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In the wake of a host of new international initiatives to extend development aid to Africa - from Tony Blair’s Africa Commission to the G8’s extension of debt relief and the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, not to mention all that pop-star campaigning - two provocatively titled books published last month fundamentally question the value of foreign aid. Both written by former World Bank officials, they give very different explanations for the failure of foreign aid to address Africa’s poverty.
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Gentle regulation will simply not suffice for a problem this big. Governments must act - swiftly and substantially.
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 Yesterday, the Eastern Michigan community celebrated United Nations day, the anniversary of the adoption of the U.N. charter in 1945. The day has come to symbolize the power of countries working in concert and setting the course for work left to be done. While the concerns of global scope can seem insurmountably abstract, and while the general conservative antipathy for the U.N. has been made incarnate under President Bush with his appointment of John Bolton, we at the Echo are glad EMU has taken the time to reaffirm the successes of the U.N. and pledge itself to supporting this most important international organization. The main charges repeated, even sometimes in these pages, against the U.N. are that it is too weak to effectively prevent armed conflict, that it is a "talking shop" where little of substance is accomplished and that it is corrupt and bloated. To take the third point first, the recent scandal over the Oil For Food program was a serious black eye for the institution of the U.N. However, it is worth noting both that serious investigations have been ongoing and that proposed reforms are moving through the organization regarding transparency and oversight from member nations.
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At the beginning of the 21st century, the United States is still a superpower. But it's a superpower facing competition from beyond its borders as well as internal difficulties. Its lower and middle classes are turning out to be the losers of globalization. |
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Kenya's Masai people, herders to the core, have found they can increase their meager income by leasing land to onion farmers. The farmers build fences, which dice up elephant migration corridors surrounding the country's famous Amboseli National Park. So wildlife groups have devised a novel system of payments to the Masai that cover the income difference between grazing and leasing. |
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Critics have exposed how globalization's benefits have been unequally distributed around the world. Many of the world's poorer regions have become poorer still in relation to the regions that gained. And within regions, it turns out that globalization often worsens wealth and income inequalities. However, critics admit and defenders boast that at least for some -- for example, the US -- globalization has meant higher wealth, income, or consumption levels. But a closer look raises questions about these beneficiaries of globalization. |
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 On Oct. 9, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to economist Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh and the Grameen Bank that he founded. Yunus and the bank were recognized for finding a way to help the poor negatively affected by globalization and capitalism. When contrasted with the current climate of fear following North Korea's nuclear test, Yunus' method of promoting peace by tackling poverty becomes an even more meaningful example of positive peace.
We live in a time in which the technology humans have developed has been used to produce unimaginably awful weapons, and in which we are constantly threatened by mass destruction. Not only has violence released the damaging power of war itself and disrupted international order, but it also threatens the very conditions for human existence.
However, we should not seek to promote peace by using violence to deal with violence. Nor should we limit ourselves to relying on diplomacy or deterrence to protect national security.
The key lies in discovering how to advance all of humanity and use "the science of survival" to confront all forms of violence.
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 A Review of Hugo Chavez: Oil, Politics, and The Challenge to the United States by Nikolas KozloffThe reaction of most mainstream US politicians to Hugo Chavez's recent rhetorical flourish during his speech at the United Nations where he called George Bush the devil certainly showed the world how much of a threat the Washington powermongers consider his Bolivarian revolution to be. From the liberal Nancy Pelosi of California to the far-right, Chavez's comparison provoked a virtual flood of angry criticism. Interestingly enough, the White House did not issue a denial, leaving it open to speculation as to whether or not Chavez's characterization of Mr. Bush was more accurate than previously acknowledged.
At any rate, the point I'm trying to make here is that Hugo Chavez does not really seem to care what the politicians in Washington and their backers in the boardrooms of the US think about him. Furthermore, by adopting this attitude and expressing it at forums like the UN, Mr. Chavez has vocalized the sentiments of millions of people the world over. Yet, his words matter little when compared to his actions to subvert the neoliberal/neoconservative agenda of Washington and its cohorts. It is these actions that strike at the heart of the Empire and which have drawn the true wrath of those whom interests they attack. |
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Since hunger and famine are still widespread in parts of Africa and Asia, the international community is in violation of the right to food as a basic universal human right, according to a new study released by the United Nations. "Despite promises to eradicate hunger, there has been little progress in reducing the global number of victims of hunger," said Jean Ziegler, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food and author of the report. More than 852 million people -- about 13 percent of the world population -- do not have enough food each day to sustain a healthy life, according to the Rome-based Food and Agriculture organization (FAO). |
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NEW DELHI: Economic growth may have been spectacular since 1993 — that is, post-economic reforms — but it seems to be trickling down rather slowly.
A soon-to-be-released official report has estimated that poverty declined by a mere 0.74% during the 11-year period ended 2004-05. Although there are signs of things moving a little faster, at 0.79%, between 1999-2000 and 2004-05, going by another measure, the number of people below poverty line may have remained unchanged.
National Sample Survey Organisation’s (NSSO) findings show the number of people living below poverty line (BPL) at 22.15% in 2004-05, compared with 26.09% in 1999-2000. In the same period, the country’s GDP grew at around 6%.
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