Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS Analysis by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler JERUSALEM, Aug 17, 2010 (IPS) – "If you come to a fork in the road, take it." Sometimes, the nonsensical quote of the legendary New York Yankees baseball catcher Yogi Berra has a real message. It can pointedly be applied to [...]
UN Decade to Combat Desertification
August 17, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By IDN Environment Desk IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis (IDN) – Call it land degradation or desertification: it is threatening the livelihoods of more than 1 billion people in 100 countries around the world. To raise awareness and mobilize action against this major economic, social and environmental problem of concern, the [...]
Beleaguered U.N. Chief Under Political Microscope
August 13, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Aug 13, 2010 (IPS) – In South Korea, Ban Ki-moon is a prestigious brand name – like Samsung, Kia, LG and Hyundai. When the former South Korean foreign minister completes his term of office as secretary-general of the United Nations in December 2011, [...]
CLIMATE CHANGE: Cancún Conference Holds Out Little Hope in Face of Extreme Weather
August 13, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Julio Godoy* BONN, Aug 12, 2010 (Tierramérica) – Unusually warm temperatures and more frequent and intense droughts and hurricanes… you have seen the headlines. As options dwindle for negotiating a global pact to fight climate change, the United Nations is pointing to today’s "extreme conditions." A glance [...]
COLOMBIA-VENEZUELA: Sea Breeze Helps Restore Relations
August 11, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Constanza Vieira SANTA MARTA, Colombia, Aug 11, 2010 (IPS) – "The Santa Marta breeze cools off any conflict, it calms tempers. The city is the ideal place for the Santos-Chávez summit," Colombian journalist Ernesto McCausland wrote on his Twitter blog ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, which indeed patched [...]
U.N. Chief May Be Heading for Showdown with Israel
August 11, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Aug 10, 2010 (IPS) – When the Israeli government gave its blessings to a U.N. panel of inquiry probing the military attack on a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza last May, there was widespread speculation that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon may [...]
BURMA: Call for War Crimes Inquiry Foils U.N. Envoy’s Trip
August 9, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Aug 9, 2010 (IPS) – When a U.N. human rights investigator for Burma called for an international inquiry to look into possible war crimes by the country’s military regime, he added significant weight to similar calls that had been made in other quarters. But [...]
Bonn Climate Talks Conclude with Glass Half Full
August 7, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN Bonn Climate Talks Conclude with Glass Half Full By Jaya Ramachandran IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BONN (IDN) – The message emerging from a weeklong ‘antepenultimate’ round of global climate change talks that concluded in Bonn on August 6 is simple: the glass is half full and, governments willing, it will [...]
CLIMATE CHANGE: Native People Demand Autonomy Over Territory
August 6, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Julio Godoy BONN, Aug 6, 2010 (IPS) – In the view of governments, international bodies and some sectors of civil society participating in negotiations towards new global rules on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, the REDD programme is the last chance to save tropical rainforests. But to the [...]
UN Youth Year to Encourage Dialogue and Understanding
August 2, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By Nirode Masson IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis GENEVA (IDN) – Twenty-five years after the first International Year of Youth was observed at the behest of the United Nations, countries around the world are being called upon to celebrate the second such year from August 12, 2010 to August 11, 2011. [...]
