By Marília Maciel, DiploFoundation Political disputes usually take place in multiple and simultaneous battlefields. One of them is the semantic universe: the winning narrative about a controversial fact tends to be predominant in public perceptions and in History books. Therefore, it is understandable that actors invest resources on crafting particular expressions or on making them resound in the collective conscience. In Egypt, the deposition of Mohamed Morsi triggered an ongoing debate on how to label it: was it a coup d’état or a revolution?  The importance of this question goes beyond national politics. It affects the international legitimacy of the current government and it also impacts on concrete policies, such as international aid. The White House and other governments did not take a clear stand on the issue, but if a dominant narrative emerges, they might be compelled to do it. Politicians usually focus their attention on traditional media to identify these emerging trends on public discourse. Interestingly, this time some analysts have also  http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/07/07/the_wikipedia_war_over_egypts_coup
called attention to the lively debate taking place in the backstage of Wikipedia about the title of the article “2013 Egyptian coup d’état”. The attention raised to the discussion in Wikipedia is not misplaced. The platform is currently the  HYPERLINK “http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page”
seventh most visited website worldwide. Many professionals use Wikipedia as a first source of information when they begin their researches on a given topic. In addition to that, unlike traditional media articles, which become old and fade from our memories in a few days, Wikipedia articles are easily retrievable and may have a long lasting repercussion, as they are indexed in the most popular encyclopedia of our time. The outcome of the debates in Wikipedia may have a concrete impact on public discussions, but it is still unclear to many how Wikipedia works. Three core policies establish the framework for the platform: verifiability, no original research (NOR) and neutral point of view (NPOV). The first two are deeply related. Wikipedia is not a platform to share innovative ideas or the outcome of original thought. Its articles should be a summary of the known and relevant information about a given topic, supported by verifiable sources such as books, published academic works or media news. The Neutral Point of View policy means that all opinions about a particular topic should be fairly represented. The discussion of rival opinions should contain no sympathy or bias. Some discussants in Wikipedia argued that the use of the word “coup” in the title of the article about recent events in Egypt is neutral and factual because sources, such as The Oxford English Dictionary, describe a “coup d’état” as an “illegal seizure of power from a government” and most legal analysts agree that this description matches the events that unfolded in Egypt. Other members of the Wikipedia community affirmed, that the title of the article violates NPOV because there is no predominant view on the matter. For the past few days, public opinion and media articles seem to be shifting towards the narrative of a coup and governmental  HYPERLINK “http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/19/uk-revokes-arms-export-licenses-egypt”
violence in Egypt has contributed to that. Consequently, Wikipedia editors decided to keep the current title, which mentions a coup d’état, at least for the time being. Wikipedia discussants will have no problem in finding sources to support whatever view they affiliate themselves to. Traditional media channels, for instance, have made their preferences for the word “coup” or “revolution” very clear from the start. Governments, on the other hand, have avoided taking a clear position. They know the potential political and diplomatic pitfalls of trying to pre-assess the legitimacy of a government. Moreover, the geopolitical importance of Egypt cannot be overlooked. For all that, the words used by particular governments or media channels to refer to recent political events in Egypt are important, but they do not necessarily point the way for achieving neutrality in Wikipedia. At least two conclusions can be drawn from this case. The first is that many of the issues that split opinions in society will also be controversial in platforms such as Wikipedia. However, the enforcement of clear policies like NPOV and the existence of constant peer review create incentives to produce balanced Wikipedia articles. This kind of pressure seems to be missing in traditional media. Wikipedia is, therefore, filling a gap and being increasingly regarded as a relevant source of information. The second conclusion is that, in spite of its growing importance and astonishing popularity, this platform has been practically absent in assessments of the public opinion and in strategies for public diplomacy. Paying attention and contributing to Wikipedia could be particularly  HYPERLINK “http://www.diplomacy.edu/blog/wikipedia-diplomats-tool-information-and-public-diplomacy”
relevant for diplomats, professionals who use words as key instruments to produce international reality and who always need to look at a picture from all sides. MariliaM@diplomacy.edu

By  Daniel Poot, Preferred Banker International Clients, ABN AMRO. Den Haag. The launch of something new is always very exciting. Hence, the start of the diplomatic magazine online is a wonderful idea and ABN AMRO believes this is an unique platform for diplomats to acquire relevant information and subsequently for the entire international community in The Hague and the Netherlands. This launch brings me back to the start-up of the ABN AMRO International Clients Desk in January 1992. Just after the merger between the ABN Bank and Amro Bank. This international desk was started mainly to service the embassies and the International Court of Justice. The goal was to help you find the best way to do your banking in a new and foreign environment. A lot has changed since 1992. The Hague became more and more the City of Peace and Justice. In 1993 the start of the ICTY later to be followed by other organisations like ICC , Europol,  Eurojust and many more followed. In addition, large multinationals have settled in The Hague as well like Shell, Q8, CB&I and more recently APM Terminals and Aramco. Obviously many diplomats, expats and other international employees have moved to The Hague and most of them became familiar with the international desk of ABN AMRO. On July 8^th this year ABN AMRO also launched something new. The bank started a campaign to promote all of the ABN AMRO international desks in The Netherlands. Besides our desk in The Hague, we service international clients in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and starting August 1^st, also in Eindhoven. If you are looking for advice on payments , insurances, mortgages, savings or investments, we ABN AMRO has a team of specialists who can service you. And did you know that ABN AMRO also serves international clients living abroad with a variety of products? We do service international clients worldwide. Finally, we have a full English website, English internet banking and English mobile banking. Interested? Check out our new website, go to www.abnamro.nl/expats  and you will see what we can do for you!

Ron Amir (Israel, 1975) tells in a passionate way contemporary stories, stories in which he’s not going atrocities and quirks out of the way, stories full of contradictions, engaging stories, stories that do not measure and that, especially in his drawings, could continue almost endless. He does so in a figurative expressionist style which colors represent content. He pulls the viewer, get him his story and let him share the experience. After his national service he left his native country of Israel in his early twenties. With a clear mission: to become a painter. Via Rome, where he specialized in the restoration and copying of old masters, he went to Amsterdam, “because I distinctly wanted to go to the roots of Mondrian”. Moving to The Netherlands meant more to him. Rome was a traditional environment, where the presence of the pope and the Catholic Church were strongly present. ’The move to the Netherlands was the moment I left the tradition’. Amsterdam, and later Groningen and Rotterdam, offered me the chance for a new start. For me this is the land of Jeroen Bosch and Mondrian, and everything in between.” Amir contemplates life from an imaginary point somewhere floating above the earth. Like he is on another planet and try to pin down the essence of human existence. The works consist of human figures, objects and spaces, but there is also room for abstract forms, demons and deformed creatures. The use of such elements and figures allow him to approach reality from an alternative perspective. The large charcoal drawings depict a world that touches on reality while appearing surreal and absurd. Spaces and backgrounds are disfigured reflecting the subjects state of anguish and suffering. Objects also play a role with a deformed car and an elaborate underwater staircase which pose many question leading to ever more possible interpretations. Political reality penetrates Amirs work, resembling surreal horror scenes from another world but find their origin in the mundane. The images come from merged newspaper clippings of atrocities, ranging from protesters setting themselves on fire to the photographed remains of suicide bombers. The work stimulates appall and dread with images of death and destruction, these however are not born of conscious, the horror in the works is a concentration of these violent forces of human nature. What could be compared with what we exposed to in the ever advancing culture of interactive media.

 Visual Art （1982,JP）graduated from Musashino Art University in 2005. In the years that he had Solo and Group exhibition at some of galleries in Tokyo. And he spent two years as an artist in residence at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in 2009 and 2010. After finishing the Rijksakademie, He moved to Rotterdam. He works with painting, drawing and collage. His work is influenced by Computer Game, Biology, Science Fiction and Japanese Comics. It invites spectators to use their imagination and enjoy themselves, evoking their surreal imagination, made of fantasy world and outer space. Now he is making “ Reincarnation Series ” from his earthquake experience in Japan, “ Grandfather Series ” and Big size painting. He has plan to show his new works “ Zomer Expo 2013 ” at Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and Solo exhibition at Galerie De 7e Hemel in October 2013.