Articles by Robin
We found 168 results.
(Portuguese) Uma Nova Era das Cooperativas?
Robin Murray – Outras Palavras,
12 Nov 2012
Relegadas pelo capitalismo e socialismo do século 20, elas estão ressurgindo, favorecidas pelo economia imaterial. Quais seus novos desafios?
→ read full articleThird World Symposium: Humanists Propose Latin-American Campaign for the Reduction of Regional Military Spending
Tony Robinson, World without Wars and Violence – Pressenza Int’l Press Agency,
12 Nov 2012
Chilean humanist Tomas Hirsch launched the humanist proposal to work in a big Latin-American campaign to reduce military spending in Latin-America and the Caribbean and redirect this spending towards health, education and the quality of life of our population. “We will advance in this proposal and we invite you all to join us,” Hirsch concluded.
→ read full articleWhy Is NATO Supporting This Syrian War?
Robin Edward Poulton, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
22 Oct 2012
No one has been able – or willing – to explain to me why the US administration and its NATO allies are supporting the Sunni destruction of Syria. The people we decry as ‘Terrorists’ and ‘Al Qaeda’ are in fact the very same Sunni Muslim Extremists – supported by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States – whom we are apparently funding and arming in Syria. Why?
→ read full articleHow to Avoid Genetically Modified Food
Robin Mather, Mother Earth News – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Oct 2012
The only way to avoid GM food is to know which ingredients are likely to be genetically modified and read labels carefully, or to always choose organic foods, which are certified GM-free. Below are estimates of the percentages of GM foods found on store shelves. To learn more about this issue, see The Threats From Genetically Modified Foods.
→ read full articleA Significant Leap in Indo-Pak Relations
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Sep 2012
Confidence building measures play a significant role towards addressing contentious issues between the nations. This well practiced rule of conduct among nations can be no less than accurate in the context of India and Pakistan, which have fought four wars since their independence.
→ read full articleCan Syria be a Zone of Peace?
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Aug 2012
Instead of viewing the Syrian conflict as a national interest crucible, the time has come that it must be seen as an international challenge to be met by international players in a framework of cooperation. Towards this, making Syria a zone of peace may prove a clincher, with no side losing, but all sides gaining, and peace constituency getting stronger.
→ read full articleWest’s Mistake: Focus on Al Qaeda
Dr Robin-Edward Poulton – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Jul 2012
The Real Big Problem Is Saudi Arabia – One of our really big foreign policy mistakes in the West has been to focus on Al Qaeda, as if it were an isolated phenomenon.
→ read full articleSpiritual Cooperation: A Possibility or Farfetched Dream?
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jun 2012
In international politics, relations of trade and commerce among nations are known, but spiritual cooperation?
→ read full articleRemembering Talal Hamseh, Murdered by Wahabbists in Damascus
Robin Edward Poulton – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 May 2012
On April 27 Talal was parking his car when a Syrian terrorist shot him through the head. He was a kind young man, my daughter’s friend. This murder has been proudly displayed on the murderers’ website, a ‘rebel’ trying to overthrow the Syrian regime. Why would we support Sunni Wahabbist terrorists murdering other Muslims, Christians and Alawites?
→ read full articleArab League a Divided House
Dr. Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Apr 2012
The old regional organizations Arab League (formed in 1945) has shown all weakness of a broken house with members failing to take coordinated position on any of the raging international issues. A simple juxtaposition of the Arab League summit with the BRICS summit, held on the same date, 29 March 2012, brings stark contrast how coordination in one part of the world is failing acutely, while the rise of BRICS in global arena is a foregone conclusion.
→ read full articleThe UN’s Chequered Record in West Papua
Jennifer Robinson – Al Jazeera,
26 Mar 2012
But few are aware of the UN’s failure in its first attempt at administration in West Papua more than 40 years earlier. East Timor got a democratic vote. West Papua got a sham vote. East Timor got independence. West Papua became part of Indonesia – against its will and in breach of its right to self-determination under the UN Charter.
→ read full articleOur Duty to Sri Lanka, And Human Rights
Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson – The Guardian,
27 Feb 2012
This week the UN Human Rights Council has an opportunity and a duty to help Sri Lanka advance its own efforts on accountability and reconciliation. Both are essential if a lasting peace is to be achieved. In doing so, the council will not only be serving Sri Lanka, but those worldwide who believe there are universal rights and international legal obligations we all share.
→ read full articleDelhi Bomb Blast and India’s Options
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Feb 2012
The bomb blast in New Delhi on 13 February 2012 has certainly raised India’s stakes in highly contested debate on international terrorism. The combination of its domestic policy matrix, its approach to extremism and radicalism, and its external policies and posturing will put India in a tough place in crafting decisions which may be difficult but necessary.
→ read full articleComplexities of Post-Laden Politics in Pakistan and Implications
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Jan 2012
The recent developments in Pakistan’s politics particularly the relations between the civilian government and military, in the background of troubled US-Pakistan relations exacerbated by the November killing of Pakistan soldiers by US drones and killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May, will have far reaching implications not only for Pakistan, but also for Afghanistan, South Asia, and far beyond.
→ read full articleMy Dreams for 2012
Dr Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Jan 2012
Coming to my nation, India, called the largest democracy in the world with thriving freedom and equality but in reality which is a nation, majority of which are stricken by poverty, poor health, poor education system, and poor governance. That one of the great Gandhians, Anna Hazare launched the movement for Lok Pal to make India corruption free is something which I dream to see successful in the New Year.
→ read full articleWhither Alliance of Civilizations?
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Dec 2011
The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon during his speech at the UN Alliance of Civilizations forum on 11 December 2011 asserted the much cherished ideal of alliance among ‘civilizations’ so that enemies of humanity such as extremism and terrorism can be fought and won over and the world can live in an ideal of shared humanity. But the past decade provides sufficient proof to the contrary and to the dictum Might is Right, and the inverse relationship between high sounding ideals and chauvinistic national policies.
→ read full article‘Bugsplat’: The Ugly US Drone War in Pakistan
Jennifer Robinson – Al Jazeera,
5 Dec 2011
It’s time for the US to re-examine the consequences of its dehumanising, deadly attacks in Pakistan. This weekend [27 Nov 2011], Pakistan ordered the closure of the US drone base after a US attack killed 26 Pakistani soldiers near the Afghan border. This news will be welcomed by the people of Waziristan, where communities have borne the brunt of the “collateral damage” of the US covert drone war.
→ read full articleClimate Justice
Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson – Project Syndicate,
5 Dec 2011
The richest countries caused the problem, but it is the world’s poorest who are already suffering from its effects. In its latest report, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes that it is virtually certain that, in global terms, hot days have become hotter and occur more often; indeed, they have increased in frequency by a factor of 10 in most regions of the world. Moreover, the brutal paradox of climate change is that heavy precipitation is occurring more often as well, increasing the risk of flooding.
→ read full articleThe Commonwealth Summit and Human Rights Debate
Dr Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Nov 2011
Safeguarding human rights is such a lofty ideal that nation-states with diverse socio-political and economic set ups proclaim that they respect this basic human value. As the term is contested, and as there are divergent interpretations as to what exactly constitute human rights, the debates about it have often pushed the nations towards contestation and conflicts of interests.
→ read full articleBrazil to Overtake UK as Sixth-Largest Economy
Robin Yapp, in São Paulo – The Telegraph,
7 Nov 2011
The Latin American giant’s GDP for 2011 is expected to hit $2.44 trillion (£1.51 trillion) compared with $2.43 trillion for the UK, the latest monthly forecasts from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) show. This will see Brazil, which last year overtook Italy to become the world’s seventh biggest economy, move up one more place to sixth with the UK falling to seventh.
→ read full articleSufism Asserting Against Extremism
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
31 Oct 2011
One of the foremost challenges that multiethnic and pluralistic societies confront in 21st century is religious based extremism, which is resented by both state and non-state actors who believe in the values of peaceful coexistence of religions and other pluralistic values practiced by human society.
→ read full articlePeace Efforts in Afghanistan Jeopardized
Dr Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Sep 2011
The killing of Barhanuddin Rabbani, an ethnic Tajik and leader of High Peace Council to broker peace in the conflict-torn country is certainly a setback to the ongoing peace process in Afghanistan.
→ read full articleAfghanistan: From a Battlefield to a Business-field
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
22 Aug 2011
Is it necessary that the interested players will have to wait till the violent atmosphere in the region is subsided completely and then think about business? Or is it possible to initiate commercial ventures in a violent atmosphere, which can only succeed with the cooperation of the national government as well as local warlords and also the Taliban?
→ read full articleTerror in the Maximum City
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
25 Jul 2011
Indian city Mumbai is famed as the ‘maximum city’ as it is in a sense represents maximum in everything. It represents all contradictions and paradoxes. A casual traveller to the city can find the wealthiest and the poorest co-existing side by side. The most beautiful and the most wretched co-exist in Mumbai. The city provides everything to everybody: daily work to a daily labourer, a job to educated, underworld facilities to mafia, tinsel town to socialites and sophisticated.
→ read full articleMumbai’s Woes and Their Implications
Aurobinda Mahapatra, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Jul 2011
Mumbai is India’s most prosperous as well as most cosmopolitan city. The city’s local trains everyday carry about 7 million diverse people, and to this gigantic fare is everyday added 1200 families who reach city from different corners of India in search of better life.
→ read full articleUnderstanding Political Reality in Syria
Robin Edward Poulton, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Jun 2011
In his OpEd of June 3rd entitled The Depravity Factor, David Brooks writes emotionally about a murdered 13-year-old Syrian boy called Hamza Ali al-Khateeb. The descriptions and internet photographs of Hamza’s tortured body are horrible, but Brooks draws from this story a set of political conclusions that are unjustified by anything we know about Syria or the region we vaguely think of as the ‘Middle East’.
→ read full articleMani Bhavan and Gandhi
Dr Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 May 2011
In Gandhi’s living room on the second floor, one can see from the glass the original Charkha (the spinning wheel, Gandhi’s symbol of self-dependence) he was using, his bed on the floor, his Kadam (wooden slipper), his book stand, and many other things. I imagined Gandhi while viewing that room. The room is still there, the great soul has departed, but his ideas still reverberate in the world. We all know how great leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela and many others were influenced by him. I remember reading somewhere how one of the great peace activists of our time Johan Galtung started crying at the news of the departure of the great soul.
→ read full articleGlobal Capitalism and 21st Century Fascism
William I. Robinson – Al Jazeera,
16 May 2011
As unprecedented economic and environmental degradation continues, right-wing extremists are increasing their power, particularly in the US, according to a professor of global studies at the University of California.
→ read full articleThe Audacity of Genetically Modified Foods
Bruce Robinson – Boulder Daily Camera,
16 May 2011
I maintain that the real discussion should be about the audacity and illegitimate way GM crops have been forced on a reluctant United States and world — the money, corruption, politics and obfuscation that characterize its rise to dominance. The discussion should focus on how GM crops have taken over our food supply with little concern for safety or our right to choose.
→ read full articleCan Libya Be a Test Case?
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Apr 2011
As the situation demands active diplomacy on parts of responsible powers of the globe, it also provides an opportunity to restore the august international body the United Nations its rightful position. Here lies the crucial barometer for the proponents as well as opponents of military intervention as to whether they can act together.
→ read full articleIn the Mideast, U.S. Policy Is Still Driven by Realism
Eugene Robinson – The Washington Post,
28 Mar 2011
Gadhafi is crazy and evil; obviously, he wasn’t going to listen to our advice about democracy. The world would be fortunate to be rid of him. But war in Libya is justifiable only if we are going to hold compliant dictators to the same standard we set for defiant ones. If not, then please spare us all the homilies about universal rights and freedoms. We’ll know this isn’t about justice, it’s about power.
→ read full articleJapan’s Nuclear Crisis Might Not Be the Last
Eugene Robinson – The Washington Post,
21 Mar 2011
Nuclear power was beginning to look like a panacea—a way to lessen our dependence on oil, make our energy supply more self-sufficient and significantly mitigate global warming, all at the same time. Now it looks more like a bargain with the devil.
→ read full articleStoking Irrational Fears about Islam – Inquisition American Style?
Eugene Robinson – The Washington Post,
14 Mar 2011
Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is about to convene hearings whose premise offends our nation’s founding ideals and whose targets are law-abiding members of a religious minority. King has decided to investigate Islam.
→ read full articleArab Authoritarian Order Shattered
Robin Wright – United States Institute of Peace,
21 Feb 2011
The Arab world’s old authoritarian order is being shattered, whatever happens next. With Egypt accounting for roughly one-quarter of the Arab world’s 300 million people, the transition of political power in Cairo will have widespread effect across the twenty-two nation bloc. From Casablanca to Kuwait, Tripoli to Damascus, Egypt’s transition will affect every other Arab country in some way—small or large, direct or indirect.
→ read full article
Changing Education Paradigms
Sir Ken Robinson – RSA Animate,
21 Feb 2011
This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA’s Benjamin Franklin award.
→ read full article‘Problem Children’ towards Radicalism
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Feb 2011
One of the WikiLeaks revelations, published recently in The Daily Telegraph of London, brings into picture the worrisome scenario in which a section of the British youth visit to madrassas in Kashmir under Pakistan’s control, and end in the net of extremist and terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda.
→ read full articleWhy ‘Colour’ Revolutions are Multi-shaded
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
31 Jan 2011
Adding to the galaxy of ‘colour’ revolutions such as rose, tulip, orange, and many others is the recent jasmine revolution in Tunisia. The North African country suddenly gained worldwide attention in the second week of January as the ruler of country for the last 23 years fled to Saudi Arabia after massive protests. The perplexity of the matter revolved around the question how the immolation of a 26 year old could trigger such a massive unrest in Tunisia and consequently in the almost whole Arab world with protests in countries like Algeria, Syria, Yemen, Jordan are gaining shape.
→ read full articleYes, There is An Alternative
Robin Broad & John Cavanagh – Yes! Magazine,
27 Dec 2010
More and more people, communities, and nations are taking steps to reduce their vulnerability to a volatile global economy.
→ read full articleTAPI Pipeline Prospects
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Dec 2010
The leaders of four nations Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (TAPI) met in the second week of December 2010 in the capital of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat to sign two agreements called Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) and Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement (GPFA) to foster the prospects of TAPI pipeline.
→ read full articleRealities of the Obama Visit
Dr. Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
22 Nov 2010
The Obama visit to India in this November attracted world wide attention, with analysts pouring appreciations or criticisms or both on the visit. The visit surrounded by grand phrases like ‘natural partners’ could enchant much of the Indian public, and particularly when during the speech at Indian parliament on 8 November 2010 Obama urged Pakistan to dismantle terrorist centers within its borders, supported India’s candidature for the permanent membership of the security council and dropped the Kashmir word in the speeches and deliberations, the symbolism in the bilateral relations could reach its apogee, though these pronouncements will remain mere words till their fruitful realization in ground reality.
→ read full articleDear Chilean miners, please do not accept Israel’s invitation
Robin – Under the Holly Tree,
25 Oct 2010
Today I read that you have received an invitation from the Israeli Tourist Ministry to visit the Holy Land where Christianity began, where the holiest of Christian sites are located. They have offered to pay for your entire trip there, for you to visit “Israel”. They are offering you this trip at Christmas time as a “gift to you” I am asking you please to not accept this invitation. You are not just being invited to visit “Israel”, you are being asked to visit holy sites which have been under the Israeli occupation of Palestine for 42 years, sites that Palestinian Christians are routinely denied access to by their occupier. In June the Vatican issued a paper deploring the denial of access to Christians to the holy sites under occupation, calling the occupation “unjust”.
→ read full articleIndia’s Commonwealth Ordeal
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Sep 2010
Apart from Kashmir, which keeps India in international light in recent days is its preparation for the Commonwealth games in Delhi to be commenced from 3 to 14 October 2010. The event, the first ever in India and perhaps the first showcase of India’s emerging prowess in the evolving world, will likely involve 8,500 athletes from 71 countries competing in 17 events.
→ read full articleRegional Economic Cooperation as a Key to Solve Afghanistan Problem
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Aug 2010
‘Economics is the key to overcoming all problems,’ observed the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov while articulating the main content of quadrilateral meet of Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan at the Russian Black Sea resort Sochi on 18 August 2010.
→ read full articleStatist India-Pakistan Dialogue
Dr Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Jul 2010
India-Pakistan dialogue at foreign ministers level in Islamabad can be justly called statist as it added nothing substantial to bilateral relations except meetings and press conferences bordering acrimony. Anyone who viewed the joint press conference of the ministers on 16 July 2010 could conclude nothing but precisely this: the post-Mumbai terror attack relations are surviving on a vague optimism that relations will get better in due course. Despite this optimism expressed opulently by the political leaders of both the countries, the fact remain unless some substance is added to the relations, South Asia will further plunge into another bout of crisis. In international politics diplomacy and dialogue are good things to salvage bad relations, but these can not sustain long in a vacuum.
→ read full articleThe Istanbul CICA Summit
Dr. Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Jun 2010
Whether CICA can be termed ‘OSCE of Asia’ it is not much difficult to answer. Also whether there is a need for a comparison between the two is an altogether different issue of concern. However, at the present stage, CICA members need to work in tandem towards playing an active role in the Eurasian space towards building peace and stability. Issues like ‘extremism, terrorism, drug trafficking, the threat of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and maritime piracy’ will likely goad CICA members to play a collective role in tackling these issues of common concern.
→ read full articleWhy the Times Square Incident Should Be a Turning Point
Dr Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 May 2010
The fact remains that terrorism is such a menace it can not be contained single handedly by a single country. In fact the nature of terrorism is so complicated and so wide and embedded; it will be difficult to tackle the menace by amending national laws or by punishing few terrorists. A global coalition, with a genuine global agenda, is the imperative of the hour if the world is to become terror-free, stable and peaceful.
→ read full articleThe BRIC Summit
Dr. Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Apr 2010
BRIC, in spite of its weakness or differences among members, no doubt will play a significant role in international politics. The coming of the countries together is no mean achievement, and on various issues like Iran, United Nations, Bretton Woods structures, climate change, etc. the grouping has already been vociferous. The clout of BRIC as a significant multilateral body is bound to be reckoned with.
→ read full articleA NEW DIMENSION TO DEMILITARIZATION IN KASHMIR
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Apr 2010
In the last week of March 2010 a new dimension hitherto unknown to demilitarization debate in Kashmir came to picture. One of the premier Indian TV channels, NDTV, showed in its news the popular protests in Khurhma village in northern Kashmir against the shifting of the camp of Rashtriya Rifles, a part of paramilitary force […]
→ read full articlePENANCE DEMANDS ACTION
Eugene Robinson - Truthdig,
2 Apr 2010
At its holiest time of the year, the Roman Catholic Church is being forced to confront not only the central mystery of the faith—life after death—but also a more worldly riddle: What did the Holy Father know, and when did he know it? Questions about whether Pope Benedict XVI was personally involved, as he rose […]
→ read full articleST. PATRICK’S DAY AT BELFAST
Aurobinda Mahapatra, Ph.D.,
18 Mar 2010
This morning I went to the City Hall at the centre of the Belfast city to watch the march of processions to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. This day is celebrated on 17 March of every year. St. Patrick is revered by Christians throughout the world as a great Saint who could uphold the values of […]
→ read full articleMAPPING CONFLICT AND PEACE IN EURASIA, EDITED VOLUME
Dr. Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra, member of the TRANSCEND Network,
17 Mar 2010
The Eurasian Conflicts in international politics are known for their embedded nature transcending beyond a mono-factor for analysis. Owing to diversity and fragility many states have not matured towards coherent status of nation building; rather it appears the agenda has remained unfinished due to disturbed ethnic aspirations, fragile borders, inherent complications and power interventions. These […]
→ read full articleSAUDI ARABIA AS INTERLOCUTOR IN SOUTH ASIA?
Dr Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra,
7 Mar 2010
Mediating in conflicts in South Asia particularly between India and Pakistan since the inception of bilateral animosities has become a prize catch in international politics since long. In the list of players as mediator the name that has emerged recently is that of Saudi Arabia. Indian Prime Minster visited Saudi Arabia on 27 February 2010 […]
→ read full articleFULL-COURT PRESS: THE “FOUR HORSEMEN” CALL FOR A NUCLEAR WEAPONS SPENDING SURGE
Darwin BondGraham, Will Parrish and Nicholas Ian Robinson,
3 Feb 2010
In the December edition of Z Magazine we published a lengthy feature examining the new politics of "anti-nuclear nuclearism," a rhetoric whereby hawkish elites vaguely tout the goal of "disarmament" in order to actually boost nuclear weapons spending and advance a long-term, militarized, pro-nuclear vision. We focused in on the Hoover Institution’s pivotal role in […]
→ read full articleCYBER POLITICS: A NEW DYNAMIC IN INTER-STATE RELATIONS
Dr Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra, Mumbai,
29 Jan 2010
The famous scientist Albert Einstein, while deeply perturbed by the use of nuclear weapons during the second world war, had lamented that though he could not predict the kind of weapons to be used in any probable third world war, he was sure the fourth world war, if the humanity survives after the third one, […]
→ read full articleDOOMSDAY CLOCK MOVES 1 MINUTE AWAY FROM MIDNIGHT
Tony Robinson - Pressenza,
16 Jan 2010
Chicago, 14 Jan 2010 — Today the Doomsday clock was moved back by 1 minute to 11:54 p.m. in a press conference of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. In a move to align the environmental and anti-nuclear movements, speakers pointed out the need to tackle climate change as well as implement strategies for nuclear disarmament […]
→ read full articleA CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY PRIMER
Robin Hahnel - ZNet,
14 Jan 2010
Because misconceptions are commonplace a basic tutorial on the logic and implications of regulation, carbon taxes, and tradable carbon emission permits is useful. Hopefully this will correct some common misunderstandings about what different policies do, and do not do, and help leftists and environmentalists who are not professional economists avoid being brow beaten when debating […]
→ read full articleTAKING STOCK OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS 2009
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra, Ph.D.,
9 Jan 2010
The year 2009 will be remembered as one of the most difficult years in the annals of international politics. Though the actions and reactions of national and international players in this year is yet to be assessed fully, nonetheless the year long forays in international politics have not evoked much hope in the world. However, […]
→ read full articleWHY DO WE CELEBRATE NEW YEAR?
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra, PhD – Univ. of Mumbai,
29 Dec 2009
Why do we celebrate New Year? When the year approaches its end we start preparing ourselves for celebrations to bid farewell to passing year and to welcome New Year. We do it in our own ways but anyhow we do it. My point is besides the customary repetition of pomp every year in welcoming New […]
→ read full articleTERROR TRAIL FROM MUMBAI TO CHICAGO TO BRESCIA
Dr Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra, Mumbai,
4 Dec 2009
The riddle called the Mumbai terror attack still remains unsolved with new threads coming to picture. The terror strike in Mumbai last year that killed 174 people including children and women still reverberates in the memory of the people of Mumbai and reminds the ghastly designs of the terrorists whose networks spread all over the […]
→ read full articleREPORT OF THE EVALUATION OF DDR (DISARMAMENT, DEMOBILIZATION AND REINTEGRATION) AND CIP (COMMANDER’S INCENTIVE PROGRAM) IN AFGHANISTAN
submission of Robin-Edward Poulton,
24 Oct 2009
Paper deliverd by the author to a symposium at Washington, DC on Oct 21, 2009The report consists of five parts: 1: Summary Report 2: Lessons and Recommendations 3: Commander Incentives Programme 4: Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration 5: Annexes ABSTRACT Between 2003 and 2006 the UNDP and UNAMA assisted the Government of Afghanistan to organise the […]
→ read full articleINDIA, CHINA AND PAKISTAN: UNEASY EQUATIONS
Aurobinda Mahapatra,
9 Oct 2009
Some of the recent developments bring to the fore the uneasy nature of regional dynamics in the Indian subcontinent with the powers India, China and Pakistan playing their national cards vigorously. Pakistan-China agreement to develop hydroelectric project at Bunji in the Kashmir currently under the control of Pakistan, India’s objection to Pakistan’s granting of autonomous […]
→ read full articleWHAT DEATH OF BAITULLAH MEHSUD MEANS FOR TERRORISM
Aurobinda Mahapatra,
28 Aug 2009
The death of Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on 5 August 2009 in the southern Waziristan has brought to the fore significant achievements of anti-terror operations in Pakistan. The incident brings respite to the victims of the Taliban though it would be premature to say the death has ended Taliban in the […]
→ read full articleCAN NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT PLAY A MEANINGFUL ROLE?
Aurobinda Mahapatra,
29 Jul 2009
Can non-aligned movement (NAM), as a movement emerged during heydays of the cold war, play a role in a changed post-cold war world? Probably, the 15th summit at the Egyptian Red Sea resort Sharm el Sheikh on 15th and 16th of July 2009 would guide the scholar to seek a plausible answer as to the […]
→ read full articleWHITHER PEACE IN THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT?
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra,
6 Jul 2009
The prospects of peace in the Indian subcontinent post-26/11 appear bleak. The meeting of the top leaders of India and Pakistan at the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on 16 June 2009 did not bring any respite to the peace seekers in the subcontinent as the pronouncements […]
→ read full articleDEMONISING IRAN CONVENIENTLY HIDES UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTHS FOR THE WEST
Robin Yassin-Kassab,
2 Jul 2009
Iran is troublesome not because it’s any more dictatorial than its neighbours but because it’s less submissive. THE MAINSTREAM media narrative of events unfolding in Iran has been set out for us as clear as a fairytale: an evil dictatorship has rigged elections and now violently suppresses its country’s democrats, hysterically blaming foreign saboteurs the […]
→ read full articleUGLY FACE OF TERROR
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra,
31 May 2009
The first decade of the 21st century has witnessed horrendous incidents of terror. While its beginning witnessed the attack on the twin trade towers in New York, towards its end another horrible attack occurred in the Indian commercial centre Mumbai. The attack further reinforced that terrorism has no religion, terrorists are not humans, and […]
→ read full articleSOME GOOD NEWS OUT OF AFRICA FOR A CHANGE
Mary Robinson,
25 Mar 2009
We now have a rare window of opportunity in the Congo. The war zone of the Democratic Republic of Congo is not a place that is usually associated with hope. The statistics quickly challenge optimism. Since 1998, the country has lost 5.4 million people to conflict, and more than a million people are still displaced […]
→ read full articleHUMAN RIGHTS… FOR WHOM?
Robin Willoughby,
11 Dec 2008
Human rights are increasingly viewed through the rhetoric of military intervention, democracy and political freedom, whilst the UN’s pivotal role in securing social and economic rights in the developing world continues to be marginalized. The 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be rightly lauded as a landmark in international attempts to […]
→ read full article