Most Inhumane of Weapons

I believe that most of the world’s citizens would agree that nuclear weapons should be considered inhumane. It is encouraging to see that there is now a growing, if still nascent, movement to outlaw nuclear weapons based on this premise.

The Crime of Slavery

­That Liverpool was once the uncontested centre of the world slave trade, accounting for 40 percent, is well documented in the International Slavery Museum in the port where slave ships docked.

OP-ED: Making Cities Safe for Women and Girls

There is no city or country in the world where women and girls live free of the fear of violence. No leader can claim: This is not happening in my backyard.

Q&A: “Only the Pope’s Name Will Change”

The only difference the resignation of Benedict XVI as head of the Catholic Church will make in Brazil will be the name changes needed on posters advertising his coming to this city in July for World Youth Day, jokes Frei Betto.

Q&A: Venerable Sierra Club Gets Radical on Tar Sands

The term “civil disobedience” takes its roots from an 1849 essay by U.S. poet, philosopher and environmentalist, Henry David Thoreau, originally entitled “Resistance to Civil Government”.

Cuba – Five Decisive Years

Early this month, Cubans went to the polls to elect delegates nominated by municipal and provincial assemblies to the island's parliament, the highest government body where citizens' votes carry decisive weight. The turnout, as usual, was over 90 percent, and all the municipal candidates, as usual, were voted in.

Q&A: Community Radio Reflects Levels of Democracy

In 1983, producers of popular radio, alternative radio and educational radio convened in Montreal to define a new genre of radio: community radio. Those dialogues led to the formation of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC).

OP-ED: Obama and Bahrain: How to Save Al-Khalifa Rule

Despite the start of a government-inspired dialogue with the opposition Sunday, the Bahraini government continues to jail dissidents, arrest demonstrators, and use a rigged judicial system to convict them.

OP-ED: Succeed or Fail? What Obama Must Do in the Middle East

Every U.S. president since Harry Truman has sought to disentangle the United States from the Middle East, and all have been sucked back into the region and its problems.

Q&A: FGM Is About Culture, Not Religion

The fight against female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C) continues to gain traction around the world.

The Future of the Arab-Muslim World

The Middle East-North Africa – MENA -- is Arab-Muslim with a growing Jewish island in its midst. It was colonised for over four centuries by the Sunni Ottoman Turks, then the secular West, United Kingdom-France-Italy -- for half a century and is now under Israeli colonialism and U.S. imperialism.

OP-ED: Weird, and Getting Weirder

Weird is the only way to describe January temperatures whipsawing between record warm and arctic cold over a span of a few days. Experts say that is what climate change looks like: weird, record-shattering weather.

Debt Crises, a Damocles Sword

The issue of foreign debt has made a major comeback due to the crisis in Europe, in which many countries had to seek big bailouts to keep them from defaulting on their loan payments. Before this, debt crises have been associated with African and Latin American countries. In 1997-99, three East Asian countries also joined the indebted countries' club.

OP-ED: How Deep Are Azerbaijan-Israel Relations?

There has been much speculation surrounding Azerbaijan’s relations with Israel, including reports that Israeli warplanes might use Azerbaijani airfields as support bases during a potential attack against Iran. The reality of the bilateral relationship is not so dramatic, as it is pragmatic.

Better than Organic

When my children were born it was a clear commitment: all clothing would have to carry the “organic” seal. It was an expression of a lifestyle, a commitment to the Earth.

Bangladesh Must Pause Down the Nuclear Path

Few critical questions have been raised so far by Bangladesh’s intellectual community over the deal towards construction of two nuclear power plants in Rooppur, 180km from capital Dhaka.

Q&A: It’s the Beginning of the End for FGM

Journalists can play a crucial role in helping to shift traditional attitudes within societies where the cruel practice of female genital mutilation is an everyday reality.

Q&A: “There is Nothing Worse Than Holding a Dying Woman in Your Arms”

Despite staggering advances in medical science and technology over the years, women around the world continue to suffer gravely as a result of inadequate access to basic reproductive health services.

OP-ED: Organic Farming Movement Marginal but Growing Worldwide

Despite the growing worldwide demand for organic food, clothing and other products, the area of land certified as organic still makes up just 0.9 percent of global agricultural land, with 37 million hectares being farmed organically.

To Save the U.S. Economy, Lift the Bottom

The problem of the U.S. economy lies much deeper than the fiscal cliff. Wise people--Robert Borosage, Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz--see neither the fiscal deficit nor the U.S. debt as the key problems, but the lack of growth.

OP-ED: Learning from Haiti’s Goudou Goudou

On a hillside overlooking Port-au-Prince, a muscular Haitian man in a green tank top raises a heavy steel pry bar over his head and brings it down into a hole, shattering a bit of Haiti’s limestone skeleton.