Cuba: Intense Focus on the Economy

A few days ago a small boat docked at the port of Havana. Flying the Bolivian flag, the "Ana Cecilia" had come from Miami and was loaded with electrical appliances, packages of food and medicine, clothing, and household items most of which were sent by Cuban exiles to their relatives on the island. It was the first of the numerous bimonthly deliveries that are expected.

Q&A: South Korea Steps Up as Marine Conservation Champion

When South Korea picked an oceans theme for the 2012 Yeosu World Expo, it became host to the largest marine-themed event in history, with the potential to make a concrete contribution to sustainable development and simultaneously buoy the Korean global image.

The Economic and Social Potential of Biofuels

In 2010, global biofuel production (bioethanol and biodiesel) reached 105 billion litres and is expected to almost double by 2020. Provided that oil prices remain relatively high ­ which is likely ­ the production of biofuels is expected to grow at double-digit rates for the next decade. Most of the biofuels produced are consumed at the national and local levels, with only seven percent of total production being exported. This reflects the fact that biofuels are mainly used for energy diversification and national energy security strategies.

Q&A: “In Portugal, We Fight the Illness, Not the People Who Suffer from It”

Portugal’s anti-drug policies have been gaining international visibility since this country began to publish the results of its 2001 decision to eliminate all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs.

Q&A: “Israel’s Heavy-Handed Abuse of Palestinian Children Is Unacceptable”

After a fact-finding tour of the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip - and following hearings in Amman and Cairo - a three-member United Nations committee has lambasted Israel for the harsh treatment of Palestinian children held in custody.

The Origins of the Crisis in Spain

Not in the last three generations has Spain experienced a crisis as total, devastating, and incomprehensible as the current one. Francisco Silvela, a thinker of the late 19th century and president of the Spanish government, said in August 1898 after the country was stripped of its colonies that Spain "had no pulse". To a certain degree, the same is true today, especially of those in the government, despite the cuts. Only the protests contradict this feeling. The rest of the country is simply reeling from the financial crisis.

OP-ED: Communication Missing in the International Year of Cooperatives

Six months have passed since the beginning of the United Nations International Year of the Cooperatives (IYC). There can be no doubt it has fallen far short of its goal of calling the world's attention to this formidable instrument of social production.

Cuba Seeks a Return of the Old Glamour

While Europe reels from a crisis that is annihilating small businesses, shaking up large ones, and catapulting huge numbers of people into poverty, Cuba, which for the last twenty years has made a specialty out of living in crisis, seems to be on the verge of putting itself back together and even reclaiming part of the faded glamour that was once its hallmark.

Q&A: Transforming the Way the Global Environment is Managed

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is ready to be a catalyst for transforming the way the global environment is managed, said the next CEO and chairperson of the multilateral institution, Dr. Naoko Ishii, in this interview with Tierramérica *.

Communication Missing in the International Year of Cooperatives

Six months have passed since the beginning of the United Nations International Year of the Cooperatives (IYC). There can be no doubt it has fallen far short of its goal of calling the world's attention to this formidable instrument of social production.

OP-ED: World’s Ailing Oceans Find a New Dawn at Expo 2012

Gazing over the ocean somehow puts a human being at peace with the world. To build a home with a view of the sea is the dream of many. The expanse of water, the beach, and tide magically draw us to them.

Economic Sadism

Sadism? Yes, sadism. What other word is there for this complacency at the infliction of pain and humiliation on so many people?

What Can We Learn from Current Conflicts?

Conflict is a relation of incompatibility between parties and not an attribute of one party. Therefore the solution is a new relation. While conflict gives rise to the danger of violence, it also provides an opportunity to create new realities.

Behind Paraguay’s Presidential Ouster

When Paraguay’s President Fernando Lugo was impeached on June 22 in a lightening-quick legislative manoeuvre, the hemisphere was shocked, with some governments calling it a “parliamentary coup” and refusing to accept the vice president sworn in as the new president.

OP-ED: Expanding Oil Production Poses Environmental Risks

With oil prices on the rise again and geopolitical upheaval in some major oil producing regions, many countries are turning to new and often environmentally damaging sources of oil, including oil sands, deepwater offshore oil, and heavy oil.

OP-ED: Bahrain Repression Belies Government Stand on Dialogue

Bahrain remains a repressive state, and civil rights are violated daily.

The G-20: Struggling to Remain Relevant

The seventh G-20 Summit at Los Cabos, Mexico, concluded on Jun. 19 with results that may seem encouraging in the short-term, but embedded with additional risks for the medium and longer-term.

Spicing Tradition With Taste

Kosher, in spoken English, might mean ‘proper’, ‘acceptable’, ‘legitimate’. Yet, sourced in the Bible, the Hebrew word incontrovertibly finds its way in Jewish cuisine. Food is kosher when suitable for consumption – that is, according to a set of religious dietary laws or kashrut.

Rio+20 and beyond: together for a sustainable future

As stated in the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and the 1992 Earth Summit, human beings are at the centre of sustainable development. However, even today, over 900 million people still suffer from hunger. Poor populations worldwide, especially in rural areas, are among those most vulnerable to the food, climate, financial, economic, social and energy crises and threats the world faces today.

The Errors of the Present Weigh Heavily on the Future.

The globalised world offers challenges as well as opportunities. This is not a criticism of globalisation; it simply means that while we take advantage of the opportunities it offers we must be sure to address the challenges it presents.

OP-ED: Repealing Malawi’s LGBT Laws: An Example for Africa?

At a news conference shortly after she was sworn in as Malawi’s president, Joyce Banda announced her government’s intention to decriminalise homosexuality. It is unclear how she will achieve this, but the move is in stark contrast to the approach of her predecessor, Bingu wa Mutharika, who openly condemned it.