UN Climate Change Conference in Cancún delivers balanced package of decisions, restores faith in multilateral process is the official word. The UNFCCC delegates, without all the hoopla of Copenhagen, appear to have materially advanced the cause of saving the planet – and all its people, now and for the future – from the depredations of […]
Now that Chanukah has drawn to a close, I wonder, as I tend to do around this time of year, why we celebrate the success of the Maccabean Revolt? As Joseph Telushkin writes in Jewish Literacy, “[o]ne of the sadder ironies of Jewish history is that the Macabees led a successful revolt against King Antiochus’s […]
Joelle Fiss of Human Rights First writes in the EU Observer that NATO’s new Strategic Concept offers the European Union the opportunity for better coordination. “Tellingly, Nato’s strategic concept stretches out globally to incorporate new geo-political realities for its future, opening the door to political consultations with powers such as China, India and Russia,” she […]
The police in Indonesia have arrested one of the country’s most wanted Islamic militants on Friday, December 10. The arrested has been accused by the police of having been involved in the plotting of high-profile assassinations and for carrying out attacks on foreigners at luxury hotels in the capital. Media reports inform that Abu Tholut […]
For most people today, December 10, 2010, will come and go just like any other day. Most will rise and the morning and go to work or school as normal. However today is not just any normal day, but international Human Rights Day. Since 1945 the United Nations founding the protection and preservation of Human […]
The issue of child slavery is nothing new; it has been making headlines for some time now. In general as a society we have become more open and aware of the issues, and if you ask someone do they know about modern slavery. However while the statistics following child slavery are shocking, not enough is […]
I’m very happy that I’ve got a two-part article, starting today, in DeSmogBlog, the prestigious environmental blog, voted Canada’s “Best Group Blog.” I’m looking once again at the Canadian tar sands, from the point of view of energy security this time. It turns out that American security is diminished by the use of tar sands […]
Two days after terror struck in one of India’s holiest city Varanasi, Indian Prime Minister has said that he looks forward to expanding India’s engagement with the European Union. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh was speaking prior to his departure to Brussels to attend the 11th Annual India-European Union Summit. Dr. Singh said that he […]
Like a lot of progressives, I’m not over the moon about the “deal” that’s been struck in Washington on taxes. There are, however, some justifications for President Obama letting a lot of things fall out of what should have been a whole new approach to how we, the American taxpayers, are asked to invest in […]
Welcome to 21st Century Diplomacy, State Department. WikiLeaks’ massive cache of over a quarter million sensitive State Department cables is a bleak reminder that everything in in our Brave New World is ones and zeros- and ones and zeros are easily copied. Back when Daniel Ellsberg stole the Pentagon Papers, he had to spend long, […]
The latest Wikileaks revelations are too extensive for any single person to have yet sifted through, and they pertain to so many aspects of foreign policy that it is difficult to know where to focus. Here are some of the highlights related to corruption. In the category of “I knew just as much simply by […]
Polio strikes war-torn central Africa The resurgence of polio cases in Africa during 2010 has prompted warnings from the World Health Organization and a massive multicountry vaccination program. Health officials blame insufficient vaccination programs for an outbreak of cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and Congo that has killed almost 200 people and […]
As the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders met in Abu Dhabi, they used the opportunity to come down heavily on international terror groups. Rejecting terror in all forms the GCC expressed its solidarity with Saudi Arabia in its fight against these groups. The GCC expressed its grave concern over the growth and spread of al-Qaeda […]
Christina Figueres and Ban Ki-moon (Reuters) COP 16 winds up at the end of this week. It is not the blockbuster that Copenhagen was last year – and that’s no surprise. All the foofaraw from last year has been replaced by a bit more focus and many fewer expectations. There are far fewer people as […]
Wikileaks has successfully created an online forum that publicizes normally secretive communications. Its most recent attacks on the U.S. government and military have brought widespread condemnation from officials, diplomats, and civilian experts. It remains to be seen whether this public shaming will create more transparent government or just encourage diplomats to be increasingly secretive. But […]