In the first official meeting of the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue this week, which puts the Democratic stamp on the brainchild of Hank Paulson, Bush’s Treasury Secretary, Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren called on the U.S. to reduce its widening fiscal deficit. In response, U.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner assured the Chinese that, once growth resumed, the Obama administration would do just that. See […]
This film is truly bleak. Set in 1987 Romania, it is a study of unhappiness and desperation. It shows a young woman who wants an abortion. Abortion is illegal in the country under the rule of dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu. She and her college roommate solicit the help of a black market doctor who will perform […]
A recent article in the “LA Times” about the projected boom in hydropower caught my eye this morning because one of my students asked last night about the growth of hydro in the US. I told her that it was my perception that hydroelectric use was not growing. That has certainly been the trend in […]
Italy has become the butt end of all jokes in Europe. Few take President Silvio Berlusconi seriously and instead, cringe with delight whenever he opens his mouth and speaks his mind. An article in the Italian daily, Corriere della Sera, even goes so far to claim conspiracy against Italians (by Beppe Severgnini – can’t find […]
Great op-ed by Aluf Benn, diplomatic editor/correspondent for Haaretz, in today’s NYTimes. He asks, Where has Obama been on Israel? Why hasn’t he spoken to Israelis directly, the way he has addressed everyone else from Ghanaians to Egyptians, Europeans to Latin Americans? For sure, he is really busy, probably busier than any other president since […]
Hosted by the Obama Administration, the U.S. and China are holding two-days of top-level bi-lateral talks in Washington, D.C. this week. The talks are being held Mon-Tues, July 27-28th and will cover a broad range of economic, national security, diplomatic, energy and environmental issues. China sent a 150-man delegation led by State Councilor Dai Bingguo […]
This past weekend, more than 100 scholars and researchers from 12 Muslim countries met at the fifth annual Moderation Forum in Jordan. During the opening ceremony, Jordanian Minister of Culture Sabri Rbeihat urged the participants to support a clearer and truer image of Islam. He pointed out that there is often a major difference between […]
Barbara Gonzalez I am reading Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America: Argentine Peronism in a Comparative Perspective by Steven Levitsky, who is currently is associate professor of government and social studies at Harvard University. Drawing from the literature on party change, Levitsky argues that loosely structured party organizations have a better chance of surviving environmental […]
I had the good fortune to be involved with some very smart activists back in the 1980s who were working on acid rain. One of these was the Environmental Defense Fund’s senior scientist Michael Oppenheimer. Michael’s been at Princeton for a number of years and among his many projects, he co-curated the compelling climate change […]
The IMF approved a $2.6 billion dollar loan for Sri Lanka over the objections five states who wanted human rights and policy conditions attached to the loan. As reported earlier on this blog, there are concerns about possible violation of humanitarian law committed by the government towards the end of the 26 year conflict, as […]
Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience. It does not comfort those who have lost their loved ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in a […]
I’ve written about the revolution in low-tech. “Teach us delight in simple things …” are words, in my opinion, by which to live. I wrote about a different view of freedom in which the idea of using less energy and consuming fewer resources might actually be construed as liberating. I’ve quoted Bill McKibben in my […]
Popular from Press
