progress!

hello!

i am extremely happy today because i feel so ultra productive!
i finally managed to sit my ass down to get started on thesis research! i read three articles on Iran, one article on Obama's AfPak (read: Afghanistan-Pakistan) policy... and even managed to do some analysis!
I know, i know it doesn't sound like i moved mountains or anything (i mean the damn thing is supposed to eventually be 10,000 words or 40 pages long)...but the point is, I've started! and i quite enjoy this topic actually. i hope i don't get jaded with it halfway....according to most of my seniors that is usually an occupational hazard for honours-thesis-writing students halfway through their project. oh please don't let that happen.

it's also a good thing that this issue is on-going right NOW. so i will have to constantly be on the ball with developments and events that happen within Iran, the US and among the 6 nations that are negotiating for either engagement...or what appears to be at this point in time, an inevitable move towards tighter sanctions by the end of this year. they've (US, Russia, China, Germany, Britain, France) given Iran an expiry date (end of this year, 2009) to get their act together, but seeing as how Iran still appears extremely reluctant to allow IAEA inspections in Qom, extremely suspicious in its nuclear enrichment activities and the total lack of respect for the NPT (which it signed)...the chances of engagement aren't looking very good. which probably means i have to shift my thesis focus from the success of engagement to weighing the pros and cons of various strategies of containing and sanctioning Iran. at this point in time, military intervention is still a far-fetched but not implausible idea. although the consequences will most definitely be dire. honestly, i cannot see a solution out of this. even with tighter sanctions. even with russia and china on board.
it's tough.
hopefully i can and will be able to deconstruct this terribly convoluted problem. high stakes involved, potential landmines on every path/strategy taken.


oh gosh. hope i didn't bore you with that. it's just all swirling around in my mind and it's better that i get it out here and hahaha, maybe be able to refer to it when i'm actually writing the thesis. oh well.

i am also going to learn how to cook these holidays. maybe i will start with baking first. it is much more rewarding and less.....well...less icky.
and who doesn't love sweet treats from the kitchen right? especially if they are covered in copious amounts of chocolate. and colourful sprinkles. hahaha makes me feel like a kid all over again!

so this forms two parts of the december resolutions checked.
over and out! :)