I’ve often wondered if the pace of modem life, the 24/7 new cycle, and the need for governments to respond in real-time to what is happening have had a negative impact on the conduct of diplomacy. Take, for example, the odd incident last week in which two American allies made great progress in a matter […]
Now might be a good time to talk again about the promise of the electric or fuel-cell vehicle. Given the Gulf of Mexico disaster, one would hope that it must start to penetrate, sooner rather than later, that it is past time to leave the internal combustion engine behind. The naysayers talk about the “romance” […]
Cynthia Schweer of the FPA Global Health blog notes that Obama’s NSS talks more about global health than Bush’s 2006 NSS (Obama mentions it 35 times compared to Bush’s 5). But does this actually represent an increased devotion on Obama’s part to solving global health issues? Obama’s NSS does contain this statement: The United States […]
This is a characteristically compelling cover from “The New Yorker.” I do continue to be astonished that, after all these years and all the blood and treasure we’ve squandered for this fool’s gold, we’re still destroying ourselves and the earth we call home by relentlessly extracting, transporting and burning oil.
I attended this recent biannual conference examining key and emerging environmental issues in the EPA Region 2 area. It was organized by Columbia Law School’s Center for Climate Change Law (CCCL). There was a lot of interesting discussion of climate change and air pollution, including some of the critically important ins and outs of litigation […]
If Israel had wanted to torpedo the fourth round of UN nuclear sanctions against Iran, accelerate Iran’s weaponization efforts, and hasten the day when Tel Aviv will face a second nuclear-armed hostile Islamic state, it could have done no better than attack the Gaza convoy and kill anti-blockade activists. The UN Security Council was scheduled […]
By Cordelia Rizzo We knew that something was wrong with Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, former leader of the Legionaires of Christ, and his order, long before he was openly accused of child abuse in the ’90s. Last month, two years after Maciel’s death, Vatican has finally officially condemned Maciel’s behavior and is effectively imposing martial […]
President Obama’s new national security strategy, released yesterday, outlines a security approach that is as much about development as defense. The linking of development to national security marks the Administration’s greater reliance on soft power – in these lean years, a possibly more cost-effective and politically palatable approach to the previous strategies released by the Bush Administration in 2002 and […]
Political and sovereign debt risks in Spain, conflict in the Korean peninsula and US economic uncertainty send global markets tumbling in May.
The annual Walk the World awareness event will take place on June 6th to raise funds and focus attention on the problem of child hunger. Organized by the World Food Programme (WFP), the event will take place in cities all over the world and as a “virtual walk” online, starts off in Auckland, New Zealand […]
_______________________________________________________________________________ Federal Times.com has a story this week about USAID’s moves to do more of their work in house instead of farming it out to contractors. The U.S. Agency for International Development plans to bring in-house more work related to program design and monitoring and evaluation, Administrator Rajiv Shah said May 5. Shah made the […]
Highlights from my reading this week… The Council on Foreign Relations has released a working paper on “The Challenges of Global Health Governance“. Viewed in the context of recent rumours about USAID reform and last week’s release of the White House’s National Security Strategy, I think the paper is likely to generate significant discussion. They write: “…these questions about governance […]
Someone wished me a “happy Memorial Day” in passing and I wondered if they understood what the holiday was really all about. What is it really all about? The above photo was taken the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial in France. According to Wikipedia, “the cemetery contains the largest number of American military dead in […]
Though Memorial Day did not become federal law until the 20th century, per above document, its origins reside in the post-Civil War era. Perhaps for this reason, the words of General William Tecumseh Sherman are with me today: I confess, without shame, I am sick and tired of fighting—its glory is all moonshine; even success […]
The legal standing of indigenous people improved earlier this week when Nicaragua ratified the only binding international law for tribal people, the International Labour Organization Convention 169. While ILO Convention 169 covers many of the same provisions as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, unlike the UN Declaration it is legally binding […]