HUMAN DEVELOPMENT – Page 103

USA and Canada2016-11-112023-07-10

Trump Win an Indictment on the Republican Party

By Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) – After an acrimonious election that lacked a dialogue on policy issues but filled with animosity and innuendo, Donald J. Trump won the presidency in a stunning upset that has surprised the whole world.

He single-handedly won the election despite the Republicans in Washington shamefully spurned the Republican nominee with disdain and contempt. Even the major media outlets jumped on the bandwagon indiscriminately bashing Trump’s every word. Even three days after elections, the media was still stirring the cesspool.

Trump’s win is not a win for the Republican Party because Americans voted to prove their absolute repugnance and distrust of the “established political order” in Washington.

EU & Europe2016-10-072023-07-10

Iceland Debates Whether It Hosted Nuclear Weapons

Analysis by Lowana Veal

REYKJAVIK (IDN) – Recently released declassified documents by Washington have unleashed a debate whether the U.S. ever deployed nuclear weapons in Iceland, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) since its foundation in 1949.

Experts are of the view that though the U.S. claims to have never deployed nuclear weapons in a country at a strategic juncture of the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans, it does not mean that it had no nuclear plans for Iceland. Previous research by Valur Ingimundarson and William Arkin demonstrates that during the Cold War Iceland was considered a potential storage site.

Latin America & the Caribbean2016-08-302023-07-10

Costa Rica Setting its Sights on Sustainable Development

By Jose Rafael Quesada*

SAN JOSE (IDN) – Costa Rica, a small Central American country with a population of barely 5 million inhabitants, has a high human development index (ranking 69th worldwide) and is considered a consolidated democracy in Latin America.

High investments in education, good development of social security and high levels of openness and competitiveness in international markets make Costa Rica a candidate for membership of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

However, the country is still experiencing serious problems in the area of endemic poverty, a low level of efficiency in the construction of infrastructure, high levels of state indebtedness and high indicators of tax evasion.

USA and Canada2016-08-252023-07-10

TPPA May Fall Victim to U.S. Political Dynamics

Analysis by Martin Khor *

GENEVA (IDN | SouthViews) – The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement has become a political football in the U.S. Presidential elections and with the public mood so against trade agreements, the TPPA faces the real possibility of being discarded.

No country was more active in pushing for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). In the five years of negotiations, the United States cajoled, persuaded and pressurised its trade partners to take on board its issues and positions.

Finally, when the TPP was signed in February 2016 by 12 countries, it was widely expected that the agreement will come into force within two years, after each country ratifies it.

Latin America & the Caribbean2016-08-152023-07-10

Thursday’s Date with Calls for a Fairer Chile

Viewpoint by Pía Figueroa*

SANTIAGO (IDN) – Every year, as they have been doing since 2011, students in Chile take to the streets each Thursday, demanding a free and good quality education system.

They are increasingly being joined by their parents – tired of paying for expensive schooling which is certainly the most expensive in the whole of Latin America – and teachers who leave work to join the students with a call for proper definition of the teaching career.

USA and Canada2016-08-092023-07-10

Strategic Dialogue Needed to Avert New Cold War

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Nearly everyone I talk politics to says the world is in a mess. But I live in a student town and most of them have nothing to measure their opinions against. They know not much about the Cold War, the Cuban missile crisis, Watergate or the great famines in Africa and India.

In many ways most of us live in the best of times, on better incomes than our parents, with longevity increasing all over the world, not least in the poorer countries and helped by inventions that our parents never dreamt were possible.

Middle East & North Africa2016-08-022023-07-10

But for Nuclear Option Saudi Arms Purchases Increasing

Analysis by Emad Mekay

CAIRO (IDN) – Though nuclear blustering has remained hollow, Saudi Arabia has again increased its weapons imports and stood as the main catalyst for a climb of 10 percent (or $6.6 billion) in global weapons sales in 2015, according to a recent defence report. The rise is the latest sign betraying the level of anxiety in the conservative kingdom over what Saudi officials say is a threat from Iran.

The Saudis have recently been particularly rattled by the advances of Iranian foreign policy in the Middle East. Especially worrisome were the successes of Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.

USA and Canada2016-08-022023-07-10

Young African Leaders Trained at State Department Programme

WASHINGTON (IDN | GIN) – With media attention glued to the salacious details of the U.S. election, a signature program of President Obama is flying under the radar, preparing young African leaders with advanced leadership skills to bring home to their countries.

Participants in the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders are enrolled in an intensive, six-week program on academic excellence and leadership focused on business and entrepreneurship, civic leadership, public management, and renewable energy at U.S. colleges and universities.

USA and Canada2016-07-282023-07-10

Montreal World Social Forum to Focus on Nuclear Disarmament

By J C Suresh

TORONO (IDN) – The World Social Forum (WSF), the largest civil society gathering to find solutions to the problems of our time, will convene for the first time in a northern country – in Canada – from August 9 to 14.

Montreal will host the 12th World Social Forum that was launched in 2001 in Porto Alegre, the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. One of the key issues in focus will be: “Once a nuclear war starts, there’s no way to limit it.”

Radio Canada International (RCI) quoted Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility (CCNR) saying, the “world is teetering back towards the cold war syndrome and towards an escalation of the nuclear threat”.

EU & Europe2016-07-022023-07-10

Europe is NOT an Exclusively ‘Civilian Power’

By Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Vice-President of the European Commission.

Note: The following text is FOREWORD to ‘A Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy’ presented to EU leaders meeting in Brussels at the EU summit on 28 June 2016. Read the full Strategy here.

BRUSSELS – The purpose, even existence, of our Union is being questioned. Yet, our citizens and the world need a strong European Union like never before. Our wider region has become more unstable and more insecure. The crises within and beyond our borders are affecting directly our citizens’ lives. In challenging times, a strong Union is one that thinks strategically, shares a vision and acts together.