En español

Editor's pick: Articles of the week

Poznan Climate Talks: fiddling while the earth burns
The UN Climate Conference in Poznan, Poland failed to achieve any breakthrough towards a global climate deal – a sign not merely of bad timing, but of a fundamentally flawed system that takes no account of climate justice, argues Oscar Reyes
See also Poznan statement from the Climate Justice Now! alliance

 
UN official calls Israel an 'Apartheid' state
Interview with Phyllis Bennis
The elected UN General Assembly President’s referral to Israel as an apartheid state shows that a shift in discourse has already happened, thanks to the local and global movements against the Israeli occupation.
 
Needed: creative diplomacy not force
Praful Bidwai
Indian conservatives have unleashed a media campaign to demand that India take serious punitive action against Pakistan. The only gainers from an India-Pakistan conflict would be extremists and terrorists — along with the US through a heightened mediatory role.
See also Inching away from confrontation and Concern for Zardari's civilian government stays India
 
Offsets under Kyoto: a dirty deal for the South
Kevin Smith
Despite driving poor communities off their land and patently failing to deliver carbon emissions reductions, lobbyists for big industries and institutions such as the World Bank were active in Poznan climate negotiations pushing for further deregulation and expansion of the market-based Clean Development Mechanism.
See also a contribution to the Economist debate

 

Casino Crash: the end of neo-liberalism? (Video clip + Audio)
The greatest financial crisis since the Wall Street crash of 1929 has been met by an unprecedented set of government actions to stem the tide of destruction. But is there also a coming sea change in economic theory and practice, as well as in politics, in the shift from a free market to intervention in the market? Audio recording of the complete TNI seminar on the global economic crisis.

 


New Publications

The Bases of Empire
The Global Struggle against US Military Posts

Chaterine Lutz (Editor)
There are over nine hundred US military bases around the world. This book traces the political, environmental, and economic impact of these bases on the surrounding communities across the globe, and describes the campaigns to hold the US accountable for the damage its bases cause in the host countries.

 

Crops for illicit use and ecocide
Germán Andrés Quimbayo Ruiz
TNI Drug Policy Briefing 28

This briefing analyses the Colombian government campaign which hopes to persuade cocaine consumers to kick the habit by highlighting the ecological disaster caused by production of the alkaloid. Whilst cocaine production has undoubtedly contributed to ecological damage, the main culprit is the anti-drugs policy and the broader economic policies of the government itself.

 


Global perspectives

Europe’s big brothers
Thomas Hammarberg and Ben Hayes
If the human right to privacy is to survive a generation, never mind another 60 years, then European societies must have a serious discussion about surveillance techniques, their limits and how to control them.

After the meltdown
On the eve of the US election, five critical writers and economists met to discuss the financial crisis – and what should be done. With Barack Obama heading for the White House, is this time for the left to think big?

The futures of Iraq
Fred Halliday
An international study group convened in Barcelona to examine the political options for Iraq after five years of war. Fred Halliday, its chair, digests its conclusions.

Postcard from Venezuela
Saul Landau
Can Hugo Chavez's socialist vision endure in a country whose culture reeks of the worst of consumerism?
See also Requiem for a scandal

Water: Common Good, Public Management, And Alternatives
Reflections and summary of the historic Pan Asia Water Colloquium.
See also Statement of Commitment

Frieden kommt von unten
Jochen Hippler
Die Entwicklung funktionierender, bürgernaher Staatlichkeit muss Kernaufgabe sein. Kopflastige Staatlichkeit kann Probleme vor Ort eher verstärken. Um gesellschaftliche Integrationsmechanismen zu schaffen, ist das Militär prinzipiell das falsche Mittel.


En español


Selección del editor

Las negociaciones sobre el clima de Poznan: tocando el arpa mientras el planeta arde
Por Oscar Reyes
La Conferencia sobre el Clima de la ONU celebrada en la ciudad polaca de Poznan no ha logrado ningún avance hacia un acuerdo mundial sobre el clima; indicio no sólo de un mal momento en el calendario, sino también de un sistema que falla por la base y no tiene en cuenta los principios de la justicia climática.

 

"Transformemos la catástrofe en subversión"
Entrevista con Franco Berardi, Bifo, por Amador Fernández-Savater
El origen de la crisis financiera es mucho más profundo del que los economistas pueden reconocer: la crisis del crédito como herramienta fundamental de la dinámica económica capitalista y de la organización mundial de la división del trabajo y del consumo.

 

En Latinoamérica hay que fortalecer nuestra autonomía nacional mediante acuerdos de integración
Entrevista con Atilio Borón
Obama puede emprender algunas pequeñas iniciativas que sean importantes, pero América Latina no debe esperar nada de afuera. Deberíamos fortalecer la integración de los pueblos y de los gobiernos de América Latina.

 

No basta con 'compartir la responsabilidad' por las drogas cuando lo que se necesita es un cambio en la política de drogas
Amira Armenta
Mientras se mantenga el actual régimen para las drogas, la efectividad de campañas como la de "Responsabilidad compartida" del gobierno colombiano, es, como reza un proverbio holandés, como trapear el suelo con el grifo del agua abierto.

 


Perspectiva global

Lucrar sem produzir:
Crise financeira como oportunidade de criar uma economia mundial solidária

Marcos Arruda
Diante da ameaça de crise global, o movimento do FIB, o índice de Felicidade Interna Bruta, traz uma visão prática de outra economia possível.

Cocaína y leyes de mercado
Ricardo Soberón y Ricardo Vargas, investigadores asociados del TNI, ponen en duda los datos del último informe de la DEA (oficina antidrogas de Estados Unidos) sobre la subida del precio de la cocaína y la debilidad del mercado ilegal de drogas.

Chávez quiere un tercer mandato
Edgardo Lander destacó que Chávez logró, hace diez años, incluir en el sistema a quienes estaban excluidos, al tiempo que acentuó el control de los instrumentos del Estado para supervisar la sociedad.

Una tarjeta postal desde Venezuela
Saul Landau
¿Puede la visión socialista de Hugo Chávez persistir en un país cuya cultura hacia el exterior apesta a consumismo?

Véase también Réquiem por un escándalo




New from our network

Cumbre de los Pueblos del Sur: Declaración de Bahía
Neil Watkins and Sarah Anderson
Jubileo Sur >>

Ecuador's Debt Default: Exposing a Gap in the Global Financial Architecture
Neil Watkins and Sarah Anderson
Foreign Policy in Focus >>

EU lobby awards 2008: winners and runners-up
Corporate Europe Observatory >>

300+ NGOS say no to Mickey Mouse climate "solutions"
Commondreas.org >>

“The European Union and the governments of Peru and Colombia must stop promoting a split in the Andean Community of Nations (CAN)”
Declaration by Enlazando Alternativas >>

Climate Crashers
Corporate Europe Observatory >>

Inside the Brussels bubble
Corporate Europe Observatory >>

Recommended

False economy for rainforests
Ricardo Carrere, The Guardian

Good green short-termism
Ralf Martin, Open Democracy

How should the collapse of the world financial system affect economics? (PDF)
Real-World Economics Review

Capitalist Fools
Joseph E. Stiglitz, Common Dreams

Climate Change: Save the Planet from Capitalism!
Evo Morales, Climate and capitalism

UN appoints “controversial” water tsar to form policy on water
Foxnews

9 is not 11
Arundhati Roy, TomDispach

From the archives

Carbon Trading
A Critical Conversation on Climate Change, Privatisation and Power

Larry Lohmann (ed)
October 2006

Events

20 January
The European Union's Policy on China and the Role of Civil Society
Frankurt, Germany

In the media

Arming the skies: Will monitoring climate change take a back seat?
Lucy-Claire Saunders, Media Global, 15 December

Links Europa wil ook gehoord worden over de crisis
Mondiaal Magazine, 11 December 

EU climate talks fraud
Penny Cole, A World to Win, 11 December

Cultivos de uso ilícito y ecocidio: ¿Es realmente el cultivo ilícito el principal responsable del daño ecosistémico en Colombia?
Germán A. Quimbayo Equinoxio, 10 deciembre

El narcotráfico sí controla el VRAE
Leonardo Caballero La Primera, 10 diciembre

More of TNI in the news>>

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