Been spending the holidays with my 83 years young Mom so have been over eating and not blogging. I’m on my net notebook and still have not figured out how to do spell check! Sorry. Here are my thoughts on 2010. Overview 2010 saw Afghanistan become the top defense issue as the US and NATO […]
The adage “A picture is worth a thousand words” is exactly what the following images by UNICEF say as their top three images of the year leap from the page speaking to the world about plight of children across the globe. © UNICEF/NYHQ2010-2005/Asselin Democratic Republic of Congo: A young boy finds shade under a banana […]
What better way to close out the year than with a list of the best in global music for 2010? Such lists abound, of course, from NPR to your favorite music blogs. We, like other modern day followers of music that spans the globe, try to avoid the term “world music” due to the sort […]
Vladimir Sambaiew, President of the Stanley Foundation, recently had an op-ed in the Des Moines Register that very neatly sums up the argument on how multilateralism can work to address (if not always solve) global problems. Sambaiew’s focus is on the G-20 and “responsible stakeholdership.” Two phrases help explain today’s leadership context: the “G-20” and […]
It’s been a busy week. I hope you didn’t get caught in any of the massive travel snafus in Europe or the US that have made holiday travel a nightmare for hundreds of thousands. If you did, then I hope you survived with most of your sanity intact. It’s a cold, windy morning here in […]
It’s difficult to assess the impact of development aid in 2010- there has been a lot going on. The Millennium Development Goal summit yielded little, except further confirmation that China and India have been the driving forces behind the majority of progress toward what MDGs may be achievable, and much of Sub-Saharan Africa has fallen, […]
As most Christians around the globe wrap up one of their faith’s biggest holidays, it seems like an apt time to reflect on the place and protection of religion in the world today. Inevitably at Christmas time, stories of persecuted Christians make the rounds of Western newspapers and news agencies and in some places, that […]
Hopefully Santa has visited your house this morning, or the spirit of Santa at least. Santa brings with him not only toys for countless boys and girls, but joy and hope. Santa is a symbol of the spirit of Christmas, regardless of whether or not your a Christian or just a believer of Santa or […]
In the Rising Powers Year in Review this week, we cited North Korean aggression as the most unexpected development of 2010 and China’s tightrope walk over the issue as a key dynamic to watch in 2011. China is at once the nuclear rogue’s chief benefactor and a rising power with global responsibilities; hence the high wire act. An interesting NYTimes […]
In the Rising Powers Year in Review, we highlighted North Korea’s heightened belligerence and the advanced state of its uranium enrichment as 2010’s most unexpected developments. Today, the NYTimes reports that the North appears to be threatening to use nuclear weapons and the South continues its military exercises. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who has […]
The Senate’s ratification today of the New Start treaty comes as an immense relief, not mainly because of considerations directly associated with nuclear arms control or with U.S.-Russian relations, but because of what defeat would have said about the state of U.S. politics. So trivial and senseless were the objections advanced by Republican critics of […]
Below are links to three articles that relate to previous postings here at Global Engagement: 1. My previous post on U.S. students seeking to study full-time in the U.K. has been followed up with an article in the Washington Post, “U.S. students crossing pond for college.” The population of U.S. undergraduates at United Kingdom schools […]
The Holidays are approaching and for most of us that now has us running a muck like mad men trying to find the oh, so perfect gift for our loved ones. Sadly as we dash about the stores we are often cursing the crowds and our inability to find even one parking spot after nearly […]
Several key Senate Republicans, McConnell, Graham and Kyl are leading the resistance to the ratification of the START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), claiming that the Senate needs more time to review the fine print on the treaty that would specify limits of: – 1,550 deployed warheads, which are about 30% lower than the upper warhead […]
Renowned Iranian filmmaker receives harsh prison sentence and banned from making films for the next twenty years. The oppression of Iranian activists in all shapes and sizes continues. Jafar Panahi, whose passionate speech in court was reproduced in a previous blog post, is one of the latest opponents of President Ahmadinejad’s government to be firmly […]