Good old state sovereignty. As soon as you get any sort of international dispute, sure as anything you'll get diplomats and commentators alike prattling on about "territorial integrity" and the like. After all, the inviolability of state sovereignty and the principle of non-intervention in a state's domestic affairs are accepted norms within ( Read more... )

After hearing today's news, I had a vision of the newspaper headlines ...

BORIS YELTSIN DIES
Russian vodka producers face imminent bankruptcy

Melbourne University academic states that Yeltsin "demonstrated the Russian belief that vodka is an essential ingredient in foreign policy".

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( OK, I'll be serious. )