Germany seeks UN protection for historic beer purity law

By Vanilla

Germany plans to apply for intangible cultural heritage for their beer purity law.They hope that the beer purity law can be protected by UN agency like the Great Wall of China,the Grand Canyon and Egypt's pyramids.In the beer purity law,it stipulates that only four ingredients can be contained in beer including water, malt, hops, and yeast. This law also spread to its neighbor  Austria and Switzerland and some former colony in South Africa.Because of the law,beer produced in Germany has special process and tastes good and diverse.

The definition of intangible cultural heritage is like "traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts."The German Brewers Association expects that UNESCO will approve their apply by the end of 2015.

From my point of view,it is an interesting and fantastic thing.It is not like other intangible cultural heritage such as some famous and protective sites.But it also needs protection and to be taken over by the descendants.Every meaningful culture in the world is worth being protected.It is benefit for us and our
 descendants to understand the culture and history of human beings and nature.Hope that it will be approved soon. 

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/04/21737707-prost-germany-seeks-un-protection-for-historic-beer-purity-law?lite

The Conflict between the United States and Venezuela

By Vanilla,

Relations were strong under conservative neoliberal governments of Rafael Caldera.Since Chavez became the president of Venezuela,tensions between countries becameto deteriorate continually.In the terms of politics,after ruling,Chavez fight against the view of “neoliberal” and he also opposed the initiative of “FTAA”which was proposed by the U.S.In addition,Chavez’s attitude which showed public friendship and significant trade relationship with Cuba and its leader Fidel Castro destroyed the U.S. policy of isolating Cuba.Venezuela sold crude to Cuba at a low price while Cuba also sent many doctors to go to Venezuela.The U.S thought that the Chavez government’s behavior of contacting to Cuba,Iran and Libya intimately possibly could threaten the security of the U.S.

From the perspective of economic,before the railing of Chavez,the United States and Venezuelan state-owned oil company signed an agreement that the U.S was permitted to freely exploit the oil in Venezuela.As everyone knows,oil is a nonrenewable resource,but the U.S mined a large amount of oil and only paid a little tax to the oil country.After Chavez had power,he issued a decree to deprive the state-owned oil company’s right to sign a contract with other nations that intend to exploit the oil in Venezuela freely.Besides,he greatly increased the royalty to 49 percent and stipulated that government should hold the share of the stateowned oil company no less than 51 percent.The release of these measures had harmed the interest of the U.S.Thus tension between the two nations was getting worse during the Chavez administration. He once cut off the diplomatic relations with the United States.

 In my perspective,the conflict between two nations can be resolved in the long run.But USVenezuela relations can not be easily improved in the short term.These two nations must adapt to each other and keep running this relation for some time until in post-Chavez era people gradually get out of the shadow of anti-

American sentiment. That was in accord with the common desire of the peoples of two countries.

Iran invites UN inspectors to Arak heavy water reactor summary

by Bahareh Shirzad

For the first time in two years Iran has invited the nuclear watchdog agency, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), too visit the Arak heavy water plant. Outsiders are unsure of what the plants capabilities are. The scheduled Dec. 8^th visit should shed more light on the plant.

                This visit comes in wake of recent agreements made in Geneva between, Iran, The U.S., Russia, Germany, UK, France and China, to work out differences over Iran’s nuclear program. The agreements included Iran reducing its nuclear advances for 6 months in exchange for reductions on the nation’s sanctions, which have damaged Iran’s economy. The IAEA will try to determine if Iran is fulfilling its part of the deal.

                The increase on the IAEA’s responsibilities means it will likely need to find ways to expand its operations. The director general, Yukiya Amano, told the board the expansions will require more funding and staffers. Amano told the board he will consult them after analyzing the situation, but stated this will take a significant amount of man power and money, which he does not believe the IAEA can cover with their budget.

                Many western nations believe Iran is developing nuclear weapon technology that could lead to the construction of an atomic bomb. Iran has continued to deny these charges stating their nuclear program is strictly for peaceful and medical purposes.

Source: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/131128/iran-invites-un-inspectors-arak-heavy-water-reactor

Despite Ukraine triumph, Russia's relations with its neighbors are under strain summary

by Bahareh Shirzad

Russia’s success in getting Ukraine to pull back from signing an agreement with the E.U. obscures a deeper trend. Moscow’s relations with its neighboring countries have been steadily declining and it does not appear to be improving. Since Putin returned as president in 2012 ties with E.U. members have been strained.

                The deterioration is clearer closer to Russia, despite the countries effort to restore its influences in the former Soviet space. In the opinion of some Putin’s vision of Russia is counterproductive and the country overstates their leverage, which leads to straining foreign ties.

                Ukraine is not the only country Russia targets for punishment using restrictions and bans on weapons; they attempt to punish anyone who disagrees with their policies. These threats have not stopped the countries of Moldova and Georgia from making agreements with the E.U.

                Georgia is friendlier with Russia then in the past, but that will not prevent them from expanding their European ties, which offer far more potential in their markets. Russia has wielded trade bans for these countries and will continue to do so; this was one of their main tactics against the Ukraine.

                As Russia tried to force its will on the former Soviet Union it appears to be suffering from a “Little England” phase. Russia is trying to find its place after the fall of their empire and this leads to growing pains.

                The Ukraine is right in the middle of Russia and the E.U. and will not sign with the E.U. due to Russian threats. This has strained the countries relationships and made the Ukraine very weary of entering any Russian agreements and their Customs union.  Belarus, which is a member of the union, still has disputes with Russia, and they jailed a Russian business executive. Belarus felt Ukraine’s deal with the E.U. would make it easier for them to trade with Europe.

                Some Russians are not sure the triumph of Ukraine’s policy is worth it, because Europe is very upset at Russia’s economic threats and frustrations of the E.U.’s “Eastern Partnerships”. Russia threatened Ukraine even though they trade with the E.U. and its other former Soviet countries, far more according to the IMEMO (Institute of World Economy and International Relations). Russia has spoiled their European relations.

                The IMEMO doesn’t feel the Ukraine’s decision on signing an E.U. agreement is as high stakes as the country claims it to be. They feel the Ukraine was playing the decision for all it was worth. The IMEMO feel Ukraine is playing the game, and with Ukraine’s weak economy they are unsure why Europe is so interested.

The Customs Union, which consists of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, was simply designed as a trade bloc. Russian pressure forced Armenia to ask to join the Union, after they were unable to agree with the E.U. Putin wants to create a Slavic league that would be apart from Western Europe, in hopes of modernizing the members’ economies, but this has failed.

                Putin was encouraged to engage in these ideas by President Obama’s dialing back U.S. involvement in Russia’s neighbors, in order to strengthen relations with Moscow.  Putin thought this gave him a freer hand but he neglected the E.U. and calculations of neighboring countries. Putin views all foreign policy in a Russia-U.S. relation light, which has prevented him from seeing complications closer to home. Central Asian countries are trading more and more frequently with China.

                Russia has been organizing their military to assist Tajikistan in anticipations of NATO withdrawing from Afghanistan, and this has alarmed many critics. The worry may not be needed though because the Russian military remains very inefficient and suffers from manpower shortages and corruption. A recent reform program has been halted.

                Russia tends to have an adversarial stance when dealing with nations, which leads victories to be painful for the other side, and leads to resentment. Viktor Kremenyuk, of the Institute for the USA and Canada believes Russia needs to realize they are no longer in a hostile world and should change their polices to reflect this.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/despite-ukraine-triumph-russias-relations-with-its-neighbors-are-under-strain/2013/11/28/337a834c-576e-11e3-bdbf-097ab2a3dc2b_story.html