Global Issues

Global Arms Trade Treaty One Step Closer?

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:06:00 GMT

Irresponsible arms trade can fuel conflicts and divert precious resources away from tackling poverty and other issues. Previous attempts at arms sales codes of conduct have been problematic because of loopholes and other workarounds. At the end of October 2008, 147 states at the United Nations voted overwhelmingly to move forward with work on the Arms Trade Treaty. The US and Zimbabwe voted against it, while 18 others abstained: Bahrain, Belarus, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Libya, Pakistan, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Yemen.

Global Financial Crisis

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:12:00 GMT

Are some emerging nations able to command more influence at global talks now? For years developing countries have found themselves sidelined in global matters. Now with the financial crisis, rich countries are admitting that emerging nations need to be involved in discussions. Recent international meetings included some emerging countries more, but it will not be easy for them to get the bigger voice they have long been denied. This update includes a few links and details on this issue as well as inclusion of some videos that explain some aspects of the financial crisis further.

Increasing inequality in cities around the world

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:13:00 GMT

According to the UN, inequality in cities around the world is increasing. Almost half of humanity lives in urban areas. In the developing world, 1 in 3 city dwellers live in urban slums. At the same time, some American cities are as unequal as African and Latin American cities. For example, New York was found to be the 9th most unequal in the world. The most unequal cities were in South Africa, Namibia and Latin America. Europe has generally more equal societies, but amongst the most unequal European countries is UK, which is one of the wealthiest.

Global Arms Sales on the Increase

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:38:00 GMT

The latest data covering global arms sales shows that sale of arms in 2007 increased to almost $60 billion, 70% of which went to developing countries. Updated graphs and charts on arms sales data are provided here. The arms trade is big business. The 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (US, Russia, France, United Kingdom and China), together with Germany and Italy, account for over 80% of the arms sold between 2000 and 2007. Some of the arms sold go to regimes where human rights violations will occur. Corruption often accompanies arms sales due to the large sums of money involved.

Increasing inequality in industrialized countries

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 04:11:00 GMT

According to the OECD, inequality in industrialized nations has increased in the last two decades. The gap between rich and poor has grown in more than three-quarters of rich countries since the mid-1980s, while the last 5 years also saw growing poverty and inequality in two-thirds of OECD countries. This update includes some graphs and charts breaking this down further.

Global Financial Crisis

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 05:37:00 GMT

As countries scramble to meet and address the deepening global financial crisis, what are the impacts for developing countries, and where will reforms and fundamental rethinking be needed? This update looks at some of these issues further.

Obesity

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 02:03:00 GMT

Obesity is a growing problem around the world. This update includes additional statistics for global obesity and overweight estimates and includes an animation of how obesity in the United States has dramatically increased between 1985 and 2007.

Global financial crisis

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:51:00 GMT

The global financial crisis having started in wealthy countries is being felt around the world. Rich country governments rush to bail out failing institutions, many of which are responsible for the problems in the first place. By contrast, ordinary citizens and smaller businesses rarely get such protections. On the other hand, the nature of the crisis threatens to destabilize much of the economy so it seems that something needs to be done. Yet this situation could have long been avoided. An overview of some of the issues and implications of the global financial crisis is provided.

Higher number of people live in poverty than previously thought

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:56:00 GMT

The latest World Bank figures for world poverty reveals a higher number of people live in poverty than previously thought. For example, the new poverty line is defined as $1.25 a day. 1.4 billion people live on or below that line. Furthermore, almost half the world—over three billion people—live on less than $2.50 a day and at least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day.

Inequality is a major cause of death

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 11:56:00 GMT

Inequality is a major cause of death, a World Health Organization report notes. A 3-year study found that even in wealthier nations, average life span can vary by some 28 years and the poorer you are the more likely you are to die younger. The majority of the world does not enjoy good health and this is largely due to bad social, political and economic policy choices. Two short video clips and additional information have been added regarding this as well as a look at how health issues are changing as the world's population becomes more and more urbanized. Finally, the issue of emphasis on drugs and commercialization of health systems over more effective preventative care is also introduced.

July 20: 10th anniversary of the Global Issues web site

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 22:52:00 GMT

This web site has continued to grow. From July 2007 to end of June 2008, over 16 million pages were viewed on the site (up from about 14 million the previous year). During peak periods of the year, the site was getting, on average, some 60-70,000 page views per day. This site remains a spare time effort, and as with previous years, I am finding even less time this year to spend on the site, but I am pleasantly surprised at its continued growth. Thank you so much for your continued support and please do tell your friends and colleagues about the global issues web site if you find it useful.

Global Issues web site redesign

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 22:52:00 GMT

To mark the 10 year anniversary the global issues web site was redesigned. This is actually something that I had wanted to do for a while, but the anniversary provided a good excuse to actually do it. The purpose of the redesign was two-fold: 1) I was always uncomfortable with articles being categorized under one issue. However, changing this implied a fundamental restructuring of the web site. 2) I wanted to improve the visual design of the web site, and with the structural changes to improve categorization, this made sense to do it now. Although it took a while to do, the site has now been relaunched, with just some minor tweaks left to do over the coming days. I hope you find it useful and better than before! I wrote this page to explain this a bit further if you are interested:

Global food crisis: biofuels have had a bigger impact than previously claimed

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:13:00 GMT

Countries and regions such as the US and EU have claimed the impact of biofuels on the food crisis has been minimal and that instead demand from countries such as India and China are amongst the prime factors. However, a World Bank report finds that biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% while another institute estimates an increase of around 30%. Either way, it is a lot more than US estimates of 3%.

Democracy; an ideal that is so often missed

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 05:48:00 GMT

Although many people have struggled, even sacrificed their lives for democracy, the reality has often been mixed. Issues range from things like paradoxes with democracy itself, to the challenges of keeping a population interested in participating while a poor quality free press limits the ability for people to make informed decisions. For many countries, the threat of foreign influence in domestic affairs, or the effects of corruption, voter intimidation and more subtle political manipulation can all shatter the dreams of those who have struggled for this ideal. Democracy, it seems, is under assault from many angles and many issues are being felt in even the most established of democracies. This article attempts to explore some of these issues.

Tobacco companies targeting children and contributing to environmental damage

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:32:00 GMT

Some tobacco companies have been found to target young children in places like Mauritius, Nigeria, Malawi and India, often despite their own marketing guidelines that ban such practices. In addition to health costs associated with tobacco production, tobacco use has some additional impacts on the environment and society. Examples include large numbers of forest fires caused by smoking, deaths from fires started by smoking, and use of additional resources to produce side-products that smoking requires (such as cigarette lighters) or that helps promote tobacco use (promotional materials and products). These all add up, especially as concerns about environmental damage and misuse are increasing. Tobacco production and use has therefore long been an example of wasteful use of resources, labor and capital. Another update to this tobacco article introduces some of these issues.

Tobacco: a major global killer

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:39:00 GMT

Tobacco is currently responsible for the death of 1 in 10 adults. It is the leading preventable cause of all deaths, killing some 5 million people each year. While the World Health Organisation has attempted to provide a policy framework to address tobacco use and control, the tobacco industry continues to expand in developing countries and increasingly targets women and teenagers. Updated statistics and additional inforrmation attempt to highlight these concerns further.

Global food crisis: immediate causes get coverage, deeper causes get less attention

Wed, 28 May 2008 02:13:00 GMT

The global food crisis that has made headlines in 2008 has been simmering for a while. The rise in food prices, affecting the poorest the most, has a variety of causes, mostly man-made. It has resulted in riots, an overthrow of a Prime Minister and many deaths, around the world. It has been common to attribute causes to things like overpopulation but that seems to miss the real causes as food levels continue to outstrip demand even in a growing population. While media reports have been concentrating on some of the immediate causes, it seems that deeper issues and causes have not been discussed as much.

Updated figures show slight fall in foreign overseas development assistance aid

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:23:00 GMT

2007’s overseas development assistance (ODA) aid volume was lower than 2006’s, but this was predicted because the previous year included massive items such as debt relief for Iraq and Nigeria. Nonetheless, despite the lower volume, it was still one of the highest amounts ever. Unfortunately, the updated figures from the OECD show that aid is still far less than what countries have promised. Despite the small increase in non-debt relief aid, donor countries are not on track to meet their recently stated agreements. But they have also been way off their stated target set back in 1970 when rich countries had promised to give 0.7% of GNI each year in aid. Almost all have failed to do so. Furthermore, when aid is not only has it been short on volume, but the quality, and effectiveness have also been questioned.

The global foreign aid shortfall is now $3.3 trillion

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:09:00 GMT

Since 1970, when rich countries agreed to give 0.7% of gross national income in aid to poorer countries to assist their development, hardly any have ever done so. The last three years are regarded as some of the highest levels of aid since, but only amount to approximately 0.3% of GNI. Calculating the accumulated shortfall since 1970 reveals a huge aid shortfall of $3.3 trillion, while $2.4 trillion has been given. Even though it is a large amount, most of it does not go to the poorest countries. For example, since 1970, on average, Sub-Saharan Africa has received about 25% of actual ODA. Even the aid that is given now includes fancy accounting and inclusion of items not originally intended to be counted as development assistance aid, such as debt relief and emergency aid.

Illicit Drugs

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 05:58:00 GMT

The global illicit drugs market is enormous, estimated at some $320 billion. This makes it one of the largest businesses in the world. Some believe in strong prohibition enforcement. Others argue for decriminalization to minimize the crime and health effects associated with the market being controlled by criminals. Are there merits to each approach? This new article introduces some of the issues.

China, Human Rights and Tibet

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:46:00 GMT

Information added on the recent violence in Tibet.

Poverty facts and stats updated

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:31:00 GMT

A number of poverty facts and stats have been updated or added.

World military spending: it keeps going up

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 03:04:00 GMT

World military spending, in particular that of the United States, keeps increasing. Different factors include those fighting wars and those with geopolitical ambitions, while others are prospering economically and so increasing their defense spending accordingly. US military expenditure is far bigger than anyone else’s and the requested amount for fiscal year 2009 is even higher. New and updated tables, graphs and charts reflect some of these issues further.

I wrote a chapter for a new book: American Wars: Illusions and Realities

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 22:57:00 GMT

A new book is to be published mid-February, 2008, titled "American Wars: Illusions and Realities" (Clarity Press, February 2008). I was asked to contribute a chapter, and wrote the chapter titled, "Illusion 5: The mainstream media gives us balanced reporting." I will shortly post some further information about this, but for the moment, please visit the link below (I also wrote another book a year ago, and will mention that shortly, too).

The reading list now links through to Amazon; a way to support the Global Issues web site

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 01:33:00 GMT

I have long had a reading list on this site of books I have read and books that are in my (growing!) queue. For a while I have been thinking about linking to a site such as Amazon so people can find out more about these books. I have finally done that, but also used Amazon’s associate/affiliate program so if anyone purchases a book via those links a small referral fee is earned that helps this site. So, if you have found the site useful and want to help out, consider purchasing book(s) via the reading list page. I hope that will be useful for you as well as me!

26,500 children died today

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:48:00 GMT

Updated figures reported by UNICEF showed that approximately 9.7 million children under the age of 5 died around the world. That is the equivalent to some 26,500 children dying a day, or 1 child dying approximately every 3 seconds. The causes are often poverty, hunger and preventable diseases. While the number of under 5 children dying each year is declining, the pace of decline seems slow year after year. Since 1960, such deaths have fallen from 20 million to 9.7 million in 2006 and given the population has doubled in that time, the achievements could also be considered positively. However, UNICEF is concerned that progress has not been evenly distributed, with many countries not making much progress.

Military in Movies; Less Shock, More Awe

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 23:32:00 GMT

Many well-known films have had the advice of the military, even having parts of their script influenced by them. This benefits both the film producers (e.g. access to military bases or aircraft carriers and more authenticity) and the military (e.g. a chance to portray a more preferable image). Audiences are used to seeing films being promoted with merchandising such as toys, off screen, but on-screen a lot of programming contains a combination of product placement and military involvement. The media and advertising section has been updated with some additional information on these issues and their implications.

Bali Climate Conference

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:24:00 GMT

The UN conference on climate change held in Bali, Indonesia in December 2007 led to a final agreement known as the “Bali Roadmap”. The Bali Roadmap outlined a new negotiating process to be concluded by 2009 to feed into a post-Kyoto (i.e. a post-2012) international agreement on climate change. The Roadmap included a decision to launch an Adaptation Fund as well as further decisions on technology transfer and on reducing emissions from deforestation. However, as with past climate conferences, this was not without its controversies, especially Europe and developing countries’ criticisms of the US position and negotiation tactics.

Obesity

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 23:45:00 GMT

Worldwide, obesity is as large a problem as world hunger and growing. Health professionals are generally agreed that the causes are a combination of social, economic and physical issues and as such a multitude of approaches need to be taken to tackle the problem. This update includes additional details on this.

Children as Consumers

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 23:21:00 GMT

Advertising to children involves a lot of money, but has far greater returns, as not only are products targeted towards children, but children are able to influence a great deal of parental purchases. Many critics argue that advertising to children is harmful. Some suggest bans on such advertising, while others call for regulation, self-regulation or even more parental responsibilities. Studies show mixed results with these approaches. Updated statistics and information have been added in this update.

Food and Agriculture Issues

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 23:53:00 GMT

Throughout the site there are a number of articles and sections related in some way to food, hunger, and agriculture. This page simply collects them together and introduces them from one place.

Food Aid

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 01:43:00 GMT

Food aid is a crucial part of helping tackle world hunger. However, food aid comes in various forms, and is often criticized for benefiting donors and their interests more than recipients. For example, during the Cold War in particular, food dumping was common place. Today long term food aid is giving way to emergency relief. While this is important it also has its challenges. Ultimately it seems that food aid still helps the rich more than the poor. This section provides an overview of food aid.

2007 Press Freedom Index

Sat, 03 Nov 2007 21:22:00 GMT

Reporters Sans Frontiers (Reporters Without Borders) issued a worldwide press freedom index for 2007. As expected, democracies ranked the best, with totalitarian regimes at the bottom. As with their previous index, major countries ranked somewhat lower than what many may expect. Canada and Germany where the highest ranking G8 rich countries, but only ranked 18th and 20th while the lowest ranked G8 countries were the US (48th) and Russia (144th). Some poor countries ranked quite well, compared to where many would expect such countries.

Arms Trade Spending

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 23:54:00 GMT

Updated figures on arms sales between 1999 and 2006 shows that a select few developing countries were again the main focus for arms sales in 2006, although overall sales ($40 billion) that year were slightly down from 2005, the year with the highest sales in the period covered ($46 billion). The top arms sellers throughout this period were the US, Russia, France, United Kingdom, and Germany. The bulk of the sales went to developing countries, mostly to India, China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel, Pakistan, South Korea, South Africa, and Singapore. Graphs and charts have been updated.

Energy: renewable energy cannot replace fossil and nuclear power?

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 05:42:00 GMT

This short update is a video clip from renewable energy expert, Hermann Scheer, who argues that the reason why many still think renewable energy cannot replace fossil and nuclear power is because those working in these industries have made efforts to propagate the notion.

Indigenous rights; declaration adopted at the UN General Assembly, plus some video clips

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 04:01:00 GMT

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the declaration of the rights of indigenous peoples. The votes were 143 in favour, 4 against. The 4 countries against the declaration were predictably Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States, long opposed to the declaration in its current form. A short update describes this. In addition, some video clips were added. One from a representative of the Inuit in the Arctic region, another an interview with Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, and another with an Aboriginal elder. They all look at different aspects of indigenous people’s struggles.

Vying for Dominance in the Arctic

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 02:54:00 GMT

The Arctic region has long been considered international territory. Five countries—Canada, Denmark (via Greenland), Norway, Russia, and the United States—share a border with the frozen Arctic Ocean. Some of these nations have claimed parts of the region to be their territory. Underlying the interests in the area are potentially vast oil, gas and other resources, as well as the opening up of lucrative passages for trade and economic activity. As a result, these nations have been vying for dominance in the Arctic.

Water is becoming a geopolitical issue of national security

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 23:12:00 GMT

A short video clip was added to this water article, noting water becoming a geopolitical issue for places such as the US, Europe and China.

Corporate Social Responsibility; How do countries rank?

Sat, 07 Jul 2007 05:02:00 GMT

An index called the Responsible Competitiveness Index attempts to rank most countries according to how responsible their business practices are. As expected, advanced economies rank highest (Nordic countries are at the very top). Corporate Social Responsibility is a bit of a buzz word and some feel that it has been diluted from its original aims, while others are trying to find innovative ways to engage with businesses to be more responsible in their practices

Video clips on structural adjustment, debt, and free trade

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 05:02:00 GMT

A few video clips on structural adjustment, debt and free trade issues have been posted.

Corruption is not just in poor countries, but rich countries and international institutions

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 23:11:00 GMT

It is quite common to hear of corruption in poor countries. However, it is also common place in rich nations, and international institutions too. This short update to the corruption section expands on this further.

G8 2007 Summit. Another failure?

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 23:55:00 GMT

As with previous years, the annual meeting’s buildup was full of anticipation and public pressure on the leaders to deliver on their promises. Pledges of vast amounts of money made the headlines together with G8 leaders’ self congratulations. However, details reveal a more confusing picture and the amount pledged isn’t as high as it may first seem. Furthermore, discussion on expected issues didn’t necessarily mean success or concrete steps forward, while other important issues hardly gained media attention, despite their importance, such as health and intellectual property rights, and farms subsidies of industrialized nations.

G8 2007 Summit

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 02:06:00 GMT

The 2007 G8 Summit has gained some media attention in its buildup, but issues around climate change, similar to the efforts seen in 2005 to water down draft texts, have surfaced again. Protesters are gathering, and while mostly peaceful a handful have clashed with police. Issues such as the excessive farm subsidies of the rich nations seem less likely to get discussed, even though it is crucial for many poor countries.

27,000 children died around the world today

Sun, 06 May 2007 20:02:00 GMT

This is equivalent to 1 child dying every 3 seconds or 10 to 11 million each year. Between 2000 and 2005, some 50 million children died. The silent killers are poverty, hunger, easily preventable diseases and illnesses, and other related causes. In spite of the scale of this daily/ongoing catastrophe, it rarely manages to achieve, much less sustain, prime-time, headline coverage. Why not?

Some more articles on the War on Terror

Sat, 02 Jun 2007 20:28:00 GMT

Updated war on terror section to include a few more articles. One is from Salon.com about corporatization of US intelligence with little oversight and accountability, and the other is a short one from SpinWatch on the hardly reported statistic that in 2006 Islamist terrorism in Europe was just 0.2% of all terrorist attacks there.

Concentration in media ownership continues

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 22:17:00 GMT

Over the last few decades, the number of media companies dominating mainstream media has dwindled. This concentration in ownership has reduced the diversity of information and range of mainstream discourse. In some countries even though the number of media outlets may be high and varied, that ownership is still small. The internet shows signs of shaking up traditional media, but for the moment most people still get a lot of their news from television and other sources.

Updated figures show slight fall in foreign overseas development assistance aid

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 20:09:00 GMT

2006’s overseas development assistance (ODA) aid volume was lower than 2005’s, but this was predicted because the previous year included massive items such as debt relief for Iraq and Nigeria. Nonetheless, despite the lower volume, it was still one of the highest amounts ever. Unfortunately, the updated figures from the OECD show that aid is still far less than what countries have promised. In 1970, rich countries had promised to give 0.7% of GNI each year in aid, but most fail to do so. Furthermore, when aid is given it has typically been short on volume, quality, and effectiveness.

The global foreign aid shortfall is now $3.1 trillion

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 20:09:00 GMT

Since 1970, when rich countries agreed to give 0.7% of gross national income in aid to poorer countries to assist their development, hardly any have ever done so. The last two years are regarded as some of the highest levels of aid since, but only amount to approximately 0.3% of GNI. Calculating the accumulated shortfall since 1970 reveals a huge aid shortfall of $3.1 trillion, while $2.3 trillion has been given. Even though it is a large amount, most of it does not go to the poorest countries. For example, since 1970, on average, Sub-Saharan Africa has received about 25% of actual ODA. Even the aid that is given now includes fancy accounting and inclusion of items not originally intended to be counted as development aid, such as debt relief and emergency aid.

US mainstream media: journalists too cozy with corporate and political power

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 23:23:00 GMT

Outside of the US, this is a reasonably common criticism of American mainstream journalists. Within the US, however, more people are also questioning the state of the mainstream media. The famous (now former) CBS anchor, Dan Rather, for example, notes this and additionally accuses journalists of succumbing to pressure to conform as part of their patriotic duty, instead of having the courage to ask tougher questions.

Iran: India coerced to vote against Iran, British Hostages and more

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 23:57:00 GMT

A former senior US official admits that the US coerced India into voting against Iran at the IAEA regarding nuclear technology, even though there has been little proof to date from the US or the IAEA that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Iran recently took British sailors and marines hostage which has raised tensions. At the same time, there may be wider geopolitical issues at stake here. For example, some feel the US is attempting to contain Iran’s growing influence in the region. However, it might be that it is the regional interest of Russia and in particular, China, that the US is attempting to thwart.

Global Warming, Spin and Media in the UK

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 22:05:00 GMT

Channel 4 in the UK aired a documentary showing the British government’s record on tackling climate change might not be as positive as they make it out to be. Two days later, the channel aired a documentary claiming the entire idea of human-induced climate change was a great swindle. Unfortunately, it turns out that documentary itself was a swindle, using disproved theories to make their case, misrepresenting views of at least one leading scientist they interviewed, and more. Various newspapers were at least initially taken in by the documentary. Channel 4 defended airing such a flawed documentary, but this appeared to be false balancing given the poor quality of the documentary. A documentary that more accurately looked at these views, that did not appear to mislead people, would have been better. Interestingly, these two examples show spin on both sides of the climate change views, one which Channel 4 helped expose, and another in which the same media outlet did not appear to review carefully (Channel 4 had to issue an apology for similar problems arising from another film by the same producer years earlier). This update describes these in more detail.

World military spending: it keeps going up

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 23:59:00 GMT

World military spending, in particular that of the United States, keeps increasing. Different factors include those fighting wars, those with geopolitical ambitions, while others are prospering economically and so increasing their defense spending accordingly. US military expenditure is far bigger than anyone else’s and the requested amount for fiscal year 2008 is even higher. New and updated tables, graphs and charts reflect some of these issues further.

Women’s rights: empowering women empowers children

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 23:58:00 GMT

UNICEF’s recent report on the state of the world’s children notes that enhancing rights of women has a positive effect on children. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is one of the most universally accepted treaties, on paper, though many countries fail to live up to the agreed principles. Furthermore, from birth to old age, women face many different types of struggles and face various forms of discrimination. In addition, women continue to be paid less than men, even though they often work more. Some of these issues apply in industrialized nations as well. While progress is being made, these issues still show that we have a long way to go.

Global Warming, Spin and Media

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 23:49:00 GMT

For many years, large, influential businesses and governments have been against the idea of global warming. Many have poured a lot of resources into discrediting what has generally been accepted for a long time as real. Now, the mainstream is generally worried about climate change impacts and the discourse seems to have shifted accordingly. Even some businesses that once engaged in disinformation campaigns have changed their opinions, some even requesting governments for regulation and direction on this issue. However, a few influential companies and organizations are still attempting to undermine climate change action and concerns. Will all this mean a different type of spin and propaganda with attempts at “green washing” and misleading information becoming the norm, or will there now be major shift in attitudes to see concrete solutions being proposed and implemented?

Global Warming and Over Population?

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 01:38:00 GMT

It seems there has been a recent interest in associating climate change/global warming with “over population” and that countries such as China and India have to do more to help contain global warming. Yet rich countries have a lot to do themselves. There were agreed reasons why developing countries were exempt from initial greenhouse gas emission targets: it was the emissions from rich countries that accumulated in the atmosphere for so long to trigger climate change. At the same time, the rise of countries such as China and India require an urgent look at the need for alternatives to fossil fuel burning.

Pharmaceutical companies using fear and anxiety to sell more drugs

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 23:59:00 GMT

In wealthier countries, pharmaceutical companies have tried to use fear and anxiety to sell drugs. This has been needed because wealthier countries have generally healthier societies (though this is changing too). The media strategies employed by pharmaceutical companies have come under criticism for they portray common ailments and problems as diseases, or even highlight obscure problems as common diseases, all to create a need for their products.

China blows up an old satellite in space—accepting US challenge for a space arms race?

Sun, 21 Jan 2007 13:52:00 GMT

When China recently blew up one of its aging satellites in space with a medium range ballistic missile, it raised concerns about China starting an arms race in space. Some have said that this is China’s response to the Bush Administrations announcements earlier in 2006 that it would seek to dominate space and be against a global treaty to ban weapons in space (which most countries—including China—have been pushing for). China’s actions are complicated by the fact that it did not inform others it was going to do this, leading many to wonder whether China’s insistence and support for a global space weapon ban treaty is genuine or just to buy-time as it enters a new Cold War with the US. The US has already been strengthening and creating various alliances in the region, in addition to building up its naval and military presence in the region quietly. While much of this is claimed to be in response to the so-called War on Terror, others see this as part of an attempt to check China.

Israel has considered using tactical nuclear weapons to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 15:01:00 GMT

Prompted by fears that Iran is able to make nuclear weapons in about 2 years time, Israel has devised a plan to use tactical nuclear weapons to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities. Such plans have been revealed before and denied, as has this one.

Please support the globalissues.org web site

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 19:19:00 GMT

For over 8 years, this site has been free from advertisements, funded from my own pocket, and worked on in spare time only. Previous donation offers have been declined. After such a long time, as of January 2007, I have decided to accept donations to help me take this site further. If you have found the information on this web site useful, and you are able to, your kind donation will help me afford more time on the site, pay for running costs, and for research materials. If you prefer, you can help in other ways, such as letting your family, friends and colleagues know about the site, providing a link to it if you own/edit a web site, or ask others to link to this web site.

Polar bear numbers are declining

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 15:47:00 GMT

The declining number of polar bears has led an international conservation organization to put it on a threatened species risk, while the Bush Administration ponders whether to list them as threatened under US’s own Endangered Species Act. Also, a particular species of penguin has crashed in numbers in recent years. A map showing tiger population distributions has also been added.

Globalissues.org banner and sample HTML

Sun, 10 Dec 2006 14:27:00 GMT

A number of people this month asked for sample HTML to accompany the banners on the site so they can put it on their sites and link to it using a banner. Sample HTML code is therefore now provided if you wish to use it.

UN General Assembly votes to delay adoption of UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 19:24:00 GMT

The UN General Assembly voted to delay adoption of the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This was despite endorsement from the UN Human Rights Council and the declaration, even in draft form, proving useful in the Philippines and various Latin American countries. Some have criticized nations such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States for lobbying small states to vote against this declaration. These large states have long been opposed to this declaration.

AIDS claimed an estimated 2.9 million lives in 2006

Sun, 03 Dec 2006 15:47:00 GMT

Worldwide for 2006, there were an estimated 39.5 million living with HIV; 4.3 million new infections of HIV; and 2.9 million deaths from AIDS. The vast majority of these were in Sub-Saharan Africa (some two thirds of all HIV cases and over 80% of AIDS deaths).

Water and development: a global problem affected almost half the world’s population

Fri, 24 Nov 2006 00:56:00 GMT

Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation. Almost two in three people lacking access to clean water survive on less than $2 a day, with one in three living on less than $1 a day. Close to half of all people in developing countries suffering at any given time from a health problem caused by water and sanitation deficits. These and a number of other statistics have been added, as well as additional notes on issues such as the impact of climate change, privatization, whether future wars would be over resources such as water, and more.

Global commercial fish and seafood species at risk of crashing

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 20:02:00 GMT

Marine species loss has been an issue for a number of years. However, the economic impact is becoming apparent, as a recent article in the journal, Science, warns that commercial fish and seafood species may all crash by 2048. At the current rate of loss, it is feared those ocean ecosystems may never recover. Extensive coastal pollution, climate change, over-fishing and the enormously wasteful practice of deep-sea trawling are all contributing to the problem. But the current rate of loss does not have to be the final arbiter. Efforts to protect ocean ecosystems have been shown to have economic benefits, and allow the ecosystems to regenerate themselves. However, the point of no return is quickly approaching, the report fears. Many other ecosystems suffer from similar problems, such as forests, through excessive deforestation, for example.

Arms trade spending increases

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 23:56:00 GMT

2005, the latest year for which figures are available, saw an increase in global arms trade, representing the largest total ($44.2 billion) in recent years. The leading arms dealers, as per other years, were the US, Russia, France, United Kingdom, Germany, China, and Italy. The majority of arms sales (some two thirds) went to a handful of developing countries, such as India, Saudi Arabia, and China. Updated figures and graphs have been provided.

World military spending on the increase—1 trillion dollars in 2005

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 23:56:00 GMT

2005, the latest year for which figures are available, saw an increase in global military expenditure to just over 1 trillion dollars. Recent years have shown an increasing trend, after a decline following the end of the Cold War. Levels of spending are now approaching Cold War levels, and the US accounts for almost half the total expenditure, alone. Updated details and graphs have been provided.

Most countries vote for an Arms Trade Treaty

Sun, 29 Oct 2006 11:56:00 GMT

The majority of the world’s countries at the United Nations General Assembly voted for the idea of an Arms Trade Treaty. Only the United States voted against it, while many other countries that were against the idea abstained. Such a treaty does not look to ban all arms trade, but hopes to close various loopholes and other weaknesses in existing codes of conduct to ensure arms do not make their way to human rights violators. Many arms sold by leading exporters, such as the US, Britain, France, Russia, China, and others have often been found in conflict zones.

North Korea’s nuclear test

Sun, 29 Oct 2006 10:56:00 GMT

Condemned by the rest of the world, North Korea recently conducted a nuclear test. While there are fears of a regional arms race, there are mixed messages of a second test, and concerns that attempts at dialog are being thwarted or resisted by some nations who prefer a more aggressive approach with the totalitarian regime.

US Weaponization of Space

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 00:05:00 GMT

With the new US National Space policy, a prominent principle was to support the peaceful use of space. Yet a few weeks later, when the General Assembly voted on such a resolution, the US was the only country to vote against it. It was a key principle in its policy that “legal arms control agreements or restrictions must not impair the rights of the United States to conduct research, development, testing, and operations or other activities in space for U.S. national interests.”

2006 Press Freedom Index

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 01:12:00 GMT

Reporters Sans Frontiers (Reporters Without Borders) issued a worldwide press freedom index for 2006. As expected, democracies rank the best, whilst totalitarian regimes are at the bottom. As with their previous index, major countries like USA, France, UK, Spain, and Italy ranked quite low, some slipping to even lower rankings this year, while some poor countries rankked very high.

Iran

Sun, 22 Oct 2006 23:58:00 GMT

Iran has had a turbulent history in just its recent past. From a democracy in the 1950s, Iran seems to have moved backwards, from an authoritarian regime (backed by Britain and the US) that overthrew the democratic one, to a religious fundamentalist regime toppling the authoritarian one and taking an anti-US stance. The US ended its support for Iran and instead supported Iraq in a brutal war through the 1980s against Iran where over 1 million people died. More recently, Iran was described as being part of an “axis of evil” by US President George Bush, as part of his “war on terror.” The US has also accused Iran of pursuing the development of nuclear weapons, while Iran says it is only pursuing peaceful development. This new section looks into these and related issues.

Rights of Indigenous People

Sun, 15 Oct 2006 15:32:00 GMT

This new article provides an overview of the issue of indigenous peoples around the world (estimated to be around 370 million) and their struggle for rights and social justice.

US Military Commissions Act—Eroding Accountable Government and Allowing Unchecked Powers?

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 23:55:00 GMT

The US Senate recently voted in favor of the US Military Commissions Act of 2006 which has alarmed rights groups for being a serious step backwards in human rights. For example, the act strips the right of detainees to habeas corpus (the traditional right of detainees to challenge their detention); gives the US President the power to detain indefinitely anyone—US or foreign nationals, from within the US, and from abroad—it deems to have provided material support to anti-US hostilities, and even use secret and coerced evidence (i.e. through use of torture) to try detainees who will be held in secret US military prisons; gives US officials immunity from prosecution for torturing detainees that were captured before the end of 2005 by US military and CIA. A lot of other power is ceded to the executive branch of the US government, thus eroding fundamental checks and balances to ensure power is not abused.

Landmine use decreases; so does funding for mine action

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 23:54:00 GMT

A new report by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines shows that the Mine Ban Treaty and the mine ban movement continued to make good progress toward eradicating antipersonnel landmines and saving lives around the world. However, despite an overall reduction in landmine use, there are a number of concerns, such as the reduced funding for mine action, hampering the ability of some poorer nations to tackle the issue effectively.

Immigration—some 191 million immigrants live around the world

Sun, 17 Sep 2006 00:29:00 GMT

Approximately half of all immigrants—some 95 million—are women. 75% of immigrants live in just 28 countries. These and other statistics as well as some background and issues have been added to this immigration section.

Venezuela—taking away US influence in Latin America?

Sat, 02 Sep 2006 18:06:00 GMT

Venezuela has been growing in influence in the Latin American region, and is increasingly seen as an alternative to IMF/Washington-based influences whose policies have increased poverty in the region in the last two decades. Countries now have an alternative source of finance and assistance to try and deal with external debt, poverty and development woes, which could explain a major reason why the US is so vehemently opposed to the Chavez regime.

Haiti—violence continues

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 15:17:00 GMT

The British medical journal, The Lancet, estimates that between February 29, 2004 (after Aristide was overthrown), and December 2005, 8000 individuals were murdered in just the greater Port-au-Prince area. Almost half of the identified perpetrators were government forces or outside political actors. Sexual assault of women and girls was common, with findings suggesting that 35,000 women were victimized in the area; more than half of all female victims were younger than 18 years. Haiti has been troubled by power interests both internally and externally since its very beginning, being the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

War on terror articles: war crimes, surveillance, UK Terror plot

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 16:42:00 GMT

Some articles on the war on terror were reposted on this site. One, from the Washington Post looks at the issue of the US attempting to change its War Crimes act. The other two are from Democracy Now. One looks at a US judge ruling the NSA warrantless spy program as unconstitutional, and the other looks at the alleged UK terror plot and explores the possibility that this is more propaganda than plot.

Israel-Lebanon crisis; Fueling more terrorism?

Sun, 13 Aug 2006 20:47:00 GMT

Updates added regarding the conflict, including more on the geopolitics, the potential rise in terrorism, media coverage, the UN resolution 1701 for a ceasefire, and more.

Israel-Lebanon crisis

Sun, 30 Jul 2006 19:44:00 GMT

An overview of the crisis in the middle east has been posted.

WTO Doha “Development” Trade Round Collapses, at end of July 2006

Fri, 28 Jul 2006 21:06:00 GMT

Supposed to be a “Development” round of trade talks, the almost five year-long Doha round collapsed at the end of July, 2006. The US found itself on the defensive as around the world blame was directed at the US, in particular by the EU. However, the EU has also been part of the reason for failure throughout the five years. This article looks at what happened at the end of 2006, and also introduces a collection of articles that were written at the time of each previous major WTO meetings from the initial Doha round in 2001 and since.

As much as half of Official Development Assistance aid may be considered “phantom aid”

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 01:59:00 GMT

Official foreign aid effectiveness is increasingly coming under scrutiny. It has long been criticized that much of foreign aid involves clever accounting, money that does not actually reach the poor, and less than optimal use of resource, such as expensive consultancy from donor countries when locals could do it better, for much less. Furthermore, aid is often tied to restrictive conditions and the interests of the donor, which do not necessarily reflect the agreed priorities of combating global poverty and achieving sustainable development. The international development agency, Action Aid, calculates that around a half of all foreign aid is such “phantom aid.”

One year on from the G8 Summit of 2005 that seemed to promise so much in the area of tackling poverty, what has been the status so far?

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 23:13:00 GMT

It seems that some progress has certainly been made. For example, significant debt cancellation has allowed some countries to offer enhanced or even free health services to all. Yet, there are still many concerns. The fancy accounting and spin used by some countries to paint a positive picture or give the impression that more assistance has been delivered than what actually has risks discrediting the process, impacting the poor once more. This short article explores some of these concerns.

Tobacco companies accused of interfering with governments’ attempts to implement the international treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 21:29:00 GMT

The world’s first global health treaty—the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control—became international law in February 2005. The treaty requires countries to impose restrictions on tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion; improve labeling and packaging; establish clean indoor air controls; clamp down on tobacco smuggling, and more. However, tobacco companies, understandably concerned about their profits, have been accused of interfering with government policy-making (which they are explicitly prohibit to do under the treaty), through various tactics, including pressure campaigns, bribery and corruption of media owners and editors, and of government officials.

Bush Administration silencing its own climate scientists?

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 12:17:00 GMT

At the beginning of 2006, New York Times reported on NASA’s top climate scientist claiming he was being censored when talking about climate change. The BBC recently followed up with a documentary that looked into this apparently being the case on a wider scale.

Is foreign aid failing because of the lack of accountability of donors as well as problems in recipient countries?

Sun, 04 Jun 2006 18:49:00 GMT

Much is said of the corruption, lack of democracy and other ills in developing countries as the reasons for aid and other forms of generous assistance never working. But, could it also be that the type of foreign aid (the conditions and prescriptions tied to the aid) is also a problem? Furthermore, there is very little accountability to the poor countries if the prescriptions and policies themselves are not the right ones and good intentions fail. This and other issues are explored further in the updated foreign aid section.

Water: a commodity or a fundamental human right?

Sat, 27 May 2006 16:51:00 GMT

Much of the world lives without access to clean water. A recognized global water crisis appears to come not so much from water scarcity and “over-population” but from management of this precious resource. Privatization has long been encouraged as the means to efficient management and provision of service. However, the result has been that often prices have increased, out of reach from poor people around the world. This commoditization of water goes to the heart of safe water access issues. This article looks into this issue in more detail.

Obesity: an issue of poverty, what you eat, and how you eat

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 07:59:00 GMT

Obesity is a global problem as large as world hunger. Obesity also affects the poor in many countries because it is often unhealthy foods that are the cheapest. Furthermore, it is not just what you eat that affects health, but it seems that how you eat is also important.

Fake news: widespread use of pre-packaged video news releases

Mon, 17 Apr 2006 23:21:00 GMT

Media stations are increasingly using video news releases (pre-packaged content created by broadcast PR firms or by publicists within corporations or government agencies) in such a way that government propaganda, corporate advertising or public relations looks like genuine news for the viewing public.

World Bank attempts to tackle corruption, but without addressing root causes

Sat, 15 Apr 2006 23:48:00 GMT

The organization, the Bretton Woods Project, notes that despite high-profile moves by the World Bank to withhold loans to a number of countries due to fear of corruption, the root causes of corruption remain largely unaddressed. Furthermore, it seems that World Bank policies themselves may be contributing to some of the problems.

Brain Drain of Workers from Poor to Rich Countries

Fri, 14 Apr 2006 23:59:00 GMT

Brain drain is a problem for many poor countries losing skilled workers to richer countries. In healthcare, the effects can often be seen vividly. For example, in many rich countries, up to one third of doctors may be from abroad, many from Sub-Sahara Africa, while many African countries have as little as 500 doctors serving their entire population. Reasons for this brain drain vary, ranging from poor conditions domestically to attractive opportunities and active enticement from abroad.

Foreign aid increases for 2005

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 20:27:00 GMT

The OECD releases updated (preliminary) data on official development assistance (ODA) foreign aid. While the expected increase results in a record amount—just over $100 billion in aid—it is still about $100 billion short of the promised targets of 0.7% of Gross National Income. Furthermore, most of the increase is about $19 billion in debt relief for Iraq and Nigeria, and $2 billion in disaster relief for the Asian Tsunami. On top of that, ODA was never meant to include debt and disaster relief in its figures.

America’s war on the web

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 02:31:00 GMT

This article looks at the Pentagon’s plan to dominate the internet and other forms of media and global communication in the event of war, and to block enemy propaganda while also disseminating their own.

Tony Blair uses spin and fear in War on Terror

Sun, 02 Apr 2006 23:31:00 GMT

While probably not a new claim, a documentary in the UK some weeks ago showed how Tony Blair, the police, and even parts of the media have all contributed to fabrications, spin, and lies in the war on terror. For example, there was no Ricin discovered in the so-called Ricin plot—although it was used by the British government and raised as part of the US presentation in February 2003 at the UN Security Council to justify war on Iraq. A plot to blow up Manchester United’s football (soccer) stadium was fabricated. Tony Blair has asked for many rushed policies some of which have not even been necessary, to fight the war on terror. All in all, a lot of deceit has led to a reduction in public trust of government, police, media, and intelligence services.

Energy Security

Sun, 02 Apr 2006 22:30:00 GMT

Energy security issues cut across a number of global issues, such as environmental issues, geopolitics, development, economics and more.

The world’s poor are being used to test medical drugs

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 22:31:00 GMT

India’s new patent laws bring them in line with the restrictive WTO laws, making it harder to produce generic drugs, which are cheaper and often life-saving. Furthermore, with India’s highly skilled, though cheaper labor force, pharmaceutical companies see it profitable to do testing there on the poorer people. However, those drugs are not usually for them, but instead for the markets of industrialized nations.

The accumulated global foreign aid shortfall since 1970 totals to over $2.5 trillion (at 2003 prices)

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 03:15:00 GMT

In 1970, the rich countries of the OECD agreed at the United Nations (resolution 2626) to donate 0.7% of their GNP as official development aid to help with long term development of the poorest countries. The vast majority of the 20 or so OECD countries have never met that target (agreed to be reached early to mid 1970s), many not coming close. Since 1970 then, the total shortfall in aid (at 2003 figures) is over $2.5 trillion, a similar amount to total third world debt. However, considering that in recent years official aid has included items not intended for long term aid as originally defined, and that most aid does not go to the poorest countries (Sub-Saharan Africa has on average only received 18% of delivered aid, for example), the shortfall is potentially much higher.

U.S. and world military spending numbers have been updated

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 23:36:00 GMT

The U.S. has requested $462.7 billion for the 2007 for the military budget (this does not include Iraq and Afghanistan operations). The next country, China, spends around $62.5 billion.

Hundreds of new plant and animal species discovered in western New Guinea

Tue, 07 Feb 2006 21:37:00 GMT

New species of birds, frogs, butterflies, palm trees, and many other plants yet to be classified, as well as animals extremely rare in other parts of the world were discovered recently in a remote mountain rainforest region of western New Guinea (Indonesia). This further highlights that conservation is more than just conserving animals; it is also about conserving their habitat.

A White House memo reveals early decision to invade Iraq even without a second UN resolution

Sun, 05 Feb 2006 21:33:00 GMT

A White House memo reveals details of a meeting between George Bush and Tony Blair confirming what many critics charged—that the US and UK had decided to go to war against Iraq regardless of if they got a second UN resolution, or not, and even considered using illegal deception if they needed to.

NASA’s top climate scientist says NASA and the Bush Administration have tried to silence him

Sun, 29 Jan 2006 14:50:00 GMT

The scientist said there were fresh efforts to silence him because he had said that significant emission cuts could be achieved with existing technologies, particularly in the case of motor vehicles, and that without leadership by the United States, climate change would eventually leave the earth “a different planet.” Reporting this, The New York Times also notes there have been other such disputes recently whereby “many scientists who routinely took calls from reporters five years ago can now do so only if the interview is approved by administration officials in Washington, and then only if a public affairs officer is present or on the phone.” Scientists whose points of view are aligned to administration lines, however, see few signs of such restrictions. Aside from the concerns to stifle such scientists ability to speak out, this latest episode also reveals the extent to which such a top scientist is concerned about the impact of climate change.

Corruption: a problem for rich countries as well as poor

Sun, 29 Jan 2006 04:00:00 GMT

We often hear leaders from rich countries telling poor countries that aid and loans will only be given when they show they are stamping out corruption. While that definitely needs to happen, the rich countries themselves are often active in the largest forms of corruption in those poor countries, and many economic policies they prescribe have exacerbated the problem. Corruption in developing countries definitely must be high on the priority list, but so too must it be on the priority list of rich countries.

Global Health Overview

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 01:44:00 GMT

A new article covers some global aspects of health issues, such as the impact of poverty, the nature of patent rules at the WTO, and pharmaceutical company interest, as well as some global health initiatives.

Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline, promises of sustainable development faltering?

Sat, 14 Jan 2006 11:31:00 GMT

When the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline project started in 2000, there were hopes that the combination of investment from the World Bank, Exxon-Mobil, the respective governments involved, in conjunction with independent oversight, would see the project and its revenues be put to good use, such as poverty alleviation. Since the inception of the project, Amnesty International has criticized the oil company and governments of not respecting human rights, and the frustrated independent organization has complained about the lack of resources from the two groups, as well. Furthermore, the Chad government signed into law access to its own bank account held by the World Bank for future generation of people in Chad, arguing that it needed poverty alleviation resources now.

Montreal Climate Change Conference

Thu, 29 Dec 2005 23:57:00 GMT

December 2005 saw the eleventh session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (or, COP11 for short). At the same time, the first Meeting of the Parties of the Protocol (MOP 1) took place. These meetings attempted to advance discussions on the future emission reductions and ways to help developing countries. The US walked out at one point of the meeting, but were eventually convinced to come back to the conference. The result, some felt, was a slightly weakened text, but something to build upon for the future. Developing countries were also discussed, but issues of climate justice and equity seemed to be missing once again.

2005 Worldwide Press Freedom Index

Wed, 28 Dec 2005 13:17:00 GMT

Reporters Sans Frontiers (Reporters Without Borders) issues a worldwide press freedom index for 2005. As should be predicted, democracies rank the best, whilst totalitarian regimes are at the bottom. As with their previous index, major countries like USA, France, UK, Spain, Italy and Canada ranked quite low, some slipping to even lower rankings this year.

WTO Hong Kong Meeting Outcome

Mon, 26 Dec 2005 23:46:00 GMT

While described as a success by some ministers from leading countries, developing countries seemed less satisfied with the WTO meeting in Hong Kong. Poor countries appeared to make many concessions for rich countries, who in return offered very little. Why the diverging views and what was actually agreed?

Additional articles on War on terrorism

Sun, 25 Dec 2005 15:59:00 GMT

A number of articles have been reposted, including Harold Pinter’s Nobel Prize speech, an article looking at the Pentagon’s plan to plant pro-American stories in foreign media without attributing the source, another on the Pentagon spying on Americans including peace and anti-war activists, and another on the US’s campaign to influence not only Muslim societies, but Islam itself.

An Arms Trade Treaty for conventional weapons?

Sun, 04 Dec 2005 23:53:00 GMT

While there are international conventions and treaties covering various weapons of mass destruction, there are none for conventional small arms and light weapons. Since 2001 an Arms Trade Treaty has been proposed and together with regional codes of conduct, is gaining some momentum. However, the codes of conduct have not been as useful as hoped, due to divergent standards, interpretations, and even weaknesses, dilutions and loopholes that have allowed nations to sell or transfer arms on to human rights violators. An Arms Trade Treaty attempts to consolidate existing obligations that states have already undertaken. The experiences of existing codes of conduct could therefore help make such a treaty more likely to work.

Diseases other than AIDS that are also global killers

Sun, 27 Nov 2005 23:12:00 GMT

While they do not get as much attention as AIDS, there are many preventable diseases that afflict primarily the world’s poor in their millions. While AIDS is believed to have claimed over 3 million people in 2005 alone, a total of 11 million people have been estimated killed by infectious diseases. TB, malaria, measles, and others are global killers as well. These all kill far more people than wars, but attract less media attention, it seems, even though many of these diseases are easily preventable. Furthermore, it seems they also attract less attention because the people affected are from poor countries. While many of these diseases have long been recognized as resulting from poverty, some are now contributing to poverty as well.

WTO Meeting in Hong Kong, December 2005

Sun, 20 Nov 2005 15:52:00 GMT

December 2005 will see Hong Kong host the 4th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial meeting. This meeting, one of the most important in the world, will discuss a number of trade-related issues, key for developing and developed nations, alike. This meeting continues from the earlier “Doha round” where it was recognized that the global trading system was unequal and unfair for most of the world and so the meetings should place development at the fore. Thus this meeting is being billed as a “Development Round.” However, the concerns as per previous years will be the lack of transparency and democracy in the decision-making processes, and the power that the rich nations have over the poor distorting trade in their favor. The previous Ministerial meeting two years earlier collapsed as the developing world took a strong stance and stood up to the rich nations. Yet, since then, the same kinds of issues have resurfaced as rich nations appear to have hardly moved on their countless promises, pledges and obligations.

Some more statistics on world hunger

Sat, 19 Nov 2005 13:10:00 GMT

Over 9 million people die worldwide each year because of hunger and malnutrition. (5 million are children, a technical equivalent of 45 jumbo jets crashing every single day, though the latter is what will often make headline news.) The direct medical cost of hunger and malnutrition is estimated at $30 billion each year (though it is estimated that every dollar invested in well-targeted interventions to reduce undernourishment and micronutrient deficiencies can yield $5 to $20 in benefits.)

Clean or Corrupt Development Mechanism To Tackle Climate Change?

Sat, 12 Nov 2005 17:40:00 GMT

In 1997 at Kyoto, nations of the world agreed to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as a way to combat climate change. CDM would assist rich countries in lightening their excessive greenhouse gas emissions as they would invest in poorer countries to help achieve sustainable development. It would help developing countries towards a less polluting form of growth while receiving much-needed investment. There were many fears at the time that the idea of CDM could be misused and allow rich countries to use the land of the poor countries to tackle their own emission problems. The Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment reports on the way some CDM projects in India have turned out and suggests that some of these fears may indeed be coming true.

Water, Aid, and Privatization

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 17:40:00 GMT

As part of its aid to poor countries, the British government has given millions to British companies. These companies push for privatisation of water in poor countries. Many such projects have come under heavy criticism for failing to provide universal access to a resource determined to be a fundamental right for everyone to access. Furthermore, this raises issues and concerns such as whether private companies (whose primary aim is profit) can indeed make efficient profit while having to provide universal access and how to address the reduced accountability. Often, poor country governments have been left to pick up the pieces when such projects fail.

Nuclear weapons: Iran, US, India

Tue, 01 Nov 2005 01:29:00 GMT

Iran has made many headlines recently regarding nuclear weapons but so too has India given its surprising siding with the US despite huge energy deals with Iran. However, given recent events such as Bush accepting India into the nuclear club, or India’s apparent subtle abandoning of global nuclear disarmament in preference to non-proliferation by others, is India’s stance really that much of a surprise? Also recently the US, for the moment, cancelled its so-called mini-nukes or deep bunker penetrating nuclear weapons program.

Media and Natural Disasters

Mon, 24 Oct 2005 02:20:00 GMT

Media coverage of natural disasters seems to vary a lot depending on the disaster. Is it selective? Why do some regions get more attention than others? Even when millions have died in a region from conflict and war, how is it (and not minimizing the loss of a single life) that a disaster that claims less in lives — sometimes in the same area, as in the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo — will bring in media interest and coverage? 2005 has recently seen a number of disasters and relief efforts, from the Asian tsunami, to the severe hurricanes and storms in the Caribbean, the earthquake in South Asia (Pakistan and India), and drought in parts of Africa. How has the media covered these?

Dumping Undesirable Food During Emergency Relief

Sat, 15 Oct 2005 10:02:00 GMT

A few years ago, headlines were made when a number of African countries attempted to reject genetically modified food given as aid from the US, and they faced a lot of pressure and criticism for doing so.

In the wake of hurricane Katrina, Britain has given some food aid to the US, which includes beef.

The US has long banned beef from Britain and other European countries on the grounds of safety amidst concerns about mad cow disease, and as a result, the US too has refused to use this food aid.

The US may face some criticism for this just as those African countries did. Yet, they all have a right to consider food safety in this way, even at times of emergency.

It is no doubt a difficult issue, but famines and emergencies have often been exploited for commercial opportunities in the past.

Also of concern however, is that the US State Department is considering passing this food, which it feels is unfit for its own citizens to consume, on to Guatemala after recent natural disasters there.

Arms sales increase for the first time in 2004 since 2000

Sun, 02 Oct 2005 20:49:00 GMT

Most arms sales continue to go to the developing world, but is heavily skewed towards around 10 or so main recipients in the Middle East and Asia. Arms sales also seem to continue to known human rights abusers, as the arms trade is big business.

UN World Summit Outcome

Sun, 18 Sep 2005 23:46:00 GMT

Many criticized the final outcome document from the UN World Summit as being watered down and weak. A lot of blame, both in the mainstream media, and from development organizations, has been placed at the United States for having proposed such an aggressive set changes in the first place (such as initially wanting to strike out all mention of the Millennium Development Goals, which was supposed to be the primary focus of the meeting itself!). But other countries also expressed reservations on various issues too, leading to a weaker text than hoped for.

The US moves closer towards the option of a preemptive nuclear attack

Thu, 15 Sep 2005 00:55:00 GMT

This is what the Pentagon would like to have the option of if they suspect an attack by a nation or a terrorist group using weapons of mass destruction. Given the experience with Iraq and how US leaders said they were convinced of weapons of mass destruction there, this move is controversial to say the least.

$255 billion is lost each year to governments around the world because of the no or low taxation of funds in offshore centres

Wed, 14 Sep 2005 23:12:00 GMT

Offshore tax havens allow multinational companies, rich individuals, corrupt leaders, criminals and terrorists to move or hide money. To put this in perspective, the losses each year are more than the UN Millennium Project goal of reaching $195 billion in aid levels by 2015 to help halve world poverty within a decade and prevent millions of unnecessary deaths in poor countries.

Hurricane Katrina

Tue, 13 Sep 2005 21:45:00 GMT

The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in southern parts of the United States has been immense. Amidst personally moving stories of loss and suffering, of heroic individuals and communities, this tragedy revealed a number of other issues and there has been a lot of criticism at the Bush Administration for not doing enough quickly. The mainstream media itself seems to have become more bold in its criticisms as well, which has been unexpected.

UN Oil for Food Scandal and Myths

Mon, 12 Sep 2005 23:36:00 GMT

The United Nations Oil for Food program in Iraq during half the period of crippling sanctions has often made mainstream news in recent months, as reports of corruption and oil smuggling by Saddam Hussein have surfaced. Common themes in the reporting have been to blame the entire UN for policies of the UN Security Council, to blame the Oil for Food program for most of the billions stolen by Saddam Hussein, to blame Kofi Annan for the whole mess, or even point to the program’s supposed lack of transparency. Yet, it turns out that the US actually accounted for more than the rest of the world combined in illegal oil sales by Iraq, though that has hardly received much media coverage in comparison.