Globalisation

Lessons for the ‘Rest’ from ersatz miracles

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Of the ten fastest growing economies since 1960, eight are in East Asia. Two main competing explanations claimed to explain this regional concentration of catch up growth since the late 20th century, often referred to as the East Asian miracle.

Brazilians Decide on a Shift to the Right at Any Cost

By Mario Osava
Voters in Brazil ignored threats to democracy and opted for radical political change, with a shift to the extreme right, with ties to the military, as is always the case in this South American country.

Africa Remains Resolute Heading to COP 24

By Friday Phiri
In December 2015, nations of the world took a giant step to combat climate change through the landmark Paris Agreement. But African experts who met in Nairobi, Kenya at last week’s Seventh Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA VII) say the rise of far-right wing and nationalist movements in the West are threatening the collapse of the agreement.

New Agreement with Canada and U.S. Is Win-Lose for Mexico

By Emilio Godoy
Following the fanfare of the countries' leaders and the relief of the export and investment sectors, experts are analysing the renewed trilateral agreement with Canada and the United States, where Mexico made concessions in sectors such as e-commerce, biotechnology, automotive and agriculture.

G20 Women’s Summit Pushes for Rural Women’s Rights

By Daniel Gutman
Rural women play a key role in food production, but face discrimination when it comes to access to land or are subjected to child marriage, the so-called affinity group on gender parity within the G20 concluded during a meeting in the Argentine capital.

Investing in Arab and Asian Youth For a Sustainable Future

By Aniqa Haider
As the youth population has increased to unprecedented levels in Arab and Asian regions, governments need to do more to invest in them.

Q & A: Why Switching to Renewable Energy Sources is No Longer a Matter of Morality, But of Economics

By Carmen Arroyo
When the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) was founded eight years ago, the general public thought that renewable energies would never replace oil and coal. Today, the tables have turned.

Seize the Opportunity Offered by Africa’s Continental Free Trade Area, says UNIDO Chief

By Li Yong
Since the turn of the millennium, Africa has experienced a steady and unprecedented economic growth.However, poverty continues for people across the continent, especially in the sub-Saharan region. Unemployment and inequality have remained high. The rural population and the urban poor, women and youth, have not benefited from economic growth.

Salmon Farming, Questioned in Chile, Arrives to Argentina

By Daniel Gutman
Questioned for its environmental and health impacts in Chile, where it is one of the country's main economic activities, salmon farming is preparing to expand in Argentina from Norway, the world's largest farmed salmon producer. The news has triggered a strong reaction from civil society organisations.

Revisiting privatization’s claims

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Several arguments have been advanced to justify privatization since the 1980s. Privatization has been advocated as an easy means to: 1. Reduce the government’s financial and administrative burden, particularly by undertaking and maintaining services and infrastructure; 2. Promote competition, improve efficiency and increase productivity in providing public services; 3. Stimulate private entrepreneurship and investment to accelerate economic growth; 4. Help reduce the public sector’s presence and size, with its monopolistic tendencies and bureaucratic support.

Damning U.N. Report Outlines Crimes Against Rohingya As Children Suffer from Trauma One Year Later

By Farid Ahmed
At 12, Mohammed* is an orphan. He watched his parents being killed by Myanmar government soldiers a year ago. And he is one of an estimated half a million Rohingya children who have survived and been witness to what the United Nations has called genocide.

Has Globalization Enhanced Development Cooperation?

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Protracted economic stagnation in rich countries continues to threaten the development prospects of poorer countries. Globalization and economic liberalization over the last few decades have integrated developing countries into the world economy, but now that very integration is becoming a threat as developing countries are shackled by the knock-on effects of the rich world’s troubles.

Music: Nigeria’s New Cultural Export

By Franck Kuwonu, Africa Renewal*
It is a cold evening in Antwerp, Belgium’s second-largest city, famous for diamonds, beer, art and high-end fashion. Inside a small restaurant, a mix of the latest American pop and rap—clearly enjoyed by diners—is playing on a radio. Nigerians Olalekan Adetiran and Adaobi Okereke, enjoying a kebab dinner, are startled when the radio begins playing the unmistakable “Ma Lo”—a catchy, midtempo and bass-laden song by popular Nigerian artistes Tiwa Savage and Wizkid.

The New World Disorder: We must learn to live with it

By Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury
A fundamental law of physics, also applicable to the social sciences, is that everything in nature is in a state of flux. The sage Heraclitus had said we never step into the same river twice. The flow of the river of life today has remarkably gained a momentum that is torrential. It gushes ahead washing away old values, norms, and the societal architecture that human mind and endeavour had conceived and created over a long period of time. As it leads us into the digital post-modern era dominated by big data, cloud-computing, and artificial intelligence, it also impacts on the politics, economics and sociology of how we organise our lives.

Japan: the Land of the Rising Robots

By Todd Schneider, Gee Hee Hong and Anh Van Le
While automation will eliminate very few occupations entirely in the coming decades, it is likely to have an impact on portions of almost all jobs to some degree—depending on the type of work and the tasks involved.

A Gender-Specific Approach To Counter-Terrorism

By Carmen Arroyo
Understanding the different way that terrorists target women and how to prevent their recruitment could play a significant role in counter-terrorism efforts, and is gaining increased recognition among the international community.

New Human Rights Chief? UN Secretary-General Cannot Afford to Get It Wrong

By Fred Carver and Ben Donaldson
UN Secretary-General António Guterres is about to make one of the most important decisions of his tenure – one that will directly impact communities worldwide: the appointment of the next High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Unprecedented Human Migration Cries Out for a Global Response

By Gustavo Capdevila
The world is "basically at odds with itself," International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Director General William Swing said Monday, June 25, describing the critical state of human migration between countries and continents.

Food Sustainability, Migration, Nutrition and Women

By Enrique Yeves
We worry about how we can continue to put food on our tables; and yet one-third of food is never eaten, instead being lost or wasted.We worry about eating properly, and yet in many countries, poor nutrition, obesity and micronutrient deficiencies are increasingly common. This trend is taking place in the Americas, Oceania, Asia, Africa and in Europe.

Trump is Here to Stay and Change the World

By Roberto Savio
Donald John Trump, 45th and current president of the United States, has been seen in many illustrious circles as an anomaly that cannot last. Well, it is time to look at reality.If we put on the glasses of people who have seen their level of income reduced and are afraid of the future, Trump is here to stay, and he is a result and not a cause.

China Generates Energy and Controversy in Argentina

By Daniel Gutman
As in other Latin American countries, in recent years China has been a strong investor in Argentina. The environmental impact and economic benefits of this phenomenon, however, are a subject of discussion among local stakeholders.
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