Dirty energy subsidies
Last August, the UN Environmental Programme reported that “around $300 billion or 0.7 per cent of global GDP is being spent on energy subsidies annually.” These subsidies are particularly important because most are devoted to fossil fuels.
OBAMA ALMOST MAKES THE RIGHT DECISION
A recent report indicated that President Obama had finally made a security policy related decision—not on his Afghanistan strategy which is yet to be announced– but rather on whether or not his administration would seek to have the US sign the treaty banning the production and use of anti-personnel land mines, a treaty that 156 other nations have already signed.
The story of cap and trade
The ongoing negotiations in Copenhagen, which are slated to end Friday, are apparently at a “critical juncture” according to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The United States inched closer to the views of its European allies today.
The Globalization of Religious Advocacy in America
National religious lobbies and advocacy organizations represent a growing phenomenon of political life in America. One of the striking recent developments is the globalization of the focus, constituencies, and vision of this religious political advocacy. From the beginning of the republic, national religious interest groups have focused periodically on international relations.
Capitalism and the Useful Nation State
Not so long ago, it was fashionable among apologists and many other commentators on contemporary capitalism to refer to the nation state as passé. Globalization of large corporations was enshrined as a mechanism enhancing efficiency far beyond what could be achieved within national boundaries. Not surprisingly these rosy assessments of capitalism’s prospects glossed over the problem of its inherent instability.
The Thorny Triangle: Cyber Conflict, Business and the Sino-American relationship in the Global System
The China-Google cyberconflict adds to the debate on the position of China in the world system, & creates insecurities about the ambitions, capabilities and hidden desires of the ‘next hegemon’. It brings together in one discussion a complex matrix of debates: global politics and world-system theorizing, global political economy and many more.
Beyond Secularism
Secularism has long been the language of most public servants and many scholars in the Western world, enabling both groups to work and live as though religions were irrelevant to their respective fields. This perspective has meant that religious phenomena have been ignored or reduced to other categories such as civil society, humanitarianism or as part of a definition of “civilization.”
Understanding Religion-Inspired Conflict and Peace
Religious dynamics (e.g. actors, worldviews, and cultures) infused numerous conflagrations in the 1990s including Bosnia, Rwanda, Afghanistan, and Sudan. Without giving credence to the notion that religion is the “problem” causing all today’s conflicts, how best can we understand the role that religious dynamics play in contemporary war and peace?
Science Diplomacy at the heart of international relations
Science should ideally provide the basis of non-ideological environments for the participation and free exchange of ideas. However, science has been, and will continue to be, used for political gain with the express aim of furthering a particular ideology and proving its superiority. Despite the negatives, science diplomacy has been effective for many years and led to coalition building and conflict resolution.
Walking Corpses
Hannah Arendt’s name has emerged at the forefront of contemporary writing on the possibility of cosmopolitan political forms. The central political issue, for Arendt, was one of appropriate foundation, that is, ‘the setting of a new beginning’ and of ‘lawgiving’. One could read Arendt’s entire theory of politics as an effort to work out the possibility of non-violent, non-imperial, non-ideological political founding.
