For the first time in half a millennium, South America
is beginning to take its fate into its own hands. The problems which persist have to be addressed through regional and global
solidarity along with internal struggle, writes Noam Chomsky.
With progress towards primary health care still slow
three decades after the Alma-Ata declaration, an
effective alliance of global and country actors is needed to set
positive and realistic paths to implement the declaration’s intentions, argues Anthony Seddo.
As Africa grapples with the question of food
insecurity, biotechnology buffs seem to have an answer: genetically
modified crops that could feed a continent vulnerable to famine and
food deficits. But environmentalists warn of new dangers. Reported by Busani Bafana.
While 9/11 changed the way we view the world, the current financial
crisis has changed the way the world views us. And it will also change,
in some very fundamental ways, the way the world works - what historians might deem a true global watershed: the end of one period and the
beginning of another, says David Rothkopf.
The failure of development reflects a crisis in the economic theory that has driven the World Bank's policies since 1980, largely due to a set of neoliberal economists who
gained influence at the Bank in the late 1970s. It is now time to go beyond the Bank's neoliberal agenda that has driven it for far too long, argues Howard Stein
Ideology, self-interest, populist politics, and sheer incompetence have left the U.S.
economy on life support. As we attempt to resolve the present crisis, careful balancing is required. If decisive action is taken today, we can
shorten the length of the downturn and build a durable foundation for economic health, writes Joseph Stiglitz
The new "securitization" of
the NAFTA agreement is not about keeping the citizens of the United States,
Canada, and Mexico safe from harm, but simply protecting the neoliberal
economic model - with terrible implications for Mexican civil society, says
Laura Carlsen.
With intertwined food and financial systems, we stand to face a hungry planet and the threat of "financial Armageddon." However, rather than failed free-market policies, we can stabilize the planet by investing in local economies argues Annie Shattuck.
The international financial institutions are
succumbing to the
pressures of globalization, recent trade
disputes and competition from Asia. As they desperately try to regain credibility and power, a debate over the best route to development has returned along with alternative
approaches that are springing up around the world. By Robin Broad and John Cavanagh
A banking crisis is upending American dominance of the financial markets and world politics. The industrialized countries are sliding into recession, the era of turbo-capitalism is coming to an end and US military might is ebbing. Still, is this the time to gloat? By Spiegel.
