Not to pick on West Africa this week, but another human rights drama is currently unfolding in Guinea, where the military opened fire with live rounds into a crowd of 50,000 pro-democracy protesters on Monday. While the military government claims that only 57 people were killed, mainly due …
As the Obama administration deliberates on what strategy and how many resources to commit or implement in Afghanistan, there has been growing comparisons between Obama’s dilemma and Bush’s prior to the Iraqi surge. Though the comparison has several important leaks, there is much to discern in both President’s leadership styles …
Countries within the Southern Hemisphere are on the move.
This past weekend member states of UNASUR and the African Union met on Margarita Island, Venezuela, in order to strengthen ties between their countries and continents. One of the ideas proposed by President Hugo Chávez, as well as Moammar Gadhafi, of Libya, …
Senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer introduced the Senate’s version of climate change and energy legislation today. See this for information on the background of the bill and the working draft itself. I won’t go into an analysis right now. (I’ll be getting on that soon, along …
The manufacturer that makes the popular—ubiquitous—Kalashnikov rifle is filing for bankruptcy. The problem is that the Soviet Union granted basically any socialist country a license to produce the assault rifle in order to make “freeing the people” easier. After the Soviet Union fell, the licenses were effectively …
Pakistan has a lot of problems. (How’s that for an understated opening?)
One of the major problems in the country, however, is the lack of credible state institutions. In fact, the only state institution that is universally recognized and respected is the Pakistani Army. So it comes as a bit of …
I talked about Australian PM Kevin Rudd’s address at the Foreign Policy Association’s annual World Leadership Forum. Here is a video of this compelling speech. Rudd drew a highly convincing picture of how the world can and should reinvigorate multinational organizations.
The president of the World Bank said that America’s days as an unchallenged economic superpower might be numbered and that the dollar was likely to lose its favored position as the euro and the Chinese renminbi assume bigger roles.
Tomorrow Obama administration’s essay at diplomacy with Iran will take place. While some are applauding this move as a new era in the Iran- U.S. relationship, the Wall Street Journal is reminding people that this is not the first time the United States has reached across to negotiate with Iran. …
Last week in an op-ed in The Washington Post Rwandan President Paul Kagame put forward an argument as to why the United States and Africa need one another. It’s a compelling argument, one that many of us have been making for years yet has …
Are the US Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers listening?
It’s pretty plain at this late date that many, many leading companies in manufacturing, mining, finance, insurance and other industries recognize the threat of climate change to their businesses and the opportunities for growth with sustainability. The
Hamas and Israeli officials, via Egyptian and German mediation, agreed to swap on Friday a video of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit for 20 Palestinian female prisoners currently held in Israeli jails.
A German mediator with access to the video attested that the footage includes segments with Shalit moving, …
The topic of child labor is sadly one of those that is always at the top of my list. However we have had some significant strides recently, especially regarding the release of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) list of goods produced by forced labor …
Mohamed El-Erian, the highly respected chief portfolio manager for the Harvard Endowment, and currently chief investment officer for the global investment manager, PIMCO notes that the momentum for meaningful financial reform is stalling in spite of clear evidence that financial activities have far outpaced the regulatory infrastructure. And some banks are returning to the bad habits that almost destroyed them.
This past weekend communities across the country literally took to the streets to combat child trafficking. The flagship walk in New York City had some 1,284 registered walker with $124,687 in donations raised.
New York in true NYC style added their own unique style with the Stiletto Run, which raised …
