Congratulations! Brazil inaugurated its first woman president in history on the first of the year. Read her inaugural speech below. President Rousseff, a close ally of outgoing President Lula since 2000 and his anointed successor, lacks the charisma of her benefactor, but not the resume. Fighting as a Marxist urban guerrilla against Brazil’s military regime in […]
Pretzel contortions are part of the diplomatic game. In the Rising Powers Year in Review (read here), we called North Korea’s violence against the South and advanced uranium enrichment program the biggest surprise of 2010. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s New Year’s message today (see BBC article) has kept up the West’s diplomatic contortions — stand […]
Last night 60 Minutes (a TV news program in the U.S.) had an excellent two-part presentation on Wynton Marsalis and his Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) Orchestra. The followed the band’s trips to London and Havana, where they engaged in cultural diplomacy of the highest order. What made the JALC trip to Havana so interesting […]
by Cate Mackenzie *For many, the 1st of January heralds a new start, and it’s not uncommon for weight loss to top the New Year’s resolutions list. Sense About Science, a London-based nonprofit has released its Celebrities and Science 2010 Review, which counters the more unusual diet and nutrition tips that have appeared in magazines […]
The cholera outbreak that has been ravaging Haiti since November 2010 is having a lasting effect on Haiti’s rice crop, according to CNN. “A chunk of Haiti’s rice harvest will probably be lost because of farmers’ fears of cholera contamination, the United Nations said Wednesday. On top of that, consumers are afraid to buy rice […]
I saw yesterday that an item I wrote in early December, Nuclear Power: Running on fumes?, was re-posted the other day at Climate Progress. If you don’t know Joe Romm and his and his colleagues’ important writing at Climate Progress, do yourself a favor and get over there and subscribe. Joe is a senior fellow […]
Today we woke to not only a new year, but a new decade, and renewed hope for both our own lives and children across the globe. Now you have finished cleaning up from the nights fun and merriment, and its time to set foot firmly into the new year. Its time to sit down and […]
“Our own national security toolbox must be well-equipped with more than just hammers.” Robert Gates, US Secretary of Defense US Defense Secretary Robert Gates understands that the challenges America will face in an increasingly multi-polar 21st century require capabilities that extend beyond traditional combat operations. The U.S. military increasingly finds itself ordered to support peacekeeping, […]
All the FPA bloggers have been asked to write a Year in Review post that considers the events of the year and looks forward to the new year. It’s a daunting task, especially with a topic as expansive as the U.S. role in the world. What to focus on? This year has seen many notable […]
I find myself sitting here on the last day of 2010, another year…another decade…has again quickly passed and I am trying to get everything done as the day, and year, quickly close in on me. It really has all come and gone in a flash and as the year, and decade, come to an end […]
Sri Lanka bans UN role in war crimes probe Sri Lanka’s government today said it would prohibit the United Nations from conducting an independent investigation into claims that the military committed war crimes during the final months of its 25-year civil war against Tamil Tiger separatists. UN representatives, however, would be allowed to testify before […]
Among other things, 2010 marked a number of national elections gone wrong. From Guinea to Haiti, Rwanda to the Philippines, Madagascar, Burundi and Belarus to name just a few, elections that were fair, free, non-violent and undisputed have been difficult to find this past year. Even elections in the US and UK took on more […]
Less than a week after a deadly suicide attack in northwestern Pakistan, the World Food Programme (WFP) plans to resume food aid for victims of deadly floods. The attack killed 46 and wounded over 100. The attacker was reported to be a woman wearing a burqa, the first time such an attacker was deployed in […]
– Overview – The Met Office in the UK reports that 2010 is on track to be the warmest or second-warmest year in the instrumental record. Other science, based on massive data, supports that view. (See graphic above and NOAA’s annual State of the Climate report.) Meanwhile, the Post-Copenhagen international climate negotiations continued and culminated […]
If I had to pick a phrase to describe the Global Health arena in 2010, I would choose “2 steps forward, 1 step back”. With tightened purse strings, public health programs had hands tied in many ways; but on the research front, some of the breakthroughs were mind-blowing. All in all, it was a year […]