Articles by Jim Lobe

We found 12 results.


Global Commission Urges Decriminalisation of Drug Use
Jim Lobe, IPS – TRANSCEND Media Service, 22 Sep 2014

A top-level international panel called Tuesday [9 Sep 2014] for a major shift in global drug-control policies from prohibition to decriminalisation and regulation. In a 43-page report, the Global Commission on Drug Policy denounced what has been known for more than four decades as the “war against drugs” as a failure and argued that new approaches prioritising human rights and health were urgently needed.

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Major Parts of World Ignored by U.S. TV News in 2013
Jim Lobe – Toward Freedom, 20 Jan 2014

If people outside the United States are looking for answers why Americans often seem so clueless about the world outside their borders, they could start with what the three major U.S. television networks offered their viewers in the way of news during 2013.

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U.S. Urged to Curb Militarisation in Latin America
Jim Lobe – Inter Press Service-IPS, 23 Sep 2013

Of particular interest is the increase in deployments to Latin America and the Caribbean by the Special Operations Forces – elite units like the Army’s Green Berets and Navy SEALS – due to the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and drawdown from Afghanistan. Over the past decade, SOF ranks have more than doubled to about 65,000, and command has been particularly aggressive in seeking new missions in new theatres.

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Israel Ranked World’s Most Militarised Nation
Jim Lobe – Inter Press Service-IPS, 19 Nov 2012

Israel tops the list of the world’s most militarised nations, according to the latest Global Militarisation Index released Tuesday [13 Nov 2012]. At number 34, Israel’s main regional rival, Iran, is far behind. In contrast, both sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America are relatively low on the Index. The research is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development.

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Evangelist Sued in U.S. for Inciting Anti-Gay Hatred in Uganda
Charundi Panagoda and Jim Lobe – Inter Press Service-IPS, 19 Mar 2012

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a federal lawsuit in Massachusetts Wednesday [14 Mar 2012] on behalf of the Sexual Minorities of Uganda (SMUG) and against Scott Lively, a right-wing evangelist, for inciting a hatred that has led to increased violence against LGBT persons. He is also the author of “The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party”, a 1995 book that claimed Nazism was created and propagated by homosexuals, and a second book, “Seven Steps to Recruit-Proof Your Child”, a how-to guide for parents to “prevent” their children from becoming homosexual.

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Washington Urged to Recognise Brazil as Global Power
Jim Lobe – TerraViva Europe, 18 Jul 2011

The United States should recognise Brazil as a global power and treat it accordingly, concluded a major new report issued by the influential Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) here this week [15 Jul 2011]. That treatment should include the full endorsement by the administration of President Barack Obama for Brazil’s permanent membership on an expanded U.N. Security Council, according to the 109-page report entitled “Global Brazil and U.S.-Brazil Relations”.

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Egypt’s Moves Raising Anxiety in Washington
Jim Lobe – Inter Press Service-IPS, 9 May 2011

With U.S. lawmakers threatening this week to cut aid to Pakistan over its alleged harbouring of the late Osama bin Laden, concern is growing steadily here over the future of ties with another key predominantly Muslim ally heavily dependent on U.S. aid: Egypt. The most recent action was Egypt’s mediation of the reconciliation agreement signed Wednesday [4 May 2011] in Cairo by the leaders of Hamas and Fatah, an agreement that has been strongly denounced by leading lawmakers, as well as by the administration of President Barack Obama itself.

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Bahrain: U.S. Keeps Quiet over Repression
Jim Lobe – Inter Press Service-IPS, 18 Apr 2011

If President Barack Obama wanted to place Washington “on the right side of history” during the ongoing “Arab Spring”, his reaction to recent events in Bahrain will likely make that far more difficult, according to a growing number of analysts and commentators here.

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Colombia: Court Documents Reveal Chiquita Paid for Security
Jim Lobe and Aprille Muscara – Inter Press Service-IPS, 11 Apr 2011

Contrary to claims by Chiquita Brands International that its payments to Colombian paramilitary and guerrilla groups over more than a decade were extorted, internal company documents released here Thursday [7 Apr 2011] strongly suggest that the transactions provided specific benefits to the banana giant.

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US Still Top Arms Supplier to South as Record Sale to Saudis Pends
Jim Lobe - InterPress Service-IPS, 20 Sep 2010

Despite an unusual dip in global weapons sales in 2009, the United States retained its spot as the world’s top arms supplier of developing countries, according to an authoritative new report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

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US-CUBA: BUSINESS SUPPORT FOR DISMANTLING EMBARGO
Jim Lobe, 8 Dec 2008

If U.S. President-elect Barack Obama wants to begin dismantling Washington’s nearly 50-year-old trade embargo against Cuba, it appears he will have widespread support for doing so. Not only have some major foreign policy heavyweights recently called for ending the embargo if, for no other reason, than to create desperately needed goodwill elsewhere in the Americas […]

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TOP EX-DIPLOMATS SLAM ?MILITARIZATION? OF FOREIGN POLICY
Jim Lobe, 16 Oct 2008

While the Pentagon’s budget has risen to heights not seen since World War II, US diplomatic and foreign aid assets have largely atrophied and must be quickly rebuilt by any new administration that takes office in January, according to a new report released here this week by former senior foreign service officers. The report by […]

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