By Mia Swart Doha, Qatar, Feb 22 (IPS) – In the post-Apartheid era, it is safe to say that Jacob Zuma has become the most reviled public figure in South Africa. Zuma was essentially discredited even before he became president…
Category: Columns
Reframing the free market debate
March 1, 2006. America has two pre-eminent values, individual liberty and democracy. Our economic conversation emphasizes free markets, and free markets based on laws of property and contract do a relatively good job advancing individual liberty. However, markets do less…
Junk Planet: Is Earth the largest garbage dump in the Universe?
Robert J. Burrowes Is Earth the largest garbage dump in the Universe? I don’t know. But it’s a safe bet that Earth would be a contender were such a competition to be held. Let me explain why.
What happened to Europe’s left
Last year was an ‘annus horribilis’ for the European left. In Austria, France, and the Czech Republic, the left lost its governing position, and the same might occur in Italy in a few weeks. Today, only Portugal, Greece, Sweden, Slovakia,…
Do Trump’s deficit matter
Should Democrats complain about the large deficits that Trump and the Republicans are creating? Or is this playing into the Republican narrative that made the stimulus in 2009 inadequate and gave us austerity from then onwards?
The incarceration of Tariq Ramadan – a travesty of justice
By Chandra Muzaffar The unjust incarceration of Dr Tariq Ramadan, Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University, demeans and disgraces the French legal system. Tariq has been detained in a solitary cell in the high security wing of Paris’s…
Father of Palestine’s Icon: Everyone is blaming my daughter
By Erik Larsson As a video clip spread all over the world, so too did the name Ahed Tamimi. For Palestinians, she has become an icon of freedom. Arbetet Global met the father of the teenage girl that kicked and…
Ten points about pay transparency in Europe’s companies
Measures to promote gender pay transparency haven’t been delivered yet in half of Europe – making EU level legislative action to speed up implementation an option. Here’s what we know about the measures from countries that have been early adopters.
The double threat to liberal democracy
The crisis of liberal democracy is roundly decried today. Donald Trump’s presidency, the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom, and the electoral rise of other populists in Europe have underscored the threat posed by “illiberal democracy” – a kind of…
Nothing justifies corporal punishment… absolutely nothing!
Corporal punishment is a violation of the most basic and crucial laws of a civilized society… but who cares? By Sir Frank Peters A highway billboard in Amarillo, Texas, that screams ‘beat your children’ to thousands of passing onlookers daily…
Debt is a determining factor in History
By Eric Toussaint Sovereign debt has been a crucial factor in a series of major historical events. From the early 19th century, in Latin American countries such as Colombia, Mexico and Argentina, struggling for independence,as well as Greece when seeking…
Food, agri orgs building better food system in Washington
Danielle Nierenberg The 4th Annual Washington, D.C. Food Tank Summit is just around the corner, and we’re excited to hear from, collaborate with, and meet our member organizations based in the D.C. area. The U.S. capital is humming with food…
Automated digital tools threaten pol campaigns in Latin America
By Emilio Godoy Mexico City, Feb 13 (IPS) – The use of technological tools in political campaigns has become widespread in Latin America, accompanied by practices that raise concern among academics and social organisations, especially in a year with multiple…
Stock market turmoil may expose flaws in global finance
By Martin Khor Penang, Malaysia, Feb 12 (IPS) – Was last week’s global stock market sell-off only a “correction” or does it signify a new period of financial instability, caused by major flaws in the world financial system? The stock…
Pyeongchang Olympics: A new cornerstone for peace, prosperity
By Shamshad Akhtar Bangkok, Thailand, Feb (IPS) – All eyes are on the 23rd Olympic Winter Games and 12th Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang this February. Top athletes will carry their national flags in an opening ceremony which has come…
The fear driving US nuclear strategy
Robert J. Burrowes The United States Department of Defense released its latest ‘Nuclear Posture Review 2018’ (NPR) on 2 February, updating the last one issued in 2010 during the previous administration. See ‘Nuclear Posture Review 2018’. https://admin.govexec.com/media/gbc/docs/pdfs_edit/2018_nuclear_posture_review_- _final_report.pdf The Executive…
18 films about food to inspire, outrage, and Mobilise
Danielle Nierenberg Film is an incredible tool for effecting change in the food system with its unique ability to educate, inspire, and grow the movement for sustainable food and farming. Film can transport viewers to unseen territories, from Colombian coffee-growing…
Three opportunities for humanitarians in 2018
By Larissa Fast London, Feb 6 (IPS) – As 2018 begins, the challenges of humanitarian crises are momentous. Humanitarians are responding to large-scale emergencies in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
Northeast India: Urge for media accountability
By Nava Thakuria As the alternative media expands its reaches to hundred thousand Indians across the country, thanks to increasingly cheaper internet connectivity, its restraint and liability also start surfacing in public discourses. The limitations and gradually losing credibility of…
Blaming Immigrants For Economic Troubles
Immigration has always been a prominent issue in American politics. It has become even more salient with the presidency of Donald Trump. A major debate at the moment concerns the economic impact of immigration—low-skilled immigration, in particular. It is argued…
Net Neutrality: Trump’s deregulation sets digital giants free
The current querelle on net neutrality offers a telling example of how self-regulation could be the “evil” of the Internet rather than its “panacea” if it alone sets the rules.
Create ‘sponge cities’ to tackle worsening floods
Penang, Malaysia (Martin Khor) – With floods now causing more damage more frequently around the world, it is time to counter their effects by turning our towns into “Sponge Cities”, a recent trend popularised by China to absorb rainwater through…
Populist hoax: Getting the far right and post fascism wrong
During my latest stay in the UK, I met some of my friends, who, surprisingly, told me that they felt the pro-Brexit campaign was very similar to the anti-semitic campaigns of the 1930s in Europe, and especially in Nazi Germany.…
Respect your elders—plants!
Danielle Nierenberg I had a very unique opportunity this week to join a group of entrepreneurs, chefs, scientists, advocates, writers, policymakers (including the very inspiring President of Mauritius, Ameenah Gurib), and other food and agriculture experts to attend a luncheon…
Climate-related disasters cost nearly $400 billion in 2017
By Amina J. Mohammed UN, Jan 31 (IPS) – I am pleased to be with you at this important and timely summit on climate risk and to discuss the opportunities that are there for us to seize through decisive climate…
Tackling inequality talk is easy
By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram Sydney & Kuala Lumpur, Jan 30 (IPS) – At this year’s Davos World Economic Forum (WEF), Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau warned the world’s business leaders and fellow politicians, “tackle inequality or risk…
What happens to education as teachers are on strike?
The number of teachers in the primary, secondary and college level is about nine lakh in Bangladesh who have been demonstrating in various ways to press home their long standing demands. Several groups of teachers were on demonstration in the…
American democracy sold to the highest bidder
Aristotle measured the quality of democracy by the extent to which politics constrains the economically powerful, allowing the preferences of the landless to be reflected in public policy. According to a new analysis, American democracy gets a failing grade on…
Davos of the many for the few
It is easy to dismiss Davos as nothing more than a talkfest among greedy CEOs, cheerful philanthropists and photogenic celebrity activists. Yet this narrative – which is annually recited by mainstream media – fails to do justice to what the…
Students’ woes after affiliation of seven colleges to DU:
Masum Billah All colleges-public and private- had been under public universities but the session jam, exam jam, complexities to publish results engulfed the whole system. The public universities had been busy with their own academic and administrative affairs. To ease…