Danielle Nierenberg As climate leaders gather in Paris for the 21st Session of the Conference of Parties (COP21), farmers and food leaders are paying close attention to negotiations, which will determine how global environmental policy will continue to affect the…
Jutta Kill Berlin – It’s been 30 years since the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations launched the Tropical Forestry Action Plan, the first global intergovernmental initiative to halt forest loss. Since then, deforestation has continued unabated, and…
by Sunita Narain I wrote last about what I expect will happen at the Paris climate change conference. But what should happen? First, the world must strongly underscore the need to keep the temperature rise below 2°C at the very…
By Sundeep Waslekar In December 2009, I met Walid Muallem, Foreign Minister of Syria, in his office in Damascus, along with an eminent British politician. He rolled out before us his vision of peace process with Israel in phases. He…
By Dan Glazebrook Nigeria’s Boko Haram are now officially the deadliest terror group in the world. That they have reached this position is a direct consequence of Cameron and co’s war on Libya’ and one that was perhaps not entirely…
by Oliver Geden BERLIN – The diplomatic effort to forge an international agreement to mitigate climate change is undergoing a fundamental shift. The top-down approach that has guided the effort since 1992 is slowly being replaced by a bottom-up model.…
by Sherry Rehman Islamabad – It is a painful irony of climate change that those least responsible for the problem are often the most exposed to its ravages. And if any country can claim to be the victim of this…
by Rana Kapoor,Johan Rockström,Khalifa Ababacar Sall,Feike Sijbesma PARIS – Over the next few weeks, Paris will once again dominate global headlines. This time, however, the news is likely to be positive, as world leaders come together to forge a meaningful…
By John Pilger In transmitting President Richard Nixon’s orders for a “massive” bombing of Cambodia in 1969, Henry Kissinger said, “Anything that flies on everything that moves”. As Barack Obama wages his seventh war against the Muslim world since he…
Danielle Nierenberg This week, Food Tank is grateful for the farmers, researchers, and activists who are working tirelessly to improve the food system every day. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), getting food onto Americans’ plates accounts for…
Mostafa Jamal Haider Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. — William Shakespeare One of the most controversial and misunderstood, yet seriously discussed and evaluated name in contemporary Bangladesh politics is Kazi Zafar…
By Peter Van Buren Wars are expensive. The recruitment and sustainment of fighters in the field, the ongoing purchases of weapons and munitions, as well as the myriad other costs of struggle, add up. So why isn’™t the United States…
Lili Fuhr Berlin – If the world is to avoid climate catastrophe, it will have to forego burning almost 90% of proven coal reserves, plus one-third of oil and half of natural-gas reserves. But instead of implementing policies aimed at…
Kenneth Roth This past month has seen a sudden proliferation of horrific attacks on ordinary people apparently committed by the self-described Islamic State, or ISIS. Between the slaughter in Paris, the bombs in Beirut, Baghdad, and Ankara, and the downing…
Nick Rowley After the November 13 attacks on Paris, the global community might now be more determined to deliver a successful climate change conference, both for France and as a potent demonstration of the enduring effectiveness of the international diplomatic…
by Michael Meyer Nairobi – At one of Hanoi’s priciest restaurants, a group of Vietnamese businessmen meet their new American partners to celebrate their latest venture. “A toast!” someone exclaims. They raise their glasses, filled with the finest scotch, which…
by Stefan Rahmstorf Sydney – In November 1965, US President Lyndon B. Johnson was presented with the first-ever government report warning of the dangers that could result from burning large amounts of fossil fuels. Fifty years is a long time…
Sudhirendar Sharma GDP may have worked despite its fallibility till now, but it is unlikely to serve henceforth as the economy gets driven more by innovation, services, and intangible goods. It is a ‘made up entity’ that has become the…
By Maung Zarni With a constitution that safeguards its immense power and wealth, the military knows that, unlike in 1990, it doesn’t need a crackdown to keep its regime intact Though in exile 6,000 miles away from Myanmar, I can…
By Arshin Adib Moghaddam ‘ISIL massacres Shi’a in Iraq’, ‘Iran wants to Persianise the Arab world’, ‘Sunni extremist blows up Shi’a mosque in Kuwait’. Headlines like these dominate current media reports about western Asia, conveying the impression that sectarian violence…
by Abdullah M. Al-Shehri,Julian Popov Riyadh, London – For decades, the international energy landscape has been relatively stable, with producers like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Algeria selling oil and gas to consumers in the United States and Europe. In a…
by Hassan Sheikh Mohamud Mogadishu – Somalia is blessed with the largest coastline in continental Africa. Our rich marine waters are some of the most productive in the world, teeming with schools of yellowfin tuna, blue marlin, dolphinfish, and sardines.…
Danielle Nierenberg The American food system is broken. Chronic diet-related diseases cost US$500 billion annually, and agriculture is the main source of water pollution in America. The Food and Drug Administration reports that 80 percent of all antibiotics are fed…
Robert J. Burrowes For many people, it is easier, safer and more comfortable to live in a world of delusion, particularly when this delusion requires no effort to seek out and understand truths that might prove unpalatable. If the delusion…
By James Cogan Yesterday’s US deployment of the destroyer USS Lassen and surveillance aircraft into the 12-nautical mile zone surrounding the Chinese-controlled Subi and Mischief reefs in the South China Sea has qualitatively escalated tensions across Asia. The aim of…
Mohammad Zainal Abedin New York – Professor Dr. Justin Phillips, of Columbia University predicts that Hillary Clinton is the probable Presidential candidate of the Democratic Party. Dr. Phillips made this assertion at a press briefing held on November 2 at…
Sudhirendar Sharma What you read, see, and eat (and even think) is under gaze of self-styled moral custodians of social and cultural behaviour. If freedom of expression is what democratic societies aspire for, then the use of ink to smear…
By David Swanson “War Is Beautiful” is the ironic title of a beautiful new book of photographs. The subtitle is “The New York Times Pictorial Guide to the Glamour of Armed Conflict.” There’s an asterisk after those words, and it…
By Juan Cole Former British PM Tony Blair reiterated on Sunday some of his previous half-hearted ‘apologies’ for illegally launching a war of aggression on Iraq in 2003. Blair’s ‘apologies’ always take the form of the little boy who, when…
By Nava Thakuria As Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) approaches for its next national elections, which emerges as the most important polls since the southeast Asian country was put under military dictatorship in 1962, speculations now rises high over the…