How mega sporting events bring the logic of war to host-city governance. The example of the football World Cup in South Africa highlights how security for mega-events has become a self-reinforcing feedback loop between state and corporate sector, taking the analogy between Sport and War another st
2011 was a watershed year in drug policy all over the globe. The American and Canadian governments seemed to embrace status quo prohibition, while the citizens of both nations showed increasing support for reform laws, particularly with medical cannabis. Some countries in Europe moved towards lega
The drug war in Mexico has left tens of thousands of people dead and the country in peril. What difference will a new war crimes charge brought against the government make?
The wave of violence afflicting Mexico and the northern triangle of Central America (Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador) is caused by three developments: changes in the global drug market, the effect of the war against organised crime and the international financial crisis, making the problem not
Mistrust in government systems of rule has led the town of Cherán in Mexico to create its own institutions. The community faces many challenges, not the least of which is the non-violent defence of their people in an area where armed gangs are a constant threat.
It is strange how you have to go abroad to see the ability of wildly divergent realities to persist, side-by-side, as if nothing were more natural.
As 2011 heads towards a close, US high courts send marijuana advocates a mixed message about states' rights and federal enforcement of drug laws. Copenhagen attempts to legalize (rather than decriminalize) marijuana, while various nations in Central America hand over policing duties to the militar
Local officials in both British Columbia and Amsterdam wrangle with their respective national governments on the question of how to deal with marijuana trafficking. Meanwhile, Colombia's incumbent president seeks to begin an international dialogue on the legalization of marijuana and other drugs.
While governments around the globe debate on which direction to go in revising drug policy, the American military struggles to deal with record numbers of suicide among service personnel afflicted with PTSD. Many of those suffering from the disorder engage in substance abuse. The stigma and legal
Sri Lanka's Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission has no mention of gender in its mandate and no dedicated expertise related to women; it has just one female commissioner out of eight. For Tamil women, the LLRC simply reaffirms bad old habits.
The first year of Brazil's first female president has seen Dilma Rousseff build on the achievement of her predecessor, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva. But she is also having to cope with the more difficult parts of his legacy, says Arthur Ituassu.
The official results in Nicaragua's election on 6 November 2011 found that Daniel Ortega was re-elected president by a clear margin. But the procedures surrounding the vote leave Sergio Ramírez in no doubt that a great fraud - and a great farce - was perpetrated.
