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Over the past several months, we have witnessed an almost major collapse in bilateral relations between Russia and the U.S., seemingly throwing to the wind more than 20 years of modest but quantifiable rapprochement between these powerful and once bitter enemies.

The Nobel Committee, which will award the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize in October, should look closely at the contribution each candidate makes toward the easing of tensions between Russia and the West when choosing this year’s winner.

One candidate in particular has contributed more toward these ends than any other nominee: the International Space Station partnership.

This partnership, formed more than 15 years ago to facilitate the construction and operation of a $150 billion outpost in space, represents the largest international collaborative project ever undertaken during peacetime.

Space agencies have so far refused to allow political currents to interfere with the International Space Station program. The crisis in Ukraine, however, has thrown the future of the program into question.

In response to U.S. sanctions, and a federal government order for NASA to suspend all cooperation with Roscosmos outside of the ISS program, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in May that Russia was not interested in extending ISS participation beyond 2020. Roscosmos is in talks with the Russian government over the fate of ISS participation, but there are real concerns that politics will torpedo the otherwise bright future of the ISS program.

Ending Russian participation in the ISS could easily lead to a return to Cold War enmity with the very real potential of sparking an arms race in space, a scenario only narrowly avoided when the U.S. and USSR competed for glory on the final frontier.

It would also wreck one of the few examples of major international cooperation as governments burn bridge after bridge in the Ukrainian crisis.

The men and women of these national space agencies that make up the International Space Station partnership — the organizational structure established by partner agencies from 15 nations that support the football-field-sized space station — has promoted cultural understanding between all participants. NASA, European, Canadian and Japanese space officials live and work among their Russian peers in Moscow, and Roscosmos officials do the same in Houston.

Their interactions range from the mundane — arranging housing and office spaces for visiting delegations, to the extraordinary — preparing multinational teams of cosmonauts and astronauts to live and work in space through an exhaustive and collaborative training program at space centers around the world.

International space cooperation has also fostered understanding by engaging the military, scientific and industrial bases of the U.S. and Russia in a challenging, peaceful and forward looking mission, rather than pursuing purely competitive and militaristic ends.

Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to the ISS would also encourage all governments involved to allow their space agencies to work together well into the future. With 50 nations now exploring space, the ISS also sets an exemplary standard for international cooperation, helping ensure that peaceful, civilian space efforts remain the norm.

The ISS shows that it is possible to overlook political differences and work together toward a truly global and uplifting goal: creating the framework for the human race to continue its push beyond Earth’s orbit.

It is due time for the international community to make an unequivocal statement of support for the positive efforts of the U.S., Russia and their 13 partners aboard ISS during times of heightened and dangerous tension between Russia and the West.

— The Moscow Times,

July 16

A United Nations-assisted tribunal on Wednesday cleared the way to begin the genocide trial of two elderly former top leaders of Cambodia‘s 1970s Khmer Rouge regime.

Wir wenden uns an unsere westlichen Partner mit dem Appell, auf die sich verrannt habenden Kiewer Machthaber Einfluss auszuüben. Die Verantwortung für die Opfer unter der Zivilbevölkerung im Osten der Ukraine liegt auf jenen, welche die genannten verbrecherischen Handlungen unterstützen.

Am 29. Juli gerieten Mitarbeiter der russischen Zollstelle „Gukowo“ unter gezielten Beschuss aus Granatwerfern und Maschinengewehren der ukrainischen Sicherheitskräfte.

Die Zollstelle erlitt zusätzlich zu den bereits früher durch den Beschuss der ukrainischen Sicherheitskräfte erlittenen neue Beschädigungen.

Offensichtlich fürchtet man in Kiew sehr die sich am Grenzübergang „Gukowo“ einrichtende OSZE-Beobachtermission, welche die Lage an der russisch-ukrainischen Staatsgrenze kontrollieren soll.

Artist Yoko Ono on Wednesday urged youngsters gathered at a peace event in Hiroshima to help teach the world about the experiences of the city that was devastated by a U.S. atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945.

The 81-year-old widow of John Lennon told roughly 300 participants: ” ‘No more Hiroshima’ is a global issue. I want you to spread the experiences of Hiroshima to the world as much as possible.”

Die japanische Demarche zeugt davon, dass die zahlreichen Zusicherungen Tokios über das Vorhaben, die Bemühungen zur Entwicklung der Beziehungen mit Russland fortzusetzen, nur ein Schirm sind, der die Unfähigkeit der japanischen Politiker verdeckt, das gewohnte Kielwasser Washingtons zu verlassen und eine selbständige Linie zu verfolgen, die den eigentlichen nationalen Interessen des Landes entspricht.

And things have only gotten worse since then.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said in a short interview on Tuesday that she is hoping the White House returns a redacted document to her committee by Friday.

(22. Januar 2009) Bundestag investigation into CIA blacksites in and detainee transfers via Germany. The 21 Mar 2008 report, by Dr. Joachim Jacob, is classified as „VS-NfD“ (Verschlusssache – Nur fuer den Dienstgebrauch / Classified document – for official use only) and presents an excerpt of 26 pages from the 132-paged final report. It was issued in context of the 1st Investigation Committee of the 16th Electoral period.

The report gives detailed information about an official investigation into US military transports of detainees via Germany and also incarceration as well as mistreated of US detainees on German soil. It is particularly relevant to the investigation into the US military prison in Mannheim, which is ongoing and receiving attention from German politicians and the media.

In der entstandenen Situation stellen sich viele objektive Beobachter legitime Fragen, ob man in Washington und in mehreren westeuropäischen Hauptstädten für Libyen eine solche Entwicklung wollte, als man vor drei Jahren das Land für seine „Demokratisierung“ bombardierte.

„This draft decree will enable a larger number of (Ministry) staff members to participate in the work of the UN and the OSCE and to fill vacancies in police managerial positions. This will contribute to enhancing the Russian Federation‘s prestige in the international arena,“ an official at the Interior Ministry‘s press center emphasized.

(16. Juli) Berliner Rechtsanwälte machen Druck auf Generalbundesanwalt / Dienstaufsichtsbeschwerde angedroht

„Er ist erst Anfang 30 und will sicher nicht den Rest seines Lebens auf der ganzen Welt gejagt werden oder von einem Asyl zum nächsten wandern.“

More FOIA-related nonsense, this time from the CIA. Michael Morisy, co-founder of MuckRock, sent a request for internal emails discussing (rather ironically) the fact that the CIA‘s „FOIA Portal“ seems to suffer from extended periods of downtime.