Cultural relations
in another way

The Institute for Cultural Relations Policy considers real-time issues of international relations of utmost importance, thus in 2013 it initiated a steady basis of international forum to discuss such issues.

The blog was created in order to emphasize the mission of ICRP: “Connecting cultures through dialogue”.

You are encouraged to comment on blog entries, and initiate a discussion over these aspects of international relations.



 

| March 18, 2017
Debóra Kovács: Death penalty – do or do not?

Death penalty was always a moral question. From the “punishment” of the criminals and political opponents we arrived to the formal executions which can be registered since the recorded history. Most of the historical records says that death penalty was a part of the justice system. They thought that wrongdoing comes with a compensation in response to the crime.

 

| March 15, 2017
Violetta Vaski: Euroscepticism and the current situation triggered by Brexit

Euroscepticism was always an existing phenomenon, mostly practiced by the United Kingdom, and other particular nations expressing their disagreement with several aspects of the EU framework. Although, at the beginning the establishment of the European Economic Community was widely supported by the United Kingdom, the participation was less unequivocal.

 

| July 22, 2016
Abdulhamid Gunda: Turkey coup attempt: who failed, who succeeded?

Friday night on July 15, 2016, I was brainstorming with my colleague at the ICRP on the news headlines that interest us most. Suddenly, news on the then ongoing military coup attempt in Turkey appeared on our social media news feeds.


 

| June 1, 2016
Aldoreza Prandana: Discrimination and sexual assaults on women and gender equality

The year of 2016 has been marked by many events so far: the attacks in Brussels, in Ankara and in Lahore, the talks on EU migration deals and quota system for member countries, the issue of Brexit, and many more. However, this year began with the mass sexual assaults on women in Germany and Finland. Those attacks have been followed by reports of more attacks on women. The issue of discrimination and violence against women is not new and they are works in progress to be eliminated.

 

| May 2, 2016
Hannah Cartwright: The American election - a country in political crisis

The American campaigns leading up to the Republican and Democratic National Conventions are not just a hot topic in America, or among political pundits, the campaigns have become an international spectator sport. The garish and cartoonish personalities of the candidates, the outlandish accusations and arguments, and the complicated and undemocratic nature of the delegates and super delegates has piqued the interest of the entire world.


| April 14, 2016
Aldoreza Prandana: Problems with Gender Stereotypes

Sexual Identity is often confused with ideas of traditional "masculinity or femininity", or gender stereotypes, as definitions. The premise comes from that men are [supposed to be] masculine and women are [supposed to be] feminine. It is problematic when men and women who do not fit into their ‘assigned’ sexual identities are seen as less of a man/woman/person.


| August 1, 2015
Marta Vidal: ISIS: What should we call the self-proclaimed Islamic State?


Islamic State, IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh? What should we call the terrorist movement which proclaimed itself caliphate and has now control over a territory of about 10 million inhabitants in Iraq and Syria?



 

| July 1, 2015
Alexander Soloviov: Female circumcision practiced in Russian Federation


While the world is gradually making efforts to get closer to equal societies, where both men and women would enjoy the same rights and freedoms everywhere, such practices as Female Genital Mutilation (Female circumcision) not only are not disappearing, but are currently gaining new grounds.



| August 16, 2014
Lara Elena Kadegge:
Bolivia’s child labour law: a violation of human rights or an economic issue?

Expectedly, Bolivia’s decision to legalise child labour from an early age of 10, has caused an outcry, not only amongst various agencies campaigning for children’s rights, but also amongst journalists and readers. The first reaction, which is also a personal experience, is therefore critical, unpleased, expressing incomprehension, disagreement and likely anger with the decision and the Bolivian government.


| August 8, 2014
Lili Kunfalvi:
Slum tourism: a controversial and unique entertainment

Most travel agencies are promising to take you to worldwide famous places, seaside resorts with azure blue water, and other locations where you can forget about the struggles of everyday life. There are agencies, however, that invite you to something different: to slums. Recently, there are more and more tour companies that are organizing trips to impoverished areas, where visitors can closely experience the life of the poor.


| August 1, 2014
Lara Elena Kadegge:
The Global Peace Index 2014 – highlights and criticism

The fact that the world is becoming less peaceful is not a nice one. People would try to challenge this fact by saying that we are living in the most peaceful century of human history and that the most war-prone zone of past times, the European Union, as we know it today, has developed into a paradigm of peacefulness and mutual cooperation between former hostile nations. Yet, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace, there are indisputable indicators that there is in fact less peacefulness in our world today than there was a decade ago.

 

| July 25, 2014
Lara Elena Kadegge:
Dashed hopes: World Cup defeat and depression in Latin America

What followed was the World Cup blues. The humiliating public defeat of the two Latin American giants Brazil and then Argentina not only unfolded old rivalries between the nations, but also revealed two severely troubled economies; a fact that had been covered up by the euphoric atmosphere around the World Cup in the last months.


 

| July 22, 2014
Lili Kunfalvi:
Legal discrimination against native women in Canada

Legal and sexual discrimination against Native American people has always been strong in Canada. However, it is Native American women who belong to one of the most marginalized groups in the country. Radically saying, the government managed to create a social system in which indigenous women are at the bottom. The strongly discriminating Canadian Indian Act of 1951 provided the basis for this social hierarchy.

 

| July 15, 2014
Lara Elena Kadegge:
Public diplomacy

The introduction of a new ambassador to a host country is often a matter of delicacy. Public diplomacy can be used in various ways to add to the first positive impression, such as in the example of Caroline Kennedy, who was appointed last year as the first female US ambassador to Japan.


 

| July 9, 2014
Lara Elena Kadegge:
The Politics behind the World Cup – Brazil

Sven-Göran Eriksson, the former manager of the national team of England, once said: “There is more politics in football than in politics.” No global tournament demonstrates this better than the ongoing World Cup in Brazil. In the close relationship between football and politics, the stage is in many ways used for propaganda, whereas the audience is supposed to sit back and enjoy the game. Luckily, not everyone turns a blind eye on what is going on behind the scenes.

 

| April 14, 2014
Emese Embersits:
Ukraine: buffer zone of Russian and Western interests?

The ongoing debate about Ukraine’s and Crimea’s future is probably still far from a closure. The biggest turmoil may be over on the streets of Kiev but the game for the great power’s interests in the region is still far from its end. Not only Russia and the Western powers, namely the USA and the European Union, have been stressing their different opinions about the turbulent events in Ukraine, but also the international community has been paying great attention to the events in the region.

 

| March 18, 2014
Eszter Balogh:
Headscarf controversy in Europe

In 2004 France’s National Assembly banned the wearing of headscarf in public schools. Even though the new regulation applied to every religious symbol – such as the Jewish kippah or the Christian crucifix – it concerned most of Europe’s Muslim community. Moreover, the law was followed by another one in 2011, prohibiting the veils that cover the face. Later more countries like Belgium or even Turkey imposed similar restrictions.

 

| February 27, 2014
Ágnes Plank:
Why the Government of Kenya accuses the United States?

The Government of Kenya has accused the United States of America of being provided financial support to the organisers of the Kenyan bloody demonstration held on 13 February 2014. According to the Secretary General of the Kenyan Safety Cabinet, Francis Kimemia, an American developmental agency called USAID financed the anti-government demonstrations in Nairobi in February.

 

| January 20, 2014
Zuzana Balcová:
EU legal fight against human trafficking

Migration has always been part of Europe’s history. It is a social phenomenon that has largely influenced the outlook of the present-day European Union. People from or to Europe have migrated because of various reasons including poverty, oppression, discrimination, persecution, war, natural disasters, unemployment, vision of better living conditions, etc. We can assume, that particularly in recent decades, migration in Europe has mostly been seen in the form of immigration into Western European states from poorer Eastern or South-eastern parts of Europe, Middle East or developing African countries.

 

| December 13, 2013
Endre András Kozma:
North Korea - the Aggressor or the subject of aggression?

Over the past few years, the Western media has had a tendency to portray the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as a country that seriously endangers global security. What Western newswriters keep forgetting to demonstrate, however, is the severity of the political and military pressure Kim Jong-un and his nation have been under and the lack of reality behind the implied North Korean threat.

 

| November 20, 2013
Zuzana Balcová:
Contemporary anti-semitism

The anti-semitism has accompanied the history of Jewish people constantly since the Jewish nation’s creation. Basically no other nation has experienced so many hardships than the Jews, who throughout history had so many times become “uncomfortable citizens” for the rest of the society, victims of various absurd accusations, prejudices, discrimination, persecution and organized pogroms. However, despite of multi-generational oppression, the Jews managed to maintain their specific identity even to this day.

 

| November 17, 2013
Ágnes Plank:
Deepening cooperation of China and the ASEAN countries

A meeting of Southeast Asian leaders was organized on the 11th of October, 2013 in Brunei, where the main topic was the economic and political cooperation between China and the ASEAN countries. The increasing presence of China in the region could challenge the military and economic interests of the United States.

 

 

| October 24, 2013
Ágnes Plank: P
akistani activist girl gained a human right prize

The Pakistani human rights activist girl, Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in head by Taliban soldiers because of her activist pursuits, received the European Union’s Sakharov human rights prize.

 

 

| October 1, 2013
Márton István Vajda:
Side notes to the Chinese-Japanese situation

As another term begins in Japan for Abe Shinzo and his party, Chinese leaders reaffirm their opinions on the current “borderlands issues” affecting the country and its neighbors. China in the last few decades adopted a way of executing military operations with the intention of extorting political outcomes from targeted countries. This is a core initiative in Chinese foreign policy when it is about political messages and influence.

 

| August 25, 2013
Eszter Balogh: Cooperation is possible

The Cold War has already ended but when the USA and Russia work together on something, the world still gets suspicious. The political trust still hasn’t returned to the relations of these two countries, but as some recent events showed, cooperation for good purposes is still possible.

 

 

| August 23, 2013
Szabolcs Vörös:
Mideast talks in Jerusalem: odds and prospects

US Secretary of State, John Kerry’s efforts to renew talks between Israel and Palestine have shown some results recently, at least in achieving the two sides’ willingness to negotiate with each other. After a trilateral meeting in Washington in July, the parties sat down for the first session of a 9-month-long talks series in Jerusalem in August. The US would like to see a resolution after the 9 months are over, which would establish two states with clear borders. However the issue of peace-building in the Middle East is rather complicated and holds out little hope.

 

| August 21, 2013
Noémi Radnai: Life of a refugee - understanding more

Violence against the ones in need is on the rise, and asylum seekers are no exception. Now that Syria is in the midst of a refugee crisis as a result of the war, the topic receives focused attention. Governments have to deal with an increasing number of illegal migrants and asylum claims while non-governmental and international organizations constantly pressure them to provide better circumstances and faster administration.

 

| August 9, 2013
Eszter Balogh: Modern piracy

Modern movies and books have romanticized the adventurous life of pirates. In these stories they live on boats, rarely see land and are loyal towards each other and the Rules of the Sea. The Golden Age is gone and nowadays the truth couldn’t be any more different. Every year in the poorest regions more and more violent and brutal attacks are committed by modern pirates and the rest of the world seems to do nothing effective with it.

 

| August 1, 2013
Szabolcs Vörös: The
Snowden-case: facts & analysis

Edward Snowden is on the run through the globe. Arriving in Moscow in June, it is doubtful whether his journey will continue. Revealing top-secret data of US intelligence agency, NSA he is highly wanted by the Obama-administration. As a matter of fact there is no extradition treaty existing between the two superpowers, so Putin refuses to hand over Snowden to the US. The scandal is extremely embarrassing for the Unites States, not to mention the serious costs, it will inflict on the government.

 

| July 31, 2013
Márton István Vajda: The Chinese Great Tour

As the rest of the world is in a downhill process, China – the sleeping dragon – slowly emerges from its slumber. As a result of the decades long rising of Chinese economy today we are at a point of no return: China has amassed such influence in the World that it cannot be neglected anymore. This entry tries to reveal details of the leadership and attitude change in China.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

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