Corruption takes different forms in different countries, depending on which actions will have the least consequences. In rich countries, corruption tends to be confined to politics and business. In poor countries, low-level officials requesting bribes might be predominant. Some governments lack the ability to fight corruption and others lack the desire. Corruption in China has […]
The Pre-Trial Chamber II of the I.C.C. asked for clarification and additional information regarding the situation in Kenya this past week. The bloody aftermath of the 2007 Kenyan elections resulted in the deaths of around 1,000 people. Following a preliminary investigation, I.C.C. Chief Prosecutor asked to The Chamber to conduct an official investigation proprio motu […]
States are going against the green energy wave and reverting back to the status quo: fossil fuels. In Wyoming, elected officials are mulling a legislation to add a tax to wind farms. In Vermont, the state senate voted to shut down a 38-year old nuclear power plant that is receiving a 20-year extension to operate. […]
Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I’ve been doing some traveling. I’m trying to get back into my regular routine but posting may be infrequent for a few days as I settle in. I would like to note this video report from MSNBC that highlights the efforts and sacrifices made by one of our […]
Gallup recently found that just 31% of Americans think the UN “is doing a good job… in trying to solve the problems it has had to face.” This question is so broad that I’m not sure how it’s useful. What problems has the UN had to face? Why isn’t it doing a good job trying […]
The Three Gorges Dam, the largest public works project in human history, is located on China’s Yangtze River. This enormous endeavor has displaced more than 1.3 million people, swallowed about 1,500 municipalities, and has created a reservoir more than 373 miles long. The project is seen as an important future source of energy for China’s […]
The Department of Energy has announced substantive backing in the form of loan guarantees for an exciting concentrated solar power (CSP) project in California. The plant will generate 400 MW of electricity using the same “power tower” approach I saw when we were on vacation in Spain this past August. For backing this project, I […]
Hard to say, this past week, who was madder and more affronted about a missed opportunity: Evgeni Plushenko, the Russian figure skater who won Olympic silver but felt he deserved gold, or Argentina, which found out that a British company was exploring for oil in the nearby but British-held Falkland Islands. Despite losing a short […]
A quick post to direct readers to the new climate change portal website, run by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration. Launched earlier this month, the site is intended to be a one-stop-shop for all U.S. climate related information. According to the NOAA, the site is designed to address […]
In the fight against terrorism, not everything is about violence. That is the general idea behind material support provisions included in anti-terrorist legislation, first introduced in 1996 and strengthened in the US PATRIOT Act. Such provisions prohibit providing any support to groups designated as terrorist organizations by the Secretary of State, regardless of whether the […]
There is growing concern that the foundering condition of soil in China could facilitate a food crisis in the world’s most populated country. As millions of Chinese farmers migrate toward cities from rural countrysides, the influx of people into urban areas creates a greater demand for meat, grain, and dairy products. But China’s soil is […]
Veteran Canadian diplomat Daryl Copeland has been on the ramparts of diplomatic studies for several years now, advocating a kind of diplomacy he calls Guerrilla Diplomacy. Last week, at the International Studies Association convention in New Orleans, a panel of expert academics reviewed Copeland’s thesis and generally applauded his ideas. I also had a chance […]
Many journalists and commentators have examined and illuminated the role of new media and technology in the on-going protests in Iran. Exposing the electoral fraud perpetrated by Ahmedinejad last year and the violent repression of resultant protests certainly called for the skill of traditional journalists and the new media capabilities of Iranian citizen witnesses and […]
For those of you in the New York area, I wanted to draw your attention to an event at the City University of New York Tomorrow: From Combat to Healing: The Music of War The relationship between music and war—both to rally the troops and defeat the enemy—goes back centuries, even millennia. The Biblical tale […]
Here’s a not-unexciting little story, courtesy of the good people at Green Energy Reporter, on a potential breakthrough in distributed generation. The Bloom Box is a super fuel cell. It’s super because it’s so small, so efficient and, if they get the price down, can penetrate markets just about anywhere. Google and eBay are satisfied […]