The Foreign Service Journal, December 2010

12 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 0 condemnation of the idea of cozying up to a dictator lay behind the move. Even so, the government of Equa- torial Guinea is putting the best possi- ble face on the rebuff. In an Oct. 22 interview with Science Insider , a mag- azine published by the American Asso- ciation for the Advancement of Science, MbaMokuy Agapito, Obiangs’s adviser on international organizations, insisted that “We will reach a consensus, be- cause you can’t have an issue in UNESCO pending forever.” Surprisingly, though, when asked whether his government would still sponsor the prize if Obiang’s name were removed from it, Agapito said only, “That’s not up to Equatorial Guinea; it’s up to the board to decide if they want to change their own deci- sion” ( http://news.sciencemag.org/ ) . Praise for the board’s decision came quickly. Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told the Washington Post ’s Al Kamen that “Pres. Obiang and his family have looted their country while its people barely survive.” He added, “UNESCO [is] doing the right thing by disassociating itself from this cor- rupt, abusive regime” ( www.washing tonpost.com/ ) . — Steven Alan Honley, Editor 2009 Move Act: Still Stuck ? The Uniformed and Overseas Citi- zens Absentee Voting Act, enacted in 1986, protects the right of American expatriates to vote in federal elections regardless of where they reside. This law requires that states and territories allow members of the United States Uniformed Services andmerchant ma- rine, their family members and U.S. citizens residing outside the States to register and vote absentee in elections for federal offices. On Oct. 28, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Military and Over- seas Voter Empowerment Act into law. The MOVE Act, as it is known, re- quires states to mail absentee ballots 45 days before Election Day to troops, government workers and other Amer- icans who want to vote from abroad. National Association of Secretaries of State President Matt Dunlap declared on July 20 that “State and local election officials across the U.S. are vigorously working to ensure that military and overseas voters will be able to request and cast their ballots this November.” A year later, however, problems ap- parently persist in terms of compliance with MOVE. This fall the Justice De- partment has settled lawsuits against Alaska, Colorado, the District of Co- lumbia, Guam, Hawaii, North Dakota, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Mis- sissippi, Nevada, Kansas, the U.S. Vir- gin Islands, Wisconsin and New York ( http://blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/ ) . ■ — Steven Alan Honley, Editor C Y B E R N O T E S T he Norwegian Nobel Committee, by giving the Peace Prize to a con- victed person in China, shows no respect for the judicial system of China. This is not only disrespect for China’s judicial system but also puts a big question mark on their true intention. … If some people try to change China’s political system in this way and try to stop the Chinese people from moving forward, they are obviously making a mistake. — PRC Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu, reacting to the Oct. 12 announcement that Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo is the winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize; http://news.xinhuanet.com/