globolog

A new Hollywood disaster film fantasises the convulsive effects of global climate change. But it’s the real world of Haiti and the Dominican Republic that blows Caspar Henderson away.

Does a preliminary ruling by the World Trade Organisation against US cotton open the way for radical change in the world trade system, indicating that international law can sometimes protect the weak from the strong?

On the tenth anniversary of genocide in Rwanda, ethnic cleansing and mass murder continues in Sudan. Will international attention come too late to prevent further tragedy in Africa’s largest country? Meanwhile, even greater loss of life from sources other than direct violence is neglected. New thinking and action are needed.

The terrorist atrocities in Madrid on 11 March, and the national election three days later, raise hard questions for Spaniards and Europeans, for Muslims and world citizens. What should they – we – do? openDemocracy invited 100 people from twelve countries to discuss the meaning and implications of these events. Caspar Henderson summarises a quietly passionate discussion.

“Iraq is in the most crucial few months of its history since its formation as a modern state in the 1920s”, the Iraqi activist Isam al-Khafaji told Globolog this week. If he’s right, careful thought, word and action is more important now than ever. And the role of women in Iraq’s future is central.

But first, a couple of examples of speech where care is not apparent. Two weeks before suicide bombers killed at least 169 people in the 2 March attacks on Shi’a Muslims in the Iraqi holy city of Karbala and in Baghdad (see picture), the journalist John Pilger was asked if he thought the global anti-war movement should be supporting Iraq’s anti-occupation resistance. He replied:

Does a new Pentagon study indicate that the US government is finally getting serious about climate change?

The Millennium Development Goals cannot be achieved by their target date of 2015 without more US support. Could this be secured by an innovative proposal that combines self-interest and sympathy?

What is the World Bank for? More than ever, civil society groups challenge its credibility. Should it dwindle or morph? And what new development policies are needed?

A delegation from Uganda carries a message about peace, justice and freedom.

Can humanity learn a new way of thinking, and thus break the pattern of a century of violence?

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We don’t know whether or not oil supplies are running out. Yet even if they are, the world faces bigger problems.

How high should the bar be set after the fall of Saddam?

Winter anecdotes of global politics

A dozen sets of facts and figures about Globalisation in 2004. What do they reveal and what do they hide?

Whatever its critics say, the Kyoto protocol may still be the least worst option for progress on climate change.

What future for civil society/UN relations? But first, the word from the FTAA in Miami.

What are the uses of art in a world of power?

As gay marriage, the economy and Iraq vie for space in US political discourse, dramatic events play out in the Latin American 'backyard', illustrating the complex effects of globalisation.

The unexpected outcome of the World Trade Organisation summit in Cancún, Mexico in September 2003 led to vigorous debate in openDemocracy. Caspar Henderson, our globalisation editor, explains how an innovative experiment – a hybrid of blog and discussion forum – was born.