#Europe Conference

[scrumptiousstuffs]

I just need to share the cutest moment in First’s latest TikTok video (who knew we have First being a prolific tiktoker nowadays?)

Anyway…First was playing “my favourite GMMTV boys” - his bestie never came up as a choice…and so when Khao curiously came up to see what’s going on….First of course chose him right away 😭…the face bump into Khao’s shoulder 🥹🥹🥹🥹

Source: First’s TikTok

06/09/2024

[georgefairbrother]

When the Versailles Peace Conference convened in early 1919, US President Woodrow Wilson presented an idealistic 14-point plan for 'a new world order' described by Oxford Professor of Modern History, Sir Michael Howard, as furthering democracy and 'national self-determination', and so that 'out of the ashes of the old order of imperial powers there should emerge new self governing nations'.

These ambitions were immediately at odds with European leaders wholly intent on securing their own countries, expanding empires, and enacting revenge on 'a German state that no longer existed'.

French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau was dismissive of Wilson's plan, while British Prime Minister David Lloyd George wasn't a fan either. He wrote;

"…Whilst we were dealing everyday with ghastly realities on land and sea, he was soaring in clouds of serene rhetoric. This was President Wilson’s first contact with Europe, for ages the favourite hunting ground of beasts of prey and poisonous reptiles creeping and springing on their victims…."

Lloyd George also described Europe on the eve of the conference as 'a seething cauldron of hate'.

It didn't take long for senior British diplomat and adviser, Harold Nicholson, to see which way the wind was blowing;

"...Clemenceau, Lloyd George, and President Wilson pulled up armchairs and crouched low over the map…It is appalling that these ignorant and irresponsible men should be cutting Asia Minor to bits as if they were dividing a cake…There was the final revision of the frontiers of Austria; Hungary is partitioned, indolently and irresponsibly partitioned, then the Yugoslav frontier, then tea and macaroons…"

Great War specialist and author, Professor Jay Winter;

"...The way in which Versailles was conducted was disastrous, in that it didn’t provide anything that could be called worth the sacrifice of even a fraction of those who had died in the First World War. So the idea of why, what for, has no answer…It becomes…a continuation of the nightmare of the war rather than the breaking of a new dawn…"

But perhaps the most ominously significant reaction was from a 30 year old corporal in the German army;

"…When the old gentleman began to tell us we were throwing ourselves on the mercy of the victors, I could stand it no longer. Everything went black before my eyes, I tottered and groped my way back to the dormitory, threw myself on my bunk and dug my burning head into my blanket and pillow. And so it had all been in vain. All the sacrifices and privations…The hunger and thirst of months which were often endless. In vain, the two million who died…Would not the graves of those who with faith in the Fatherland had marched forth never to return, would they not open and send the silent mud and blood covered heroes back as spirits of vengeance to the homeland which had cheated them with such mockery…Hatred grew in me for those responsible for this deed, in the days that followed my own fate became known to me. I decided to go into politics…"

Source: The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century - BBC-Imperial War Museum, 1996

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

i love spanish conferences. for the london one the fee is £90 (£45 if you're a student) and i have no idea if as a speaker i also have to pay the fee or not. in this one in spain i'm planning to speak at attendance is free and if you want to be a speaker you have to pay a total of 10€ as fee.

[enerhy-meetings]

Discover innovative insights at the International Primary Healthcare Conference. Engage with global experts as we explore diverse perspectives on primary health care systems.

[alpinelogy]

Erika lore of the day is the fact that a while back somehow one of my teachers ended up talking about the Habsburgs and somehow we got on the topic of racing and thats how my whole class learned about the existence of Ferdinand Habsburg, professional racing driver

[head-post]

Thailand sends deputy FM to Swiss peace conference on Ukraine

Thailand will participate in a conference in Switzerland on resolving the armed conflict in Ukraine, deputy Foreign Minister Russ Jalichandra will represent the country, Thai PBS reports.

Thailand was invited to the event because of its expressed support for all initiatives aimed at a speedy and peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict.

The summit to resolve the Ukrainian conflict without Russia will be held June 15-16 in the Swiss resort of Bürgenstock. Delegations from more than 160 countries have been invited to the meeting, but less than half of the participants have confirmed their participation.

Many countries have refused to take part in the Swiss summit, arguing that without Russia’s participation any negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict are meaningless.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced his refusal, while Beijing rejected the invitation too. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stressed that both the Russian and Ukrainian sides should recognise the peace conference. In addition, China believes that all participants in the meeting should be represented on an equal basis and all peace projects should be discussed fairly.

Earlier, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will not take part in the conference on Ukraine in Switzerland. Representatives of Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan declined to attend the conference.

Read more HERE

[herrlichersonnigertag]

“people in the west only care about the holocaust because Ashkenazi Jews are currently racialized as white” is not the revolutionary take you think it is

[milfbro]

hard to finish the orientalism audiobook from the amount of times I have to pause and roll my eyes

[glasratz]

[nerdsbianhokie]

the us getting knocked out this early sucks, but I've honestly been more pissed at the conference allocation. like, look at this shit

[image ID: a wikipedia screenshot reading

The allocation of slots for each confederation was confirmed by the FIFA Council on 25 December 2020. The slots for the two host nations were taken directly from the quotas allocated to their confederations.

AFC (Asia): 6 slots (including co-hosts Australia)

CAF (Africa): 4 slots

CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean): 4 slots

CONMEBOL (South America): 3 slots

OFC (Oceania): 1 slot (including co-hosts New Zealand)

UEFA (Europe): 11 slots

Inter-confederation play-off tournament: 3 slots

/end]

in map form with the countries that did qualify

[image id: a map of the world with each country colored based on the key where blue countries qualified for the tournaments, a total of 32 countries. Yellow countries failed to qualify. Black countries either withdrew or were suspended from their conference tournaments. Grey countries either did not enter the or are not fifa members. The amount of blue countries in Europe greatly outnumbers every other continent. /end]

absolutely hate how many slots europe gets. absolutely hate that the host nations slots are taken from their conference instead of being additional like it seems every previous tournament had, which meant only Aotearoa New Zealand had any chance of the slot for Oceania

For context for people who don't know, here's a breakdown of how many countries each continent has

Africa - 54

Asia - 48

Europe - 44

North America - 23

Australia/Oceania - 14

South America - 12

there's literally no need to europe to have eleven slots outside of racism

[nando161mando]

British Nazi Millwall fans visiting Warsaw today, taking part in an annual nationalist Independence March demonstration . Real "patriots" with Nazi slogans on their banner. Many from the same firm were out today in London answering Braverman's call like good, obedient dogs.

[onedayillbeasaint]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Europe Area invites you to watch General Conference, October 1-2, 2022.

ChurchofJesusChrist.org

[versary]

anyway. looks like i'll be in paris (and surrounds...) for the first half of july so as someone who's never been overseas what's good in paris (and surrounds)

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Jack Ohman, Sacramento Bee  :: [h/t Scott Horton]

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

February 13, 2023

Heather Cox Richardson

Today, meetings began to take place before the Munich Security Conference begins in Berlin, Germany, on February 17. This conference is the world’s leading forum for talking about international security policy. Begun in 1963, it was designed to be an independent venue for experts and policymakers to discuss the most pressing security issues around the globe.

Vice President Kamala Harris will attend the conference from February 16 to 18 and is expected to talk about the continuing support of the United States for Ukraine. The anniversary of Russia’s 2022 assault on Ukraine is February 24, and today NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that Russians have already begun their threatened major new offensive.

Indeed, Ukraine is at the heart of the conference this year. The Munich Security Report 2023, issued recently as a blueprint for the conference, begins by identifying Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine as “a watershed moment.”

“Debates about different visions for the future international order are often abstract and theoretical,” the report begins, but “[b]y invading Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made the clash of competing visions a brutal and deathly reality.”

The report goes on to identify a growing conflict around the globe between intensifying authoritarian regimes and a liberal, rules-based international order. It calls for shoring up that liberal order and for strengthening it by addressing the legitimate claims of countries and regions that have been excluded from that order or have even been victims of it. That many governments in Africa, Latin America, and Asia have refused to speak up against Russian aggression shows that there is deep dissatisfaction there with existing international patterns, and that dissatisfaction threatens the survival of democracy. The people of all countries must have a say in how the global future plays out.

The report notes that Russia’s “brutal and unprovoked invasion of a sovereign state” is “an attack against the foundational principles of the post–World War II order,” with “an authoritarian power” setting out “to eliminate a democracy.” But that’s not the only sign that autocracies are rising. China’s quiet support for Russia, its attempt to assert its own sphere of influence in East Asia through military shows of force, and its wide-ranging efforts “to promote an autocratic alternative to the liberal, rules-based international order” show the broad challenge of autocratic rule. “[T]he main fault line in global politics today,” the report suggests, is “that between democracies and dictators.”

Many world leaders believe that the next ten years will lay down the blueprint for the future of the international order, the report says, and it credits Ukraine and the “extraordinary resilience and determination of the Ukrainian people” with instilling “a new sense of purpose into democratic countries.” The report encourages democracies to use this momentum to re-envision the liberal, rules-based order to include countries that previously were excluded from the rulemaking. A new order “that better delivers on its promises” and “truly benefits everyone equally” has the potential to increase the coalition of those resisting autocracy. “If the revisionist moment we are currently experiencing spurs the renewal of this liberal, rules-based order,” it suggests, “President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine will have played a big part in this achievement.”

The conference organizers did not invite Russian government officials to participate in this year’s meeting, saying, "We do not want to offer a stage for those who have stamped over international law." But they did invite more leaders from emerging economies, vowing to get past the idea of an event where Europeans and Americans just talked to each other.

In a sign that many relationships are now in flux, the Chinese foreign ministry said today that China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, will go to the conference and will also visit France, Italy, Hungary, and Russia. China has been embarrassed recently by the exposure of what seems to have been an extensive spying program run by the Chinese military that included countries on five continents.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the attention the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee has been paying to what committee chair James Comer (R-KY) says on his website has been the Biden family’s “pattern of peddling access to the highest levels of government to enrich themselves, often to the detriment of U.S. interests,” has resurrected questions about the connections of the Trump family and Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Popularly known as MBS, the Saudi leader in 2021 transferred $2 billion to a private equity firm that Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner created the day after he left the White House.

In an op-ed today in Time magazine, a former associate of Trump ally Rudy Giuliani, Lev Parnas, who had been part of the attempt to smear Hunter Biden in Ukraine, said that his “real job was to help undermine and destabilize the Ukrainian government.” Parnas was convicted of fraud, making false statements, and illegally funneling foreign money to the Trump campaign.

“I eventually realized,” he said, “that not only was I enabling Trump’s dirty tricks in the 2020 election, I was also risking that Ukraine would be essentially unarmed when Putin invaded.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[enerhy-meetings]

Discover innovative insights at the International Primary Healthcare Conference. Engage with global experts as we explore diverse perspectives on primary health care systems.