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Child marriage is not one of a mere social and gender discrimination issue, but also a global health problem. Child marriages lead to early pregnancies, which leave girls at high risk for death in childbirth, complications, and low birth weights. What is the global cost of child marriages? According to a new World Vision report, […]

The Obama Administration has scuttled plans for radar and ballistic missile interceptor sites in the Czezch Republic and Poland, respectively. This is a most welcome change in policy and will go ways to repairing America’s relationship with Russia. But what does it mean for the Czech Republic and Poland? It is only twenty years ago […]

  Catching Osama bin Laden has become an issue on the campaign trail, with both Barack Obama and John McCain using the fate of the elusive terrorist mastermind to attack each other (CBS News – McCain And Bin Laden). Osama bin Laden is widely believed to be hiding somewhere in the mountainous tribal areas of […]

Rasim Delic, a former commander of the Bosnian Muslim army, received a three-year prison sentence at The Haque for failing to intervene in torture committed against captured Serb soldiers in the 1990s. Prosecutors had sought a 15-year prison term for the former commander, The New York Times reported, though trial judges failed to find sufficient […]

Let us not forget the ongoing tragedy of Darfur.  Countless UN Security Council resolutions, an American administration that rightfully called it by its proper name: genocide…and yet nothing is stopping the humanitarian disaster from unfolding under the world's spotlight. Five years of failure.  Early warning signs in the summer of 2003 could have been heeded.  […]

…fundraising, grantseeking, proposal writing, corporate giving?  Check out the Foundation Center's free webinars on these topics.  A good introduction to philanthropy and an even better example of accessible learning via the web. (I’ve taking a proposal writing course from the FC – but otherwise, have no affiliation.)

Yesterday's Give and Take blog brought up questions similar to those of my post on Frannie and Freddie Mac.  (There are some interesting responses coming in from the public today.)  With the Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch shake-up, the instability of AIG, the falling prices of oil, and the huge shocks to the market – what does […]

Pope Benedict XVI was in France for three days last week. On Friday he arrived in Paris, where he was met by President Sarkozy and his wife. As regards the intellectual content of the Pope's visit, a New York Times Article says that he warned "the Parisian intelligentsia of the dangers of secularism." Sarkozy, according […]

While most of the media's attention was turned to the speeches given at the recent Republican and Democratic national conventions, meanwhile, many of the nation's think tanks and non-profit organizations organized sidebar discussions about critical policy issues facing the country. Two excellent examples of such events were both sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, […]

In my review of a really great read, Cape Wind, I mentioned Bluewater Wind's proposal for Delaware waters.  There was an informative story in yesterday's "NY Times" magazine on this project:  Wind-Power Politics.  It's got some great inside politics on how the Bluewater project forged ahead, was sideswiped by some key state legislators working with […]

  Having recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russia has now decided to keep troops in those disputed regions (The New York Times – Moscow Will Keep Troops in Georgia Enclaves): Defense Minister Anatoly E. Serdyukov told Mr. Medvedev during a televised meeting on Tuesday that about 3,800 troops would remain in each […]

With every passing explosion in downtown New Delhi, it became more and more clear that America and its western partners are ignoring a valuable ally in their war against Islamic fundamentalism. India has always been regarded as somehow unique to the league of democracies, although there are no legitimate reasons for this exclusion. Perhaps it […]