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23rd May 07, Edith M. Lederer, The Associated Press
Senator Joseph Biden said Monday he expects the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which he chairs, to adopt a resolution this week calling for full funding of the United Nations and payment of U.S. arrears. The U.S. has the largest outstanding debt to the world organization, and U.N. management chief Alicia Barcena said in a Friday presentation that the U.N.'s "financial health" depends on member states _ especially major contributors _ paying in full and on time. |
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 20th May 07, Nadia Martinez, openDemocracy
Grassroots movements change the face of power.
As the people of Latin America build democracies from the bottom up, the symbols of power are changing. What used to be emblems of poverty and oppression—indigenous clothing and speech, the labels “campesino” and “landless worker”—are increasingly the symbols of new power. As people-powered movements drive the region toward social justice and equality, these symbols speak, not of elite authority limited to a few, but of power broadly shared. The symbolism was especially rich last year in Cochabamba, Bolivia, when the new minister of justice made her entrance at an international activists’ summit. Casimira Rodríguez, a former domestic worker, wore the thick, black braids and pollera, a long, multilayered skirt, of an Aymara indigenous woman. As she made her way through the throng, Rodríguez further distinguished herself from a typical law-enforcement chief by passing out handfuls of coca leaves. |
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 17th May 07 - Professor Jeffrey Sachs, one of the world's foremost economists, was this years host at the Reith Lectures. Hosted by Sue Lawley and broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Sachs argued over five talks that the world is in a period of turbulent transition and that the biggest challenges need to be navigated by broader and deeper global co-operation. In this last lecture, Global Politics in a Complex Age, Sachs outlined how the key political novelty of our age is mass political awareness and mobilization. Mass mobilization has brought the Age of Empire to an end, and accounts for the failures in Iraq, he says. Social mobilization can be a dramatic force for positive change.  A transcript of the lecture follows below. |
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 17th May 07 - GlobalPolicy.org / WorldPublicOpinion.org
Publics around the world favor dramatic steps to strengthen the United Nations, including giving it the power to have its own standing peacekeeping force, to regulate the international arms trade and to investigate human rights abuses. Large majorities believe the United Nations Security Council should have the right to authorize military force to prevent nuclear proliferation, genocide and terrorism. However support is not as robust among the publics polled for accepting UN decisions that go against their countries’ preferences. These are some of the findings from a survey conducted by The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and WorldPublicOpinion.org, in cooperation with polling organizations around the world. Respondents were interviewed in countries that represent 56 percent of the world’s population: China, India, the United States, Russia, France, Thailand, Ukraine, Poland, Iran, Mexico, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Argentina, Peru, Armenia and Israel, plus the Palestinian territories. Not all questions were asked in all countries.
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 15th May 07 - Michael Leon Guerrero, YES magazine
At the World Social Forum in Nairobi, in January, there was much anticipation of the US Social Forum, which will take place in Atlanta, June 27–July 1, 2007. Many international allies are eager to attend and to know what initiatives emerge. Like many people, I’m excited about the first-ever national U.S. Social Forum. We expect some 10,000 people, more than 600 workshops, street theater, music, a youth camp and more. There is a lot of potential for the USSF, and it comes at a critical time in U.S. history. We have to bear in mind, however, that this gathering is part of a longer process, and it will not result in “the roadmap” for change. Like all social forums, it will be a point of convergence for many social change processes. The trajectories of a variety of organizations and movements will come together in Atlanta. This will be a time to reflect, to see each other, and develop a snapshot of the progressive forces that will ultimately shape national and international politics. The USSF will be a moment to take stock of where we are and what we have with which to build a movement. New relationships will be forged, old relationships will be renewed, current partnerships will be strengthened. |
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We live in a time of imperial-driven destructive wars in the name of “democracy,” savage exploitation in the name of “emerging world powers,” massive forced population displacement in the name of “immigration” and large-scale pillage of natural resources in the name of “free markets.” We live in a time of barbarism and the barbarian elites employ an army of linguistic and cultural manipulators to justify their conquests.
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11th May 07, World Public Opinion (WPO) Publics around the world favor dramatic steps to strengthen the United Nations, including giving it the power to have its own standing peacekeeping force, to regulate the international arms trade and to investigate human rights abuses. |
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