After Copenhagen,
The climate-change conference at Copenhagen on 7-18 December 2009 has long been surrounded by high (if perhaps unrealistic) hopes that a successor deal to the Kyoto protocol could be reached that would reflect the world’s firm commitment to...
Barack Obama: imperial president, post-American world ,
Every president of the United States has to play chess on more than one board at a time. The difference between Barack Obama and his predecessors is that, in a multipolar world of 24/7 media, he is obliged to play blitz-chess.
Papuan autonomy: the blocked road,
In the easternmost provinces of Indonesia, the first day of December each year has come to represent the day when those calling for a separate Papuan state take to the streets and make their voices heard. The date holds historical significance: it...
North Korea’s fate, Chimerica’s test,
The relatively smooth passage of Barack Obama’s first visit to east Asia from 12-19 November 2009 - where he landed in Japan, Singapore (for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit), China, and South Korea - reflected a notable aspect of the...
Unilateral action on climate change,
Most forecasts for the Copenhagen summit on climate change - which opens today - are decidedly gloomy. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research recently released a study condemning the emissions cuts currently proposed, many of which may...
Only Democracy Can Save The Planet,
The only certainty at Copenhagen is failure - either a bad deal or no deal. This is because of the fundamental disconnect between those affected by climate change and those with the power to address it. Unless people have an equal say in the issues...
An Unfortunate Accident: Violence in Ahmadinejad’s Iran,
On June 19th, Taraneh Mousavi was arrested at a post-election protest. Several weeks later she had disappeared. The last record of her life was a medical document stating that she had been briefly hospitalized for an ‘unfortunate accident’ in...
Students' Day in Iran sees police crackdown,
Just as Iran was today commemorating the victims of a 1953 police assault on anti-American student protesters, Iranian police were reported to have surrounded the main university in Tehran in order to quell potential disquiet within. The Iranian...
The ones that lost: Russian cases rejected at the European Court ,
In the ten years since Russia ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, much has been written about the work of the European court in relation to Russian applications.
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