I really don't like cynicism all that much, it's easy to be cynical but it really contributes very little. Take, for example, this opinion piece by Lionel Beehner, a former writer for the Council on Foreign Relations, who offers a cynical take on President-Elect Obama's new foreign policy team: Pardon the metaphor, but Obama is […]
UN Climate Negotiations Kick Off in Poznan is the headline from Climate-L.Org, the "knowledge management project" run by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). (I flagged these meetings last month under IGO Update at the blog.) Nearly 11,000 folks "from government, business and industry, environmental groups and research institutions" are gathering in Poland for […]
As the "Big Three' American automakers continue their quest for a government bail-out, European commentators have tended to take to the view that they should submit to the "survival-of-the-fittest" logic of market forces , not least, perhaps, because many European companies fear that a U.S. bail-out would give the American manufacturers an unfair competitive advantage. […]
I just witnessed a Sahrawi student protest in Agadir today. Two Sahrawi students were killed last night when a Supratours bus (bus B-A 6687), deliberately ran them over at the bus station in Agadir, according to 24 year old Ahmed Salem Dohi who was at the scene and was visibly upset when I met him. Four Sahrawi […]
A report by Tom Arango in the New York Times, "World Falls for American Media, Even as It Sours on America,' says that while the image of the United States around the world remains negative, according to the latest Pew Global Attitudes Project (released in June), the viewing of American movies and television has dramatically […]
In the wake of the global financial crisis, 2008 is a year for serious reflection on the meaning of globalization and the importance of economic policy coordination. The overall attitude amongst the leading industrial powers at this November's G20 summit is to maintain domestic stability under a framework for reform of the global financial system. […]
Religious views, if extremist, can lead to conflict. On the other hand, conflicts can make religions appear extreme , actually tarnishing the faiths themselves. This past week, the horrific images of death and devastation in Mumbai have significantly changed the world's perception of the war on terror. Instead of recognizing the events as truly international […]
Now that you have managed to make it through the Thanksgiving holiday, fat and happy your mind has begun to drifted away from thoughts of turkey and stuffing, and not to mention pumpkin pie, to thoughts of holiday giving. This year most of our wallets are not as fat as they once were and charitable […]
The New York Times offers this profile of the new foreign policy team: As President-elect Barack Obama introduces his national security team on Monday, it includes two veteran cold warriors and a political rival whose records are all more hawkish than that of the new president who will face them in the White House […]
At a time when most newspapers are rapidly increasing their online and video content, the international television giant CNN is making a lunge in the reverse direction. At a meeting of editors at its Atlanta headquarters this week, CNN plans to unveil details of a new service, CNN Wire, which it will market to newspapers […]
As the physical and psychological trauma of the Mumbai attacks continues to settle in, the Indian media is beginning to refer to the incident as their "9/11'. Mumbai, and the region at large, are no stranger to terrorist activity. In fact, coordinated bombings in 1993 and 2006 both had higher death counts than the events […]
Today, as Barack Obama formally announces his national security team, there is plenty of buzz over what his choices mean in the field of public diplomacy. Hillary Clinton, under whose State Department aegis public diplomacy falls, was not particularly vocal or articulate on this topic as a candidate. Robert Gates, whose Defense Department has no […]
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