Opinion and Analysis Archive

31.07.2006 China has the world's fourth largest economy but it now believes it needs a "Harry Potter" or "Da Vinci Code" to solidify its role as a world power. To do so, China is creating "cultural industries" in order to influence the world through language, art, music, film, and all other things cultural.

31.07.2006 A pending U.S.-Peru trade deal is worrying some analysts, who believe that the agreement will have a severe detrimental impact on the livelihood and health of poor Peruvians.

31.07.2006 Bolivian bloggers are commenting on government officials' attempts to secure the extension of an agreement in which their country receives preferential trading with the U.S. in exchange for efforts to eradicate drugs and drug trafficking.

31.07.2006 Some analysts are warning that President Bush's veto limiting federal funding for stem cell research could create an exodus of U.S. researchers.

26.07.2006 The United States, with its unique power and leverage with the government of Sudan, could advance the goal of deploying a UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur.

26.07.2006 Thailand's deputy prime minister is seeking to become the next UN secretary-general, but his record does not show a respect for the rule of law and human rights, says the Asian Human Rights Commission.

25.07.2006 Population growth is the root cause of hunger? No.
People starve because food is scarce? No.
Food First debunks 12 common misconceptions about world hunger, hoping to help the global community work towards solutions.

25.07.2006 "In this increasingly interconnected world, we need real leadership and diplomacy at the U.N., not scare tactics and intimidation," says a citizens-based advocacy group, opposing the renomination of Ambassador John Bolton.

24.07.2006 Slum residents in India are celebrating the demolition of their homes because they are helping design and build new communities.

24.07.2006 After successfully fending off the spread of HIV through prostitution, Cambodia faces a new challenge in its battle against HIV/AIDS. Transmission now occurs primarily between husband-to-wife there, provoking calls to revamp the country's HIV prevention strategy.

24.07.2006 While Arabic and Kurdish are the official languages of Iraq, few Iraqis speak both. This linguistic divide, splitting the north and south regions of the country, has bolstered those advocating Kurdish independence.

21.07.2006 Disarmament activists want to put the nuclear genie back in the bottle. Many world leaders seem to want to pursue their own weapons programs while halting others'. Sarah Barr takes a look at the nuclear landscape confronting all of us today.

21.07.2006 Why did Hezbollah attack Israel? What should Israel have done when Hezbollah captured two of its soldiers? Why does this crisis carry the threat of a regional war? A prominent U.S.-based human rights group answers these questions and many more.

20.07.2006 Dear President Bush:
You have been a weak president, despite your strutting and barking, when it comes to doing the right things for the American people within the Constitution and its rule of law. This trait is now in bold relief over the Israeli government's escalating war crimes pulverizing the defenseless people and country of Lebanon.
Ralph Nader writes to the President.

20.07.2006 Only international intervention will stop the genocide in Darfur, says Africa Action.
+ Pump up the power to protect

19.07.2006 In the wake of the US "war on terror", nonviolent campaigners are increasingly being caught up in a "Green Scare" that defines them as terrorists, reports Janie Goodwin.

19.07.2006 As Sudanese refugees and internally displaced people return home by the thousands, humanitarian needs remain massive. Lars Schwed Nygaard describes attenpts to crope at a ruined hospital in the town of Bor.

19.07.2006 Affordable drugs are crucial to fighting HIV/AIDS in developing countries, and this is especially true in Thailand where AIDS death rates have plummeted thanks to generic drugs. But a free trade agreement with the U.S. could change all that.

18.07.2006 As the world focuses its attention on the grave crisis in Lebanon and Gaza, it is time to listen to the Palestinians in Lebanon - in particular those still living in the refugee camps, reports Marina Da Silva.
+ OneWorld Guide to Lebanon

17.07.2006 The militant group has transferred the Arab-Israeli conflict to Israeli territory for the first time in more than 50 years.