1. The Asia Society’s incredible video documenting the mass loss of the world’s largest glaciers. Check out the “Then & Now” comparisons for some perspective. 2. Thomas Friedman takes on the global warming skeptics: “Not only are we adding 2.5 billion people by 2050, but many more will live like “Americans” — with American-size homes, […]
I’ve been reading Al Gore’s new book, with a view to using it for both my MS and continuing ed classes this spring at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs. It’s looking pretty good to me as there are excellent up-to-date perspectives on all sorts of important topics, particularly the promise of renewables, energy efficiency, green […]
“Time never dies – the circle is not round.” That is the thread that unites the three parts of this story. Set in Macedonia during the time of the Balkan wars of the 1990s, “Before the Rain” is a study in how ethnic strife can appear in a place that is apparently at peace. [kml_flashembed […]
Anna Politkovsakaya’s son, Ilya, remained silent after the projection of the documentary on his mother. He was there, sitting with Sergei Sokolov, the deputy editor in chief of Novaya Gazeta. The gathered asked questions. The curious stared at this young man. A security camera had caught the moment of her death. The gunman, wearing a […]
The State of the World’s Children report, published by UNICEF, has just this week issued a special edition of the report in commemoration of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Released on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Convention’s adoption by the UN General Assembly, “The Convention on the Rights of […]
The FPA-o-sphere has been rife with Law and Security Strategy posts this week. Here are some good ones to check out: 1) As the Transitional States Blog reports, the U.S. Senate is considering a resolution condemning the 1915-1916 Turkish mass expulsions of Armenians as genocide. Will this scuttle the Turkish-Armenian peace process? Read the whole […]
Here’s an interesting news item that I came across while reading up on President Obama’s trip to China. Long an established academic powerhouse and home to many of the world’s top institutions of higher learning, is the U.S. still an attractive destination for international students? According to The Wall Street Journal blog The Wealth Report […]
U.S. media are largely ignoring the European Union’s efforts to make a bigger splash on the world stage by selecting a new full-time president of the European Council, the group of EU leaders that holds regular summit meetings, and a new high representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – in effect a foreign minister, […]
Or, how to scuttle promising international developments with senseless moral posturing. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has agreed to co-sponsor a resolution condemning the Turkish mass expulsion/massacres of 1915-1916, and labeling it a “genocide.” It clearly meets the definition of ethnic cleansing, and no one is absolving Turkey of blame. 1.5 million Armenians were […]
The Economist this week (Nov. 14-20) featured a mediocre special report on Brazil. Its message: Brazil is a good investment. So, you finally noticed! Better to have invested in late 2002, when Brazilian assets were selling at prices implying a sovereign default (which didn’t happen). Some good points were made though, notably how this is […]
1) Speculation in Pakistan is increasing over whether President Asif Ali Zardari will survive in office much longer. The constant threat of military coups is the elephant in the room, especially after Zardari attempted to place the ISI under civilian control. Moreover, Pakistani politics are riddled with ever-shifting alliances and corrupt political actors lacking any […]
NAFSA, the association of international educators, a released a report this week noting that “[f]oreign students and their dependents continue to make a significant contribution to local and state economies, spending $17.6 billion in the United States during the 2008- 2009 academic year…California, New York, and Texas welcomed the largest numbers of foreign students, and those states […]
According to a recently released UNICEF report, Tracking Progress on Child and Maternal Development, some 200 million children in the developing world currently suffer from stunted growth, due to chronic undernutrition. Chronic undernutrition, is a factor in over a third of all deaths in children under five years-old. This often unnoticed and often silent killer, […]
Now that the big Asia trip is history, it’s natural to judge it on the basis of known results from its biggest portion — Obama’s three days in China. For the American president, there were no obvious breakthroughs on exchange rates or trade, climate or human rights, so maybe this visit was not the most […]
President Obama’s visit to China has ended. As I reviewed the coverage of his visit I was looking to see how he would balance the traditional U.S. concern for human rights with trade and security concerns. Would he, as past presidents have done, sternly lecture the Chinese on human rights, or would he (as Secretary […]