The Economist’s lengthy Special Report on Latin America last week is worth a read (see leader below), even though it failed to emphasize and adequately explain two critical causes of the region’s recent success — 1) the consensus among Latin American politicians that conquering inflation has benefitted the poor and strengthened democracy; and 2) the massive build-up in fx reserves that […]
You would not think it if you were judging the world by the quality of the work of the US Senate – scary thought – but there has been considerable progress made on confronting the climate crisis: from the EU’s (relatively) hard-charging approach, to the rapidly growing attention to clean energy and other clean tech […]
The MDG Summit begins tomorrow! Are you ready? Bono is. Read his op-ed in the New York Times today, and ponder these short-term tests Bono proposes to assess the Goals: 1) Find what works and expand on it. 2) Governance as an effect multiplier. 3) Demand clarity, measure inputs and outputs. The rest of the […]
by Hugh Hunter For almost 10 years I was the British consul for Florida, based in Orlando. During this time, that office was the busiest British consulate in the world in terms of the numbers of British citizens in prison: many hundreds arrested every year and almost 200 long-term inmates at any one time. Once, […]
Boeing spent years pushing U.S. administrations to pursue (largely legitimate) trade sanctions against Airbus at the WTO. These cases largely went in favor of the U.S. with the WTO ruling that Airbus had received government subsidies, considered illegal under WTO rules. Before these cases could be settled, potentially causing major problems for U.S.-European relations, comes […]
UN photo contest illustrates MDGs Entries in the UN Development Program’s “Picture This” contest seek to illuminate and illustrate the challenges at the heart of the Millennium Development Goals, a suite of ambitious development targets to be achieved by 2015. With the deadline looming, the UN must still rally support — and especially funds — […]
The following is an excerpt from the authors paper: Rape as a Weapon of War and it’s Long-term Effects on Victims and Society. The paper looks at the following key questions: Does rape as a tool of war leave a country with less chance of a solid and stable political future? What are the long term […]
In an effort to prove that justice has no time limit, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) indicted four former officials of the Khmer Rouge regime on Thursday for a host of crimes including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide under international law and murder, torture, and religious persecution under the […]
Greenpeace wants Facebook to power its data centers with renewables. Greenpeace is using all the power of cyberspace – including a Facebook page – for this initiative. Katie Fehrenbacher at GigaOm puts it all in context here. The video is too cute to pass up. My nine-year-old is going to love it.
When will the rapes end? This is a question that is being asked, not only in the Congo, but across the globe. However while the DRC remains one of the worst countries in the world for is exuberant use of rape as a weapon of war, it is not alone in this destructive act that not […]
Considering that war is perhaps the most horrific aspect of human society, one might think we’d some idea of why it happens. We’ve given it an honest effort. Much ink has been spilled and html text typed to attempt to get to the bottom of it. And there have been some valuable efforts, Stephen Van […]
Four former heads of the Khmer Rouge were indicted today by the U.N. sanctioned Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. The four charged with crimes of Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, and Genocide among others, ranged in age from 78 to 85 years, and have managed to escape justice for at least 31 years. This […]
Is there a tradeoff between economic development and environmental conservation? I have just returned from Vietnam, where it is easy to believe there is. Modern tourists to Vietnam are often lured by the lush green scenery and pastoral lifestyle. The sharp green hills and women tending rice fields in conical hats are there, but today […]
BOLD NEWS today out of Ethiopia: President Meles Zenawi has declared that “Ethiopia will no longer need food aid by 2015.” Meles was referring to a “Growth and Transformation” plan seeking to achieve 15 percent economic growth over five years. Ethiopia has increased its agricultural output in recent years, but has not been able to […]
All talk in the aid community this month is the lead up to the Millennium Development Goals summit in New York from September 20-22. The goal of the summit it to assess general progress since the MDGs began, and consider a push toward meeting the deadline of 2015 (which most development professionals would agree is […]