CUBA: BETWEEN SOCIALISM AND THE MARKET

The process of change now taking place in Cuba has given rise to radical analyses in which a part of the left denounces the betrayal of socialism while a part of the right proclaims the collapse of the regime. Seen from the island itself, things are no where near so simple. Quite to the contrary.

AFRICA: CORRECTING HISTORICAL INJUSTICES IN THE WORLD TRADE RULEBOOK

Why did Africa move from being a net exporter to a net importer of food in the 1980s when the prices of its key commodity exports tumbled and its agriculture slowed down? Its food trade deficit is now around USD 20 billion and, given the current rise in prices, could get much worse.

THE ULTIMATE WEAPON OF TERRORISM

Nuclear weapons are the ultimate weapon of terrorism, whether in the hands of a terrorist organisation or those of the leader of a country. They are weapons of mass annihilation that kill indiscriminately men, women and children. Most people fear the possibility of these weapons falling into the hands of terrorist organisations, but never stop to consider that in any hands they are terrorist weapons.

A VICTORIOUS DAY FOR PEOPLE POWER – WHAT NEXT?

After 18 days of massive nonviolent demonstrations, Egypt's president Mubarak finally stepped down. This historic achievement by a million heroes was inspired by Tunisia. It had no leaders, of course, because leaders are easy targets. Everybody united around one idea, the ouster of Mubarak--like of Ben Ali in Tunisia.

THE DOUBLE STANDARD OF NUCLEAR POWERS

On 5 February, the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) entered into force. New START is an agreement between Russia and the United States that sets 1550 as the limit of how many nuclear warheads each country can deploy at any given time (down from 1700-2200 under the old arrangement). The treaty does not affect the number of nuclear warheads each country can possess, which is estimated at 8500 for the US and 11,000 for Russia.

A CALL TO OUTRAGE

He is 93 years old. His name is Stephane Hessel, and the story of his life reads like a fantastical novel. In a way it was even before his birth. Some of you may remember Francois Truffaut's film "Jules et Jim". The non-conformist woman played by Jeanne Moreau and one of her two lovers [1], Jules, a German Jewish translator of Proust, were his parents. In the artistic environment of Paris of the 20s and 30s, Stephane Hessel grew up surrounded by the friends that filled his house, including philosopher Walter Benjamin, Dadaist Marcel Duchamp, and sculptor Alexander Calder.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT FOOD PRICES

The world is living through another major upswing in food prices. World food prices surged to a new historic peak in January, for the seventh consecutive month, as the FAO Food Price Index reached 231 points, up 3.4 percent from December 2010. The accumulated increase in food prices during 2010 amounted to 25% relative to the 2009 level. Starting with a sharp increase in wheat prices in July in reaction to production shortfalls and export prohibition in Russia and followed by uncertain crop prospects in other parts of the world, this new episode raises concerns over instability in world food markets and its social implications.

ITALY HAS A LONG WAY TO GO IN GENDER EQUALITY

Italy is one of the most backward countries in Europe in almost every indicator of gender equality. This is despite the fact that in terms of advanced degrees and qualifications, women surpass men and, in the last 30 years, have reached positions of power in all sectors of the market and proven that a company improves with a woman at the helm.

AUTOCRACIES CRUMBLING

For a long time, the US-Israel alliance (inspired by Isaiah 2:1- 5, "out of Zion shall go forth the law... and he shall judge among the nations...") has created --by force or bribes or both--"friendly governments", or "allies in the peace process" as US Vice President Joe Biden -Obama's foreign policy expert- says. This pattern is now unraveling before our eyes.

AUTOCRACIES CRUMBLING

For a long time, the US-Israel alliance (inspired by Isaiah 2:1- 5, "out of Zion shall go forth the law... and he shall judge among the nations...") has created --by force or bribes or both--"friendly governments", or "allies in the peace process" as US Vice President Joe Biden -Obama's foreign policy expert- says. This pattern is now unraveling before our eyes.

DAVOS: SPEAKING TRUTH DIRECTLY TO POWER

"Smothered in white mud", to quote South Africa's President Jacob Zuma, Davos is a long way from the Durban township where I grew up. It is as far from my comfort zone as I'm likely to get. Yet, this was the tenth time in 12 years that I found my self cloistered in the expensive and exclusive resort surrounded by the corporate world's aristocracy and a great many presidents and prime ministers.

THE GORDIAN KNOT OF THE FOOD CRISIS

Barely out of the 2008 food price crisis, the world appears to have entered yet another phase of higher prices. Rising food prices are now stoking global inflation, not to mention political unrest of proportions that we could have seldom imagined.

GDP: STILL MISLEADING GOVERNMENTS, BANKS, AND INVESTORS

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) results for the final quarter of 2010 are an unreliable gauge of recovery and progress in Europe, the US, China, Brazil, and most other countries. A new survey by GlobeScan and Ethical Markets, titled "Beyond GDP", reaffirms that large majorities favour reforming the money-based GDP economic yardstick and adopting many of the available indicators of health, education, infrastructure, poverty gaps, and environmental quality found in their 2007 survey for the European Commission (www.beyond-gdp.eu). The new survey was conducted in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Kenya, Russia, the UK, and the US and released on January 21.

OVERFISHING: A MARKET-LED APPROACH TO CHANGE

Overfishing is one of the greatest sustainability challenges facing the world today. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that over a quarter of the world's fish stocks are overfished or depleted and over half are being fished at capacity.

TOWARDS AN ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the UN in December 1948 recognises the right of all people to life (Article 3) and categorically states: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment."(Article 5)

IS THE DEATH PENALTY A DETERRENT?

When I was about fourteen, my mother took me to the black funeral home in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to see the body of Robert Lee Sauls, who had been executed in the electric chair for killing a white man who came upon him as he was sleeping in a car parked off the road in the man's field. I don't remember what, if anything, my mother said about the affair, whether she took me with her as a life lesson, or whether I was simply taken along as she paid her respects and prayed for the man's soul.

MY YEARS ON DEATH ROW

Nothing in your previous life prepares you for living on death row. YouÂ're like a head of cabbage on a garden row: planted, forced to lead a static existence, every day exactly like the last and the next. Unlike the cabbage, though, your life is without purpose. You are a cipher merely holding a place, awaiting your turn in the execution chamber. Until that day comes, perpetual misery is your condition in life, and your reward for surviving today is that you get to suffer tomorrow as well.

SUDAN REFERENDUM AND THE FUTURE FOR SUDANESE WOMEN

Southern Sudanese are at the polls to decide whether they want to remain part of a united Sudan or to break away and become Africa's newest country. The referendum is taking place from 9 to 15 January, but official turnout figures are not expected until the beginning of February. The outcome, which is largely expected to result in an independent South, will have an enormous impact in both the South and the North.

GERMANY’S PAST, A WARNING FOR THE WORLD

Any examination of the current state of Germany must keep in mind the past of this country, which has forced itself to banish the ghosts of its tormented history.  A new exposition on the age of Hitler and German society of his day has become the centrepiece of any meditation on the national fabric of the country, the most important in Europe and the focus of the most wrenching events of the 20th century on the Old Continent.

WIKIPROMISES

In 2010, Wikileaks caught the world's attention and contributed to greater openness. The new year is a traditional time to make wishes and promises. Here is a list of promises that I wish would be made -and kept!

EUROPE: IMMIGRANTS SCAPEGOATED FOR ECONOMIC CRISIS

On November 28, a referendum in Switzerland was approved by 53 percent of voters authorising the expulsion of all foreigners convicted of serious crimes (homicide, burglary, procuring, drug trafficking, armed robbery) after serving their sentences. The measure was organised by the country's main party, the Democratic Union of the Centre (also known as the Swiss People's Party), which in 2009 succeeded in banning by referendum the building of minarets in mosques. Elsewhere in Europe there has been a rise in xenophobia as the economic crisis has grown more intense.