InternationalGLOBAL CHALLENGES NEED GLOBAL SOLUTIONSMI6 and CIA warn of 'reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe' being waged by Russia (9/7/2024)All the biggest challenges of our time are transnational: mass migration, growing wealth inequality, [inflation,] the onset of ecological Armageddon. It's arguable that the politics of the nation state have become at best irrelevant, and at worst a hindrance, to tackling such global challenges. The outlook is grim. Democracy and Truth, A Short History: Sophia Rosenfeld In every region of the world, democracy is under attack by populist leaders and groups that reject pluralism and demand unchecked power to advance the particular interests of their supporters, usually at the expense of minorities and other perceived foes. Freedom House ... the alignment of Republican support behind autocratic right-wing leaders across the globe long predates Trump’s elevation to the presidency, an investigation in partnership with Type Investigations reveals. For years, Republican members of Congress, lobbyists, and political consultants have worked to forge bonds with far-right leaders across Europe—in Hungary, Germany, Austria, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Macedonia, and beyond. You might call this loose federation of fellow travelers for the nativist global right the strongman caucus. Sarah Posner in the New Republic (3/25/2019) A rich country with millions of poor people. A country that prides itself on being the land of opportunity, but in which a child’s prospects are more dependent on the income and education of his or her parents than in other advanced countries. A country that believes in fair play, but in which the richest often pay a smaller percentage of their income in taxes than those less well off. A country in which children every day pledge allegiance to the flag, asserting that there is “justice for all,” but in which, increasingly, there is only justice for those who can afford it. These are the contradictions that the United States is gradually and painfully struggling to come to terms with as it begins to comprehend the enormity of the inequalities that mark its society—inequities that are greater than in any other advanced country. Joseph Stiglitz
Years from now, the Trump administration’s wholesale withdrawal from international agreements, its “unsigning” of treaties, and its weakening of international organizations will stand out from the lies, the corruption, the incompetence, and the breaking of norms as one of its most damaging features. A partial list includes the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, NAFTA, the Paris Climate Accord, the Iran nuclear deal, the Arms Trade Treaty, and, most recently, the World Health Organization. Among these, withdrawals in the nuclear arena may prove to be especially harmful. The New Nuclear Threat Having a leader who is neither trusted by our erstwhile friends nor feared by our foreign rivals reduces our global influence in ways we’re just starting to see. Trump’s trade war didn’t achieve any of its goals, but it did succeed in making America weak again. How Trump Lost His Trade War, On speaking loudly and carrying a small stick. Paul Krugman (12/16/2019)
The Very Real Threat of Right-Wing Leaders Cheering on Trump
(6/1/2024)
Countries with a high percentage of nonbelievers are among the freest, most stable, best-educated, and healthiest nations on earth. When nations are ranked according to a human-development index, which measures such factors as life expectancy, literacy rates, and educational attainment, the five highest-ranked countries --- Norway, Sweden, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands -- all have high degrees of nonbelief. Of the fifty countries at the bottom of the index, all are intensely religious." Greg Graffin and Steve Olson: Anarchy, Evolution, Faith, Science and Bad Religion in a World Without God
(October 31,2008) 147 states at the United Nations voted overwhelmingly to move forward with work on an Arms Trade Treaty. Only the US and Zimbabwe voted against it. Code of Conduct For Arms Sales From president to president, we do not continue the same foreign policy. Ever since the end of the Cold War we have been on this rollercoaster ride of idiocy with regard to President Here and President There, Democrat versus Republican and so forth. There's no longer any continuity in US policy. I bring you back again to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with regard to Iran. That was negotiated by President Obama. It is now going to be abrogated in May by the President of the United States, who happens to be a Republican. This is idiocy. Lawrence Wilkerson 15 maps that will change the way you see the world (11/6/2017)The Coming War On China (12/3/2016)Press
LinksSwarthmore Global Nonviolent Action Database VideoBibliographyAfter the Fall, Being American in the World We've Made by Ben Rhodes The Hell of Good Intentions, America's Foreign Policy Elite and the Decline of U.S. Primacy by Stephen M. Walt The road to global prosperity by Michael Mandelbaum Proof of Conspiracy: Seth Abramson A G-Zero World, The New Economic Club Will Produce Conflict, Not Cooperation: Ian Bremmer and Nouriel Roubini (pdf) The Secret History of the American Empire, John Perkins Beyond the Age of Innocence, Kishore Mahbubani Empire's Workshop, Latin America, the United States, and the Rise of the New Imperialism. Greg Grandin
The Age of Deception, Nuclear Diplomacy in Treacherous Times, Mohamed Elbaradai Democracy
in Retreat, The Revolt of the MIddle Class and the Worldwide Decline of
Representative Government: Joshua Kurlantzick |