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Senatus Populusque Romanus – The Senate and the People of Rome.  The old Roman Senate was, on paper, representative of the people.  Because the US is a representative democracy, the US Senate was meant, up to a certain point, to perpetuate this same principle.  It was, however, certainly less representative, from Day One, than its […]

In light of this week’s racially motivated violence and unrest in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Province it may be helpful to reassess China’s ethnic policies in the Autonomous Region.  They have been called everything from “genocide” to “stability promotion” but what they really happen to be lies somewhere in between.  Since the 1950s the Chinese government […]

President Obama is joining the leaders of allied countries in the annual G8 Summit, this year hosted by Italy. The G8 is not a formal alliance, it was not founded by a treaty and it does not have a permanent headquarters. It’s merely an informal gathering to discuss major international issues and try to chart […]

This movie is hard to describe. It is in part a journey back in time for director Ari Folman, who is disturbed by the fact he cannot remember incidents that happened while he was in the Israeli army. Folman reconnects with others who were with him in 1982 when Bashir Gemayel, Lebanon’s newly elected president, […]

A preliminary report from a review team for the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) has found “horrific violence” on the part of the military against civilians in the diamond-rich Marange District in eastern Zimbabwe. The Kimberley Process was established in 2003 to thwart the trade of so-called conflict diamonds which funded numerous rebel movements in […]

  Time to re-read Huntington?  His controversial and path-breaking Foreign Affairs article of 1993 and subsequent book posited that the post-Cold War era would be one of conflict and “fault line wars” among the world’s major civilizations:  Western, Confucian, Japanese, Islamic, Hindu, Slavic-Orthodox, and Latin American and possibly African… Is the current unrest in China’s western […]

At the summit in Gleneagles 2005, I remember the promises made – as I’m sure most in the developing world have as well.  But the rich have forgotten; money is to be made not spent.  Tony Blair was prime minister and had released a commission report on poverty in Africa.  His message was clear, the […]

The Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF) issued a declaration today after its leaders met in Italy.  There were no big surprises, as I predicted yesterday.  (See last post below.)  However, there was some potentially useful language regarding the role of the developing economies.  “Developing countries among us will promptly undertake actions whose […]

The Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommended last week that Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf should be banned from government for 30 years for her previous support of former President Charles Taylor. Taylor is currently on trial before the Special Court for Sierra Leone for his role in the civil war there, where tens […]

Australian Foreign Minister Steven Smith stated today that Stern Hu, General Manager of Rio Tinto China, was detained on espionage charges earlier this week. Hu’s firm, Rio Tinto, is a major Australian supplier of iron ore (a necessary ingredient for making steel). The company is currently negotiating annual contracts with China that dictate pricing terms […]

There’s some good news from Italy, and some bad news.  I reported on the G-8 summit from a couple of years ago here.  Then, President Bush (who?) derailed any substantive agreement.  Now, although the G-8 itself seems fully loaded to attack climate change, the leading developing nations involved in the Major Economies Forum on Energy […]

As the 2009 G-8 Summit of the worlds seven welathiest nations draw near, 8-10 July in L’Aquila, IT we provide a quick run-down of the primary items on the docket.