Global food prices have been reaching new highs as fluctuations in global food markets have continued since late 2007. To help make sense of these trends, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) offers a Food Price Volatility Portal, providing links to websites that monitor food markets, as well as reports and resources that […]
A little while back, I wrote about a renewed Obama Administration push to get the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty ratified by a recalcitrant Senate. I noted that, with the retirement of anti-CTBT stalwart Jon Kyl, the treaty MAY have a chance at getting done. However, his intent to retire has clearly not softened Senator Kyl […]
A humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa region is threatening over 10 million people, with women and children being the most vulnerable. A startling amalgam of factors have converged to create a deadly situation, particularly drought, malnutrition, region-wide conflicts, poor governance and limited access by aid organizations. While we keep an eye on how […]
The international community has been involved in Afghanistan since 2001 as a consequence of the 9/11 attacks on U.S. soil. By 2003, NATO took control of the ISAF and expanded its operations across all Afghanistan. Likewise, the Europeans have been involved in Afghanistan through several types of missions. On one side, Europeans have contributed to […]
Much of the country was tightly glued to their televisions as the Casey Anthony trial was underway- there was virtual media frenzy pending her verdict. Casey Anthony a young mother from Orlando, Florida, was on trial for the murder of her daughter, Caylee. Caylee was last seen with her mother, Casey, on June 16, 2008, […]
On June 22nd and 23rd, agricultural ministers from the top 20 economies in the world met in Paris under the auspices of the G20, to address problems in the world’s increasingly connected food production and distribution system. The G20 meeting was spearheaded by France, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the G20. In his […]
Today is the world’s first International Criminal Justice Day. It marks the thirteenth year since the passage of the Rome Statute in 1998 that created the International Criminal Court. Today the I.C.C. has 116 state-party members. There are currently six active investigations into situations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Sudan, the Central […]
According to International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell, it’s time to turn our attention to the drought in East Africa now, before it’s too late. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon agrees with that sentiment, saying that he is“extremely worried” about the potential famine and massive numbers of deaths. Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya are facing one of […]
This week, The Guardian reported that the CIA fabricated a vaccination program in Abbottabad, Pakistan, as part of its efforts to track down Osama Bin Laden. The scheme was hatched in an attempt to collect DNA from the Bin Laden family to verify its presence in the area. This tactic is concerning, to say the […]
The UN Security Council held its annual Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict, 12 July 2011 in New York, at which time the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution expanding the criteria for listing parties to conflict in the Secretary-General’s annual report, the 10th Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict, published in April […]
As I wrote on June 23rd, the IAEA Board of Governors referred Syria to the UN Security Council over allegations, proven-ish, that it had covertly built a plutonium production reactor which the Israelis then destroyed in 2007. And, because Damascus has continued to block IAEA efforts to return to the Dair Alzour site to gather […]
In the aftermath of the Fukushima meltdown, it seems that the Japanese government is seriously entertaining the idea of going nuclear-free. “In the future, we should aim to have a society that does not rely on nuclear power,” Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, according to a Nikkei business daily report. “When we consider the risk […]
Documenting the seldom-seen world of child brides Photographer Stephanie Sinclair is interviewed about her work documenting child brides — some as young as 5 — in Nepal, India, Yemen, Afghanistan, the U.S. and elsewhere. An estimated 50 million girls younger than 18 in developing countries were married, with 100 million more expected during the next […]
The Guardian and Nick Davies deserve the prize for breaking open the biggest story of the decade: the extraordinary extent and maliciousness of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation violating not only British law but also the most basic elements of decency. On July 4th, the Guardian fanned the nearly cold embers of what should have long-since […]
Is the Arab Spring going to lead to polarized, issue-specific politics, similar to those that currently afflict America? If so, what are the implications for the wave of revolution and can, or even should, the US do anything to ensure that the democratic revolution is cemented? Moreover, what would the long-term effects of polarized politics […]