify, and curtail” any Iranian nuclear weapons programs. Neither side was enthusiastic about the possibility.

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accompanied Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to the Security Council’s consultation chamber for the meeting, where foreign dignitaries from the UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany also joined them for the conversation. “[Zarif’s argument was] very different in tone and very different in the vision that he held out with respect to the possibilities of the future,” Kerry said of the meeting.

    Zarif, meanwhile, described the meetings from his perspective as “very substantive” and “businesslike,” while he argued that the West would need to ease sanctions on Iran for the talks to move forward. “In the endgame, there has to be a total lifting of all sanctions…We hope to be able to move in that direction within a short span of time,” Zarif said.

    William Hague, British Foreign Secretary, said of the meeting that it represented “a good start,” particularly coupled with the scheduling of a second discussion between the world powers on October 15 and 16 in Geneva. That conversation would hopefully result in a 1-year time frame to resolve the issue of Iran’s weapons program.

    Western powers have charged Tehran’s government with directly attempting to produce nuclear weapons of mass destruction, but Iranian president Hasan Rouhani has continued to reiterate in recent days that his nation’s program is not a hostile one. Rouhani also objected to Israel’s lack of participation in nuclear non-proliferation. “Almost four decades of international efforts to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East have regrettably failed… Israel, the only nonparty to the Nonproliferation Treaty in this region, should join thereto without any further delay,” Rouhani said at a nuclear disarmament meeting.

    The entire meeting was over in about an hour. The European dignitaries found the meeting to be highly successful; German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle told reporters as he exited that “This week, a window of opportunity has opened” and that actions, not words, will truly count as the negotiations proceed.

    [Image via a CNN report on YouTube of the landmark meeting]

  • Clinton Given Helmet Upon Return to the State Department

    U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton returned to work at the State Department today after a month-long hospital stay. Clinton had fallen and suffered a concussion, then was hospitalized and treated for a blood clot after a follow-up.

    Upon her return, staffers at the State Department demonstrated that diplomats do, in fact, have a sense of humor. Clinton was presented with a gift at the first briefing after her return: a football jersey and helmet, complete with the State Department logo on the side. The helmet is a not-so-subtle jab at the secretary’s fall and concussion.

    It’s doubtful that Clinton will wear the helmet in her day-to-day duties as Secretary of State, which she won’t have to deal with much longer. Clinton has announced she will soon step down from her position, and President Obama has announced former presidential candidate John Kerry as his nominee for the next Secretary of State. The presumption is that Clinton will be using the next few years to organize a campaign to run for president in 2016.

  • U.S. Pressured Spain To Pass Site Blocking Law

    According to a letter obtained by El Pais, a Spanish newspaper, the United States was most displeased to learn that Spanish President Luis Rodriguez Zapatero would not pass the Sinde law, a bill that bears a striking resemblance to SOPA. In a letter to Spain’s Prime Minister, U.S. Ambassador Alan Solomont expressed frustration with the fact that Zapatero’s outgoing government was unlikely to pass the law. In the letter Solomont noted that Spain was already seen by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as being lax in its protection of intellectual property, and threatened to have the country downgraded even further if the law did not pass.

    In addition to the Prime Minister’s office, the embassy sent copies of the letter to several members of Zapatero’s cabinet. Ultimately, Zapatero did not pass the law before leaving office late last month. However, U.S. pressure continued as the new government took power. Bowing to similar threats, incoming Prime Minister Mariano Rojay passed the Sinde law on December 30th (El Pais; Google Translation). The controversial law is now in full effect.

    Though similar to SOPA in many respects, the Sinde law is actually somewhat less onerous. Under SOPA, content owners would have the ability to have infringing sites shut down immediately. Under the Sinde law, copyright holders make complaints, and the complaints are then investigated by the government. The site is only shut down after the owner has been given the option of taking the infringing material down.

    What do you think about the U.S. pressuring Spain to pass this law? Sound off in the comments.

    [Source: El Pais; Google Translation]