LONDON: The United Nations climate change conference, to be held in Copenhagen this December, should provide the climax to two years of international negotiations over a new global treaty aimed at addressing the causes and consequences of greenhouse-gas emissions. A global deal on climate change is urgently needed. Concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse …
Whoever steps into Europe’s new top job as President of the European Council will set the mold. If it is someone of worldwide renown, the presidency will immediately be established as a post of global importance. But if its first occupant is not a household name, the presidency will be doomed as just another of …
CAMBRIDGE: A year after the United States government allowed the investment bank Lehman Brothers to fail but then bailed out AIG, and after governments around the world bailed out many other banks, key question remains: when and how should authorities rescue financial institutions? It is now widely expected that, when a financial institution is deemed …
When food does not cross borders, hunger does. Politicians and experts meet in Rome this week at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to address “How to Feed the World in 2050, building up to World Food Day on Friday. But famine looms right now in Kenya, Ethiopia and their neighbours, as many governments continue …
PARIS: A nation’s relationship with its past is crucial to its present and its future, to its ability to “move on with its life, or to learn from its past errors, not to repeat them. There is the past that “isn’t dead and buried. In fact, it is not even past, in William Faulkner’s famous …
SINGAPORE: In Malaysia’s current political climate, it is no longer possible to distinguish Islamic radicals from Islamic moderates. Despite official boasting about the country’s diverse population and commitment to pluralism, Islam and the government have essentially merged. For two decades, the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) government invested enormous public resources in building up …
COPENHAGEN: A sense of panic is setting in among many campaigners for drastic cuts in global carbon emissions. It is becoming obvious that the highly trumpeted meeting set for Copenhagen this December will not deliver a binding international treaty that will make a significant difference to global warming. After lofty rhetoric and big promises, politicians …
CAIRO: Less than a week before flying over to Copenhagen to attend a global editors’ forum on confronting global warming, the UN’s Inter-Regional Information Network (IRIN) published a chilling report about the impending catastrophe threatening Egypt’s Delta region as a result of climate change. The forum, titled “From Kyoto to Copenhagen: Confronting Global Warming and …
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts: Several months ago, President Barack Obama made a historic speech in Cairo seeking to redefine relations between America and the Muslim world. I would like to respond to that speech. Sixteen years ago, Samuel Huntington published an essay proposing that after the Cold War, civilizations, religions and cultures would become the defining feature …
Excellent article, but. In response to “The Niqab Debate: Integration vs. Alienation (Oct. 14, page 7) I’d like to say that this is excellent well-written article, but misses a few points. How can you communicate with a faceless person, facial expressions are important for meaningful communication, it s part of being human. How can you …
PRINCETON: What we are doing to our planet, to our children and grandchildren, and to the poor, by our heedless production of greenhouse gases, is one of the great moral wrongs of our age. On October 24, you can stand up against this injustice. October 24 is 350 Day. The name comes from the number …
TORONTO: It’s not easy being a news ombudsman these days. Some newspapers, especially in the United States, believe that eliminating the ombudsman position is a painful but necessary cost-saving measure in difficult economic times. However, the institution is one worth investing in as ombudsmen are showing considerable strength in news organizations around the world, notably …
If necessity is the mother of invention, we should be looking forward to a breathtakingly innovative agreement on climate change in Copenhagen in December. Such an agreement would not only outline how we should curb greenhouse gas emissions, but also how we could realistically adapt to climate change, and help countries cope with its negative …
PRINCETON, New Jersey: In mid-August, just prior to the start of Ramadan, the Yemeni government launched an all-out offensive on rebel positions in the northern governorate of Sa ada. Leaving no doubt as to its intentions, the government dubbed the campaign “Operation Scorched Earth . The fighting between the government and the Huthis, as the …
WILBERFORCE, Ohio: Is US President Barack Obama s Administration providing less support for human rights and political reform in the broader Middle East – or is it merely adopting a different tone about promoting democracy? A number of recent reports and studies demonstrate that there is a perception in the United States that the administration …
CAIRO: The defeat of Egypt’s longtime Culture Minister Farouk Hosni in the bid to head the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) commanded the attention of Egyptian intellectuals for the past few weeks. Indeed, the event deserved close scrutiny for it revealed, and confirmed, a number of important aspects of today’s Egypt. First, …
NEW YORK, New York: New York City is home to a significant Muslim population, and the community is a reflection of the city itself: vibrant, diverse, and colorful. Muslims in New York are South Asian, Middle Eastern, African, East Asian, European and African-American, speak an array of languages and practice Islam in their own culturally …
CAMBRIDGE: The announcement of a secret uranium enrichment facility located on a military base in Iran has sharpened President Barack Obama’s efforts to place nuclear proliferation issues at the top of the world agenda. 2010 will be a critical year. In September, both at the United Nations and at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, many …
CAIRO: We live in a world with so many gods and sometimes with no god at all. Even those who pride themselves on worshiping the same god do so each in their own way. The many faiths and sets of beliefs render any discussion of what’s religiously right or wrong irrelevant. But as social animals …
CAMBRIDGE: There was a dog that didn’t bark during the financial crisis: protectionism. Despite much hue and cry about it, governments have in fact imposed remarkably few trade barriers on imports. Indeed, the world economy remains as open as it was before the crisis struck. Protectionism normally thrives in times of economic peril. Confronted by …
WASHINGTON, DC: Yasser Arafat was enticed to attend a meeting with Ehud Barak at Camp David during the summer of 2000 with the promise that he would not be blamed if it turned out to be a failure. It did, and he was. In September the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, was invited …
President Barack Obama’s 2009 Nobel Peace Prize immediately triggered strong reactions worldwide, particularly highlighting the major challenges Obama faces in Muslim-majority states and communities, from the Mideast peace process, to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet the Prize also presents President Obama a key opportunity to build on his recent efforts to foster dialogue …
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani told the media last week that US drone strikes will not be allowed in the province of Balochistan, where the United States is reportedly turning to fight the militant group, Quetta Shura, which allegedly provides much of the leadership of the Pakistani Taliban. An attack …
NAZARETH: Education is central for shaping the characteristics of a society. It is essential for promoting social and economic progress, creating equal opportunities, ensuring socio-economic mobility and engendering meaningful participation in the public sphere. Adequate education is a basic right for all members of a society but is especially important vis-à-vis minority groups. Inequality in …
BERLIN: Germany has made its choice. It voted the grand coalition out of office with a bang, consigning the Social Democrats to the political abyss. Only ruins remain of the once-proud Gerhard Schröder’s SPD. Despite a clear win for the center-right, the Christian Democrats (CDU) did not escape unscathed. But while their losses were moderate, …
BERKELEY: If you asked a modern economic historian like me why the world is currently in the grips of a financial crisis and a deep economic downturn, I would tell you that this is the latest episode in a long history of similar bubbles, crashes, crises, and recessions that date back at least to the …
JAKARTA: The 2015 deadline set by the United Nations Millennium Declaration to improve human development is fast approaching. Goals that 189 countries signed onto include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases, and ensuring environmental sustainability by developing …
The Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Mohamed Sayed Tantawy dropped a bombshell early this week, starting a long-overdue public debate on the niqab in Egypt. Following the inspection of a primary school to check on measures in place to stem the spread of swine flu at the start of the academic year, he voiced his determination …
ATLANTA: We are, supposedly, in the midst of an obesity epidemic. Everyone is getting fatter. Children are fatter than their parents. Epidemics caused by fat are now manifest: Type 2 diabetes, increased rates of heart and cardiovascular disease, and notably more cancers, such as breast cancer. This “globesity epidemic is seen in poor countries as …
NEW YORK: The recent death of Norman Borlaug provides an opportune moment to reflect on basic values and on our economic system. Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in bringing about the “green revolution, which saved hundreds of millions from hunger and changed the global economic landscape. Before Borlaug, the world faced …
