Update

Hi dear readers! This blog is getting quite some more attention than I expected. I'm not going to publish my entire statistics, but I get quite some visitors from all around the world. Mostly Europe and the States, but also a lot of Russians and even a Kenyan regular. A big thanks to all of you who keep reading this blog!

As you might have noticed my activity dropped. I however promise to publish no less than four decent articles a month, and this up till February. To guarantee the quality of my blog - and to make sure you don't have to read silly updates every week - I have prepared enough material. If anything out of the ordinary would happen, I will take the time to write down my five cents too.

To finish this update: I will put a stronger emphasis on theory once my examinations are over. To this purpose I have added a new page to my blog, called 'theory'. Feel free to use it as I sure will! :D

Update

Followers might have noticed how my blogging activity dropped since the beginning of the month. I have been very busy collecting source material for my thesis, which got by the way approved already some time ago. This is a work in progress and it will be so for quite a while. Nonetheless I promise to shift not too much attention away from the blogosphere.

Earlier today, I published the first installment in my 'dragon nation' series. This series of posts aims to clear out some myths that surround China's economic rise. The one I gave you already was on China's monetary policy. I got two more in the making, one on state-owned corporations and one on China's environmental politics. You can expect those later on this month so make sure to pass by every now and then. Also, if you have any myths bothering you just let me know. I'd be more than happy to expand the series!

Working on the looks

Blogger has some great standard templates you can edit yourself. There is also a nice assortment of images you can pick for a background. Finding one that fits your specific blog is however a little harder than you'd suspect. Therefore, I made myself a custom background and uploaded it to Blogger. It's a mosaic of politics-related logo's. Do you recognize any? I myself find it a lot better than the rather lifeless solid-color background I used until recently. Feel free to comment on the new design, it's only a try-out!

This post is - sadly - a short one since I have lots of work to do. University wants me to pick a subject for my thesis real soon. Maybe something to blog about next? :p

Just getting started...

A few days ago, a good friend of mine asked whether I could write something for his blog Monticello to Walden. My guest blog was an opinion on the Middle East policy of the US, written in the light of ten years 9/11. I really enjoyed contributing and somehow the blog vibe got to me. This inspired me to write a blog of my own, Swings & Roundabouts.

'Swings and roundabouts' is an English idiom of which I always loved the sound. It signifies that something has about as much advantages as it has disadvantages. Since this blog will mostly cover my two cents on recent (political) developments, I find it fit to have a reminder on the many sides of a debate. S&R serves as an incentive for me to keep up with the world and to think things over. I see it as a project to develop my skills.

Though the aim of S&R is rather personal, everyone is free to read along. Comments or questions are appreciated too. Hope to write for real soon,

Joeri