Global Geopolitics

Opinion: Why Women Peacemakers Marched in Korea

By Mairead Maguire
The year 2015 marked the 62nd anniversary of the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War. The temporary ceasefire has never been replaced with a peace treaty and the demilitarised zone (DMZ) continues to divide the country.

IMF Steps Up Lending to Achieve Sustainable Development

By Zhai Yun Tan
As the Third International Conference on Financing for Development opens in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Monday, all eyes are on the United Nation’s post-2015 development agenda, billed as the most ambitious and far-reaching poverty eradication plan in the organisation’s history.

Opinion: En Route to Paris

By Gunter Nooke
When the three-day conference on Financing for Development begins on Jul. 13 in Addis Ababa, the competitors in this year’s Tour de France will have reached the mountains. They will have already experienced a few spills and will still have many kilometres to go.

Syrians: ‘Biggest Refugee Population From a Single Conflict in a Generation’

By Kanya D'Almeida
Barely 10 months ago, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said the refugee population from Syria had reached the three million mark. Today, the latest data from the field show that the number has passed four million.

“Why Hire a Lawyer When You Can Buy a Judge?”

By Kanya D'Almeida
A woman is stopped at a checkpoint; she gives birth, and dies. Another is sold in a slave market. A boy is killed by a tank. A young man drowns at sea, trying to reach a haven safe from oppression and poverty.

Opinion: The End of the Greek Tragedy?

By Joaquín Roy
The decisive result of the Greek referendum held Jul. 5, in which voters overwhelmingly rejected (61.3 to 38.7 percent) the terms of an international bailout, has opened a new chapter not only for the future of Greece, but also in terms of the essence of the European Union itself.

Child Labour: A Hidden Atrocity of the Syrian Crisis

By Kanya D'Almeida
In a conflict that has claimed over 220,000 lives and injured a further 840,000 people as of January 2015, it is sometimes hard to see beyond the death toll.

Funding For Desperate Palestinian Refugees Under Threat

By Mel Frykberg
The U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) faces a severe financial crisis which could see core services to desperate Palestinian refugees in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank halted unless donors step in before the end of September.

Syrian Refugees Face Hunger Amidst Humanitarian Funding Crisis

By Zhai Yun Tan
The United Nations’ food aid organisation, the World Food Programme (WFP), said on Jul. 1 that up to 440,000 refugees from war-torn Syria might have to go hungry if no additional funds are received by August.

Opinion: If You’re Against Coal Mining, Walk In and Stop It

By Dorothee Haussermann and Martin Weis
“If you’re against coal mining, why don’t you just walk into a coal mine and stop the excavators?”

Opinion: BRICS for Building a New World Order?

By Daya Thussu
As the leaders of the BRICS five meet in the Russian city of Ufa for their annual summit Jul. 8–10, their agenda is likely to be dominated by economic and security concerns, triggered by the continuing economic crisis in the European Union and the security situation in the Middle East.

Perfecting Detection of the Bomb

By Ramesh Jaura
An international conference has highlighted advances made in detecting nuclear explosions,tracking storms or clouds of volcanic ash, locating epicentres of earthquakes, monitoring the drift of huge icebergs, observing the movements of marine mammals, and detecting plane crashes.

Bangladeshi Migrants Risk High Seas and Smugglers to Escape Poverty

By Naimul Haq
Though he is only 16 years old, Mohammad Yasin has been through hell and back. He recently survived a hazardous journey by sea, crammed into the cargo-hold of a rudimentary boat along with 115 others.

U.S. Urged to Ramp up Aid for Agent Orange Clean-Up Efforts in Vietnam

By Zhai Yun Tan
A key senator and a D.C.-based think tank are calling for Washington to step up its aid in cleaning up toxic herbicides sprayed by the United States in Vietnam during the war that ended 40 years ago.

Opinion: The ACP at 40 – Repositioning as a Global Player

By Patrick I. Gomes
In his memoirs, Glimpses of a Global Life, Sir Shridath Ramphal, then-Foreign Minister of the Republic of Guyana, who played a leading role in the evolution of the Lomé negotiations that lead to the birth of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, pointed to the significant lessons of that engagement of developed and developing countries some 40 years ago and had this to say:

High Hopes in Iran as Nuclear Talks Head Into Final Round

By Jasmin Ramsey
A final deal on Iran’s nuclear programme wouldn’t only make non-proliferation history. It would also be the beginning of a better life for the Iranian people—or at least that’s what they’re hoping.

The U.N. at 70: United Nations Disappoints on Its 70th Anniversary – Part Two

By James A. Paul
While member states, weakened in the neoliberal era, have pulled back from the U.N. and cut its budgets, a charity mentality has arisen at the world body. Corporations and the mega-rich have flocked to take advantage of the opportunity. They have looked for a quietly commanding role in the organisation’s political process and hoped to shape the institution to their own priorities.

The U.N. at 70: United Nations Disappoints on Its 70th Anniversary – Part One

By James A. Paul
It is hard to imagine today the public enthusiasm that greeted the founding of the U.N. in 1945.  After massive suffering and social collapse resulting from the Second World War, the U.N. seemed almost miraculous – a means at last to build peace, democracy, and a just society on a global scale.

Security Council Action on Gaza War Crimes a Non-Starter

By Thalif Deen
When a U.N. panel released a 217-page report accusing both Israel and Hamas of possible war crimes committed during the 50-day conflict in Gaza last July, the chances of Security Council action were remote because of the traditional U.S. commitment to stand by Israel – right or wrong, mostly wrong.

Opinion: Sub-Saharan Africa, Addis and Paris

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Rudi von Arnim
After the turn of the century, growth in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) picked up again after a quarter century of near stagnation for most, mainly due to increased world demand for minerals and other natural resources.

Opinion: The Oceans Need the Spotlight Now

By Dr. Palitha Kohona
The international community must focus its energies immediately on addressing the grave challenges confronting the oceans. With implications for global order and peace, the oceans are also becoming another arena for national rivalry.
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