MIT professor and writer Noam Chomsky makes a compelling argument against the unbridled moral imperatives of the Western elite in an essay published in the Monthly Review. In particular, Chomsky challenges the ideological rhetoric of governments or agencies who support “the responsibility to protect” and the “right to intervention”. While referencing Jean Bricmont's book Humanitarian […]
AFGHANISTAN: Polio drives misses 120,000 children Tens of thousands of children – mostly in rural parts of the southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan – have missed out on polio immunisation due to insecurity and threats to health workers, the Public Health Ministry (MoPH) has said. "We could not immunise about 120,000 children due […]
Here it is at last, Election Day. I anticipated the long lines and voted early so now I’m just sitting back, eagerly awaiting the ballot counts. There is something truly majestic about the process of democracy. Perhaps it's merely the mood of the day, but I do tend to get a stirring of patriotic […]
A Splash of Green for the Rust Belt is the title of this terrific article from the "NY Times." What this article does, better than any I've read, is make the reality of job creation in the renewables industry palpable. We've seen a lot of great numbers on this: Daniel Yergin's $7 trillion in renewables […]
Eric Gorski has written a fascinating article about religion in the 2008 elections. The main premise is that this year's politics has unfortunately used religion as a weapon to divide and mock. The country really became obsessed with the ideas of fringe religion and what the mainstream set of religious beliefs “should” be. On this election day, it is worth reflecting on how […]
As the U.S. presidential election enters the final hours we here at U.S. Role are taking a look at how the election is playing in the world. First, this nod from Voice of America to our own national estimation of how the world is paying attention to us as a role model for democracy: U.S. President George […]
Philanthropy has its share of very well-known women – trustees, CEOs, celebrities – all promoting various aspects of the sector. Alliance magazine's asks whether Jane Wales, Vice President, Aspen Institute may be the most powerful of them all. Whether you agree, the interview in this month's magazine is worth a read as it touches on […]
In April this year I brought you news of a former slave who put forth a suit against the state of Niger, which can be seen here. The brave plaintiff in the historic case was, Hadijatou Mani, a former slave who was sold into slavery at the age of 12 for a mere $500. Ms. […]
Charles Taylor's son Chucky was convicted of torture Friday, in the first prosecution under the United States’ Extraterritorial Torture Statute. Taylor is accused of leading a special unit in his father's Liberian army, known as the Demon Force, from 1999 to 2002; according to the Times of London, the force allegedly used tactics like “dripping […]
It is unsurprising that Senator Barack Obama is not getting any love from Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle. She is a Republican. Lingle also happens to be the first Jewish governor of a state that has produced the nation's first black major party nominee and possibly its first black president. But don't let the fact that […]
Forests – I don’t think I’ve adequately covered the subject of forest loss and its extraordinary impact on warming. 20% of warming induced by people comes from forest destruction. I mentioned the extraordinary losses in Borneo in the last post below. We’ve also touched on some incredible potential for carbon sequestration in the heart of […]
The fragmented country of Somalia is no stranger to conflict and the last two years of fighting are beginning to take a toll on the lives of the countries children. Somalia is quite literally a raging battle ground, as fighting in the country continues, as insurgents exchange fire with the Somali government, Ethiopian troops and […]
The horrors of the DR Congo. The rapes, the pillages, the disregard for life, a conflict steeped in vengeance, power over precious resources, and the blood bath of Rwanda's genocide. And as the reports begin to filter through the newspapers and the televisions we become awed by the sheer numbers. Five million dead since 1998. […]
At Foreign Policy magazine's Passport blog, Elizabeth Dickinson has this moving and incisive piece on the causes and effects of the long-running conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which flared up again. It's a compelling read. As for the conflict, the EU is sending aid for some of the displaced civilians, of whom there […]
The AP reports that a substantial number of voters remain undecided as we count down to the election. If you are one of those undecided voters and have an interest in foreign policy please see the Foreign Policy Association's Election Guide 2008, it features candidate profiles by issue area, video of the candidates discussing the […]