Opinion and Analysis Archive

28.02.2006 On-the-spot reports on Kenya's drought by members of AMREF's communications team, Arik Karani and Christine Misiko.

27.02.2006 Confronted by Maoist rebellion, Nepal has demonstrated the limitations of the international community, argues Pradipna Raj Panta, who says international NGOs have failed to make use of the skills of local staff.
* OneWorld UK Guide to Nepal

24.02.2006 Corruption in Kenya is driven by neo-liberal policies imposed by the West as well as by a lack of democratic institutions, argues Onyango Oloo, a political activist and former political prisoner.

23.02.2006 Diplomacy can still defuse the Iran nuclear crisis if both sides pursue a realistic compromise, says an analysis by the International Crisis Group.

23.02.2006 The cartoon row is a clash of sensibilities, not civilizations, says Salim Muwakkil, but he argues that if Western and Islamic governments allow the cultists to push the agenda, the choreography of polarisation will take over.

22.02.2006 After the jailing of revisionist historian David Irving for Holocaust denial, journalist D. D. Guttenplan - who has followed his case for years - argues that allowing mavericks the right to deny historical truth is a risk worth taking to preserve free speech rights.

21.02.2006 Choosing profits over principles, Microsoft, Google and Yahoo have foolishly embraced the dragon of censorship, says Rebecca MacKinnon.

21.02.2006 Corporations are trampling over national and local laws, taxes and other government actions and pushing through new obligations like intellectual property rights using ‘bilateral investment treaties’.

20.02.2006 People living in the foothills of Mt Mayapay, southern Philippines, earlier this month expressed concern that their denuded mountain could be the source of a mudslide which would destroy them. Now, in another part of that country a similar deforested mountain has collapsed causing a massive mudslide that has buried a village and killed some 1700 people, including many children.

17.02.2006 "Don’t complain, get up and change it." Ashtar Theatre director Iman Aoun, otherwise known as the ‘joker’, is inspiring groups in Ramalla and Jerusalem to act out their political views and thoughts, and to come up with alternative laws underlying the issues to submit to the government.

15.02.2006 The only way for Africa to combat bird flu successfully is through an effective communication strategy that enables the public to prepare both for outbreaks in their poultry stocks and for a possible human pandemic, says Tom Egwang.

14.02.2006 Without a dramatic change, energy scarcity—with its wars and high prices—will define the coming era, says Michael T. Klare.

13.02.2006 The odds are stacked against women in Darfur for bringing rape charges, which are often reduced to assault or require a male witness. But hopes are high that the International Criminal Court will be able to change the situation. Christine Butegwa from Femnet reports.

09.02.2006 Insect-resistant crops will eventually require an increased use of pesticides, and farmers around the developing world will suffer as a result, argues G. V. Ramanjaneyulu.

08.02.2006 Nothing good could ever come out of printing those caricatures. Doing it has nothing to do with freedom of expression. This debate article by Jan Oberg, himself a Dane, tells you why.

07.02.2006 Before the controversy over a Danish newspaper's publication of cartoon images of the Prophet Mohammed became a global issue, Muslim writer and broadcaster Kenan Malik talked about the key issues raised by the furore. This is what he said.
* Think what you say – The responsibilities of the media

02.02.2006 The end game is approaching for North Korea’s eccentric head, reports Nury Vittachi, China-based journalist and author.

02.02.2006 On the fifth anniversary of the Gujarat earthquake (in which over 20,000 died, 166,000 were injured and more than a million lost their homes) and as three charities claim that the rights of many tsunami survivors were "neglected and abused", Dr Unnikrishnan PV asks what has been learnt about tackling natural disasters.

01.02.2006 Can the Iran nuclear standoff be resolved, asks Tom Sauer. Only if the world listens to Iran's sense of injustice, suggests Mahmoudreza Golshanpazhooh.