Global Change
Global Change
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anti-corruption strategies / Arab Spring / Brazil Protests / bribery / corruption / Egypt / Global corruption / John T. Noonan / malaysia / North America / Qatar / Robert Klitgaard / Singapore / Taksim Square / Europe / Focus Article / Middle East & North Africa / Global Change / Latin America / Africa / Central & South Asia / Asia PacificOne day, corruption will be as unthinkable as slavery. Corruption is the misuse of a trusted position for illicit private ends. Corruption ranges across phenomena, including bribery, extortion, fraud, nepotism, and outright theft. Corruption is difficult to measure, of course. In perceptions of people around the world, corruption is closely related to administrative efficiency, rule of law, and ethics in the private sector. We can spend days or even academic lifetimes debating definitions and the deeper causes of corruption and weak governance. Let’s instead focus on a separable, practical question: What can be done to reduce corruption? Here there is good news. Even in...
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2030 / climate change / Food Scarcity / future / North America / Shahbaz Shaikh / United Nations / Water Scarcity / Europe / Focus Article / Global ChangeWhat challenges does the world face for 2030? By 2030, technology will have advanced at a rate far beyond the predictive capacity available today, as technology expands in efficiency at an exponential rate. As a result, this will meet limits in terms of physical constraints; it will create a new need for organizational structures that do not promote discrimination or abusive cyclical patterns, which are a feature of today’s marketing system — especially in agriculture and other markets whose products are necessary to the sustenance of the nation. Issues of planning are often understood in goals and timeframes available for achieving them. The primary problem of scarcity in any...
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360° Analysis / british empire / Civil Rights / Gandhi / Independence / India / Nonviolence / Global Change / Central & South AsiaIn modern India, Gandhian values must be replaced with those of other influential people. Being born in India, when first starting to make sense of academia, the first of the names that are heard amongst the plethora of freedom fighters and national heroes is that of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi — also known as Mahatma Gandhi, or Bapu. He is on India's currency notes; buildings and roads are named after him; and, most importantly, the leading political party carries out his last name through its magnetic leader, Sonia Gandhi; the name that she inherits from her lineage. Gandhi gave India its very first lessons of tolerance, non-violence, Satyagraha, the Quit India Movement, the...
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360° Analysis / british empire / Civil Rights / Gandhi / Independence / India / Nonviolence / Global Change / Central & South AsiaThe liberation that Gandhi sought required the renunciation of personal desires. Over the past century, many have accused Gandhi of being the ultimate altruist. On the contrary, however, Gandhi went on to claim that he was doing the work that took over his life for a very selfish reason: that he wished to obtain moksha, or liberation, from the karmic cycle for his "own person." However, he believed that the only way he could obtain such liberation was by dissolving the individual self, the ego, through devotion and service to others — in order to break down the barriers between the individual MK Gandhi and that divine spark that was/is one with all things. The...
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360° Analysis / Atul Singh / british empire / Civil Rights / Gandhi / Independence / India / Indian / Nonviolence / Global Change / Central & South AsiaBy Atul SinghDespite his blunders, Gandhi continues to be more relevant than ever. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi had wide ranging interests and lived in three continents before exploding to prominence on the national and global stage. He started communes, ran newspapers, walked a lot, wrote innumerable letters, and somehow found the time to dismantle the mightiest empire in human history. It is now folklore that Gandhi, a privileged young man, started to find his calling after being thrown off a train in South Africa because he was in a first class compartment meant only for whites. The story, like a mythical tale, captures something fundamental about the man. Gandhi is a symbol of justice. He is...
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british empire / Civil Rights / Gandhi / Independence / India / Jared Dmello / Nonviolence / Peace / 360° Context / Global Change / Central & South AsiaBy Jared DmelloCan Gandhi's values be used in today's India? Background Sixty-five years after his death, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also known as Mahatma Gandhi, is still honored and remembered as one of the most influential leaders in history. His ideologies of peace and nonviolence have transcended the boundaries of nations and inspired individuals from across the globe to promote equality and justice for all. His philosophies inspired other iconic figures, such as Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela. Through Gandhi’s leadership, India was brought into existence as a sovereign nation in 1947; his effects on the nation are still prominent in its governance system, and Gandhian...
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360° Analysis / Abyan / al-Qaeda / Houthi Rebels / Internally Displaced People / International Community / Jordan / Refugee Status Determination / Syria / Syrian Civil War / Syrian Refugees / UNHCR / Yemen / Zaatari Camp / Middle East & North Africa / Global ChangeBy Anita KassemSyrian refugees in Yemen must be protected from exploitation. Perhaps one of the most efficient ways to comprehend the political and economic situation in Yemen is to see who the beggars in the streets are. The common scene would involve Africans or Yemeni marginalized communities begging at every traffic light in the local bazaars. In 2010, the streets were filled with Internally Displaced People from the northern city of Saada and the southern city of Abyan — a war-zone between Houthi rebels and government forces, and an al-Qaeda stronghold respectively. At the time, popular discourse was dominated by desperation due to the country’s situation, since Yemeni citizens themselves...
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360° Analysis / Global Hunger / Lee-Roy Chetty / poverty / Poverty in Africa / Sub-Saharan Africa / United Nations / World Bank / World Poverty / Global Change / Africa / Central & South Asia / Asia Pacific"Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor" (James A. Baldwin). Poverty and hunger remain a global challenge. However, fewer people live in extreme poverty in the 21st century compared to previous generations. According to the World Bank, between 1981 and 2008, the proportion of people in the developing world living on less than $1.25 a day fell from 52 percent to 22 percent, and nearly 650 million people were lifted out of poverty. In addition, despite the 2008 financial crisis and food and fuel price increases, global poverty has continued to fall precipitously. Conversely however, progress has been uneven and more than a billion...
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360° Analysis / Burma / Burmese / Burmese Refugees / malaysia / Myanmar / Refugees / Rohinhya / Sophia Akram / UNHCR / Global Change / Asia PacificBy Sophia AkramEthnic tensions and xenophobia follow Burmese refugees across borders. Despite independence in 1948, Burma has been plagued by problems since the military junta took state control in 1962. Power struggles, conflict, occupation, resource extraction and ethnic tensions have all incited Burma’s displacement issue. While exact numbers are unknown, estimates are in the region of 1 million internally displaced and 1 million fleeing to neighboring countries. Recently, the media has recognized the crisis that is happening in Rakhine State, Burma, where Buddhist and Muslim tensions have forced many Rohingya to flee, even though their safety options elsewhere are limited. However, Burma is made...