This week we witnessed a dramatic showdown in Indian domestic politics between the Prime Minister and various factions who are against a proposed nuclear deal with the United States. Since India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has developed a nuclear weapons capability, the U.S. has been working on a […]
A surly New York waiter seeks to promote his forthcoming book, “Waiter Rant,” by accusing the British of failing to leave proper tips in a blog run by the British daily, the Guardian. John Murray fingers a retired couple from Leeds in Yorkshire, whom he describes as “wonderful people” and “polite and well mannered.” He […]
"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about." – Unknown Children truly are the teachers of life, they teach us how to laugh, how to play, how to enjoy the simple things in life. When you are around children one finds it impossible not […]
Do you find yourself saying, I just don't know how to help, or I just don't have time. Well activism isn't as hard as you may think, and it can be a lot of fun for adults and kids. So why not take on some sports activism. Yes, sports activism! No, I don't mean you […]
News of child suffering in hardly new in any country these days, and the Congo is no stranger to children's rights violations and suffering. Years of war and economic instability has now lead the country is now find its streets flooded with children, as some estimate there are more than 3,000 street children in the […]
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has journeyed to Germany to deliver a speech today (text, video) and although I know that the Foreign Policy Association is non-partisan, I just thought I’d mention it in the wider context of the historic speeches delivered in Berlin by John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Is Obama's speech in […]
The legal team representing Bosnian war crimes suspect, Radovan Karadzic, said Thursday they filed a petition which could delay his extradition to the war crimes tribunal at The Hague. Bosnian officials captured the former Bosnian leader Monday after 13 years on the run. He allegedly, with fellow cohort Ratko Mladic, coordinated, among other things, the […]
I wrote one week ago about Al Gore's important speech setting a very high bar indeed for renewables. I have believed in 100% renewables for many years but, to tell you the truth, never thought the stars would align as they have to make that vision perfectly realizable. Well, if you've read the many posts […]
The increasing lack of security in Afghanistan is spreading throughout the country. Even areas of Kabul considered somewhat secure are threatened. On July 7 a suicide bomber killed over 50 people in front of the Indian embassy in the capital. The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) says some 250 Afghani civilians were killed […]
The Kyrgyz government is now discussing a new draft law on "Freedom of Religious Practices and Religious Organizations." An article by Erica Marat, Religious Authorities in Kyrgyzstan Play Politics, discusses the politics of the new law. She says that the political discourse in Kyrgyzstan is concerned with the spread of "Islamic fundamentalism" and that the […]
In a few hours, Barack Obama takes the stage in Berlin's Tiergarten park for the kind of open-air public address that no American leader has made in Europe in a generation. As I mention in my “Election 2008” blog, not since Ronald Reagan's speech at the Berlin Wall in 1987 has there been anything quite […]
In my pursuit to better understand international philanthropy, someone posed the question to me, “Should western style philanthropy really be a world-wide model (the standard)?” I don't know how to fully answer and it is a question that keeps me thinking. The U.S. has a robust philanthropic sector – partially because the U.S. government doesn't provide […]
Senator Obama is visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories and using his brief visit to assure both the Israelis and the Palestinians that he will work for peace if he is elected. His visit is prompting both hope and resignation among the two different audiences (The New York Times – Mideast Sees More of […]
China , This article from RenewableEnergyWorld.com, talks about the continuing explosion in China's deployment of windpower and its rapidly growing manufacturing capacity. China was in fifth place worldwide in installed base at the end of last year with 6 GW, heading to 20 GW by 2010, and 100 by 2020. The current global wind installation […]
A commentary in the left-of-center British daily, the Guardian, July 21 struck a salutary note of caution amid all the frenzy surrounding Barack Obama's tour of Europe. It warned that, while transatlantic relations are likely to improve under the next U.S. administration, Washington's demands on Europe will almost certainly increase -regardless of whether Obama or […]