When traveling abroad, Americans are often reminded that many people don’t love the United States. In fact, some seem to dislike or even hate the world’s superpower. But shouldn’t a president who is popular around the world improve America’s image? Sure, but President Barack Obama hasn’t improved the global view of the US. At least […]
The Special Court for Sierra Leone is in a dire financial situation according to Chief Prosecutor Stephen Rapp who appealed to the U.N. Security Council today for more funds. Mr. Rapp described the situation as “an impending crisis” and warned of a break-down of the courts functionality without additional resources: Even if all pledged donations […]
This AP wire report notes that Secretary of State Clinton has returned to the national stage with a major foreign policy speech after a long absence recovering from her fractured elbow. I thought the report was interesting because it notes her absence from Obama’s recent trip to Russia, Europe and Africa and speculates about her […]
Although the fact is often underestimated, there is a significant number of people in the U.S. who face hunger each day. According to Bread for the World, 35.5 million people (including 12.6 million children) in the United States are faced with hunger or the risk of hunger. On July 14th and 15th, the organization Feeding […]
Last week, the Obama administration announced new initiatives designed to improve food safety in the United States, which has had some high profile incidents of contamination in the past year. First, the White House has established a new website, www.foodsafety.gov as a “Gateway to Government Food Safety Information.” The website serves as a clearinghouse of […]
Earlier this month President Barack Obama attended a civil society summit in Moscow. Present at that summit was Memorial, a human rights group that came to fruition during the perestroika years and whose main tasks is to collect the facts, shed light on the past, and find a path to the future without giving any lessons […]
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has found Tharcisse Renzaho, former prefect of Kigali-Ville and Colonel of the Rwandan Armed Forces, guilty of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for his involvement in the 1994 genocide of approximately 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda; he was acquitted of complicity to commit genocide. He has […]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke today at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC. She emphasized the centrality of the United States and the importance of cooperation. Even though no country can solve global challenges alone, “no challenge can be met without America.” Working with the world’s rising powers – including China, India, […]
It’s a start, but it’s only the beginning. During his trip to Moscow last week, President Barack Obama made small steps in improving relations between the United States and Russia. Notably, the countries agreed in principle to cut their nuclear arsenals and allow American troops and weapons bound for the war in Afghanistan to fly […]
A major militant group in Nigeria’s troubled Niger Delta announced a sixty day ceasefire yesterday after the government released a top commander earlier in the week. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has been behind most of the region’s recent troubles and are responsible for several high profile kidnappings and attacks […]
Who will come out of the economic downturn on top? Will the rising powers continue to rise? Even though many analysts believe the financial crisis originated in the United States, the International Economic Bulletin published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace contends that it is one of the least affected countries. The unequal impact […]
After several high profile trips abroad, many met with great popular interest and acclaim, we can now ask if President Obama has succeeded in improving the global view of the U.S. role in the world. The World Public Opinion group recently conducted a global poll on this subject: A new WorldPublicOpinion.org poll finds that around […]
Late last week Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, received an envelope containing the names of a dozen top suspects of crimes against humanity in Kenya. The alleged crimes against humanity occurred following the disputed 2008 Kenyan presidential election and the list is rumored to implicate some of Kenya’s most senior […]
Much of what I’m reading these days – in blogs, in articles – seems to swirl around the idea of efficiency: measuring efficiency, metrics for efficiency, foundations granting to efficient non-profits…and on and on. I don’t actually set out to look for these articles, they are just there – alongside the many discussing how to […]
Charles Taylor testified Tuesday before the U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone for the first time, calling the charges against him bogus. Taylor served as president of Liberia during the 1991-2002 civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone. Taylor allied with the leader of the Revolutionary United Front, Foday Sankoh, operating in Sierra Leone to hijack […]