The Role of the State in Developing Countries under Attack from New FTAs

Two new trade agreements involving the two economic giants, the United States and the European Union, are leading a charge against the role of the state in the economy of developing countries.

OP-ED: Israeli-Palestinian Talks: Why Now and to What End?

The recently restarted talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are the only peaceful political activity amidst ongoing violence in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Egypt, Bahrain and elsewhere in the Arab world.

OP-ED: EU and Azerbaijan, Setting the Record Straight

At a cabinet meeting in mid-July, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev lashed out at the European Parliament for supposedly conducting a “dirty campaign” against Baku. The shrill tone of Aliyev’s comments indicates that European pressure on Azerbaijan to respect basic rights is stinging the Aliyev administration.

OP-ED: Egyptian Military Scuttles the Revolution

The revolutionary aspirations for justice, dignity and hope that Egypt’s young people brought to the world in January 2011 were crushed Wednesday by the military’s bloody crackdown.

Q&A: “We Cannot Accept Crumbs When it Comes to Rights”

Latin America and the Caribbean cannot hope to have truly advanced, progressive policies in sexual and reproductive health as long as women do not have the right to decide to interrupt their pregnancy, says Mariela Castro.

Q&A: “We Are Building Sexual Citizenship”

Latin America and the Caribbean should play a central role in the construction of “sexual citizenship” - a concept that covers a series of population-related issues, rights and guarantees that this region helped build since the United Nations first emerged, says Brazilian expert Carmen Barroso.

Five Theses about Assange-Manning-Snowden

THESIS ONE: The leaks are not about "whistle-blowing", but about a nonviolent, civil disobedient fight against huge social evils.

Q&A: “When the String of the Inequality Gap Snaps, You Have Political Crisis”

"There is no development without peace. It should be understood that, for there to be development in a country, there must be an internal peace process,” says Kanayo Nwanze, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

OP-ED: Political Prisoners a Strong Voice in Iranian Politics

In a historic letter to President Barack Obama, 52 Iranian political prisoners describe the effect of the crippling sanctions regime on the Iranian people and plead for a new approach to the nuclear issue. They write:

OP-ED: The Making of the Middle East’s Newest Strongman

Before an ultimatum to attack an anti-coup sit-in earlier this week, Egypt's new strongman and coup leader Gen. Abdel Fatah Al-Sissi received one of his warmest endorsements ever - something that might have been torn right out of the steamy pages of the "Arabian Nights".

Global Value Chains from a Development Perspective

The current discourse on Global Value Chains by key proponents and also the World Trade Organisation (WTO) secretariat is that developing countries should liberalise - in goods and services - and conclude a trade facilitation agreement.

OP-ED: Latin America Lags on Reproductive Rights

In the last decade, several countries in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region have had the opportunity to experience economic growth and establish redistributive fiscal policies aimed at reducing poverty, reducing inequality and improving the coverage and quality of health, education and social protection services.

Cuba, a Country with a Broken Heart

For Cubans, baseball is not a sport, much less a game: it is almost a religion, and taken very seriously.

OP-ED: Bahrain Declares War on the Opposition

The special session of the Bahraini National Assembly held on Sunday Jul. 28 was a spectacle of venom, a display of vulgarity, and an unabashed nod to increased dictatorship.

GDP: Gauging Dematerialised Progress!

As of Aug. 1, 2013, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) finally stepped into our new 21^st century. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will now include much of the intangible production and services which actually make up some 70 percent of mature 21^st century economies, such as software, research and development, entertainment, trademarks, copyrights, design and other creative innovation.

OP-ED: If You Build It, They Will Go Around It

Puzzled by the immigration debate in the United States? Remember the Maginot Line.

Q&A: “Angela Merkel Is the Decider of Our Fate”

“Who do I call if I want to call Europe?” This famous question attributed to former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger has an obvious answer today: Angela Merkel, the conservative German chancellor.

BOOKS: China’s March to “Wealth and Power”

The China pavilion is a red, inverted pyramid in Shanghai that was built for the city’s bustling 2010 World Expo. While the pavilion pays some homage to China’s ancient past, it mostly shows off China’s 21^st century ambitions, with as much swagger as the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Q&A: Swiss Cooperation in Cuba Has Broad Focus

"The basic objective of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is people’s welfare, and I think that in this we have many affinities with what the Cuban government wants,” Regula Bäbler told IPS.

Making Peace with Our Futures

Future studies, like peace-development-environment studies, is an interdisciplinary, international effort to get a grip on key issues, divided into ‘preferred futures’ – utopias – whose?; ‘predicted futures’ – forecasting – who does it, for whom?; and ‘future practice’ – scenarios bending the predicted toward the preferred – by and for whom?

OP-ED: Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood: Exclusion Breeds Radicalism

The Egyptian military’s removal of the democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood from power upended the MB’s 20-year old political participation programme. If the new regime aims to achieve genuine reconciliation and political consensus, the MB and its supporters must be included in the restructuring of Egyptian politics.