The concept of sustainability is catching on in the developed world, but how does it fare in the developing world? What does sustainability look like for emerging economies? Does it make sense for nations struggling to modernize and feed their own people? In countries where development requires resources, how can a philosophy marked by minimalism be justified? This paper analyzes these questions through the lens of Niger, a landlocked country in West Africa. It examines the causes of perpetual impoverishment, including the tragedy of the commons, overpopulation and the culture of dependency borne…
One year after the start of the Arab Spring, the Algerian regime appears to have survived wave of revolution. Despite marches held in Algiers and strikes in oil cities throughout 2011, the government has not been endangered or pressured enough to undertake important reforms. The complex political configuration of the regime and the scars of civil war have convinced the society that revolution is impractical. A review of the historical, institutional and social characteristics of Algeria helps us understand why Algerians have not embraced revolution, unlike their neighbors.
Military means are at the center of current counterterrorism efforts. This article argues that the focus on military means is a mistaken one. Military interventions as well as presence in occupied countries rather contribute to an increase in terrorism. On the other hand, economic causes of terrorism remain under-addressed. A more effective counterterrorism policy would include increased financial and economic foreign aid.
A conflict over corruption threatens to bring down the government in Pakistan as the Supreme Court and the executive are in a standoff. Last week the court indicted Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on contempt charges for failing to revive corruption charges against his boss, President Asif Ali Zardari. The Pakistani military seems only too pleased to see the judiciary undercutting one of its principle political opponents.
At the 2005 UN World Summit, the largest gathering of heads of state in history made a landmark commitment to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, and pledged to intervene when a given state manifestly failed to protect its population from mass atrocity or was the actual perpetrator of these crimes. It is unequivocal that the DPRK has violated this international norm known as the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). With hundreds of thousands of North Korean refugees outside of the country, evidence of crimes against humanity and genocide taking…
