Transnational news - 28 May 2009

Editor's Picks

	Will China save the world from depression? Walden Bello The world is looking at China to save it from depression, but China has built its export based economy on the backs of its rural population, which is too poor to absorb the industry's output now that global demand has slumped.

	Now to complete the democratic revolution Hilary Wainwright The current anger in Britain over MPs' misuse of public money is more than outrage at the pathetic greed of public representatives. It is a fury over a deep-seated failure of public control of public money, that should now be the basis of a movement to complete the unfinished struggle for popular sovereignty.

	Carbon Trading: flaw at the heart of Democrats’ climate bill Oscar Reyes The oil, gas and coal industry lobbyists who have spent almost $45 million to influence President Obama´s climate bill need not worry: it is so full of holes that US industry could avoid making any reductions at home until 2026. See also: Carbon trading and cash values on forests cannot curb carbon emissions

	Netanyahu at the White House: not yet change we can believe in Phyllis Bennis The reality of power – that the U.S. has the financial, military, diplomatic and political tools for enforcing change in Israeli policies – was not reflected in the post-meeting press conference. See also: Change we can believe in for US-Israeli relations?

	Aam Aadmi please, not India Inc Praful Bidwai India's general election has produced a decisive verdict which sets a new political trend after 20 years. Congress was rewarded for its inclusive pluralism and left-of-centre policies, while the Bharatiya Janata Party's politics of exclusion and ethnic hatred was clearly rejected.

New publications

	TNI Annual Report 2008 (PDF) TNI has been in existence for 35 years and has never been as relevant or as productive as it is now. Our challenge now is to find the funds to sustain this work. We will need all the support we can get, and trust we can count on you!

	Civic Driven Change - A concise guide to the basics Kees Biekart and Alan Fowler This short booklet introduces new ideas about how civil society is guiding the nature of development by taking an active role in responding to the most pressing issues the world faces such as poverty, injustice, conflict and environmental degradation.

Critical Perspectives in Agrarian Change and Peasant Studies
A special issue of Journal of Peasant Studies
Saturnino M. Borras Jr (editor).
The recent convergence of various crises – financial, food, energy and environmental – has put the nexus between 'rural development' and 'development in general' back onto the center stage of theoretical, policy and political agendas in the world today.
See also: Agrarian change and peasant studies: changes, continuities and challenges – an introduction

Global perspectives

Why Has Cuba Become a Difficult Problem for the Left?
Boaventura de Sousa Santos
Both Cuba and the left have evolved during half a century along different paths, but now is the hour for the left worldwide to give back what it owes Cuba for being what it is.

Yet another deception in UN drug control
Martin Jelsma
This month's elections to the International Narcotics Control Board have proven to be more about horse trading at the UN than the real issues at stake for global drug policy.

Ken Saro-Wiwa: the day of truth?
Kevin Smith
It will send shockwaves through boardrooms if the predictions of the executed campaigner are proved right in a US court.

Guantanamo plans don’t match rhetoric
Phyllis Bennis interviewed by Louise Dunne
US President Barack Obama’s promise to end the Guantanamo "mess" must not lead to detention without trial on American soil.

Blundering in Nepal
Praful Bidwai
India’s heavy-handed interference in Nepal, which aggravated its political crisis, speaks of a colossal foreign policy failure.
See also Binayak case puts democracy on trial

The illusion of stabilization
Boris Kagarlitsky
The trillions that governments around the world have spent since the crisis broke out have been spent more on producing positive headlines than in instituting measures to halt the crisis.
See also: Good cop, bad cop an unremarkable one.

Dancing the Afghan Jig
Saul Landau
Like Lincoln in the Civil War, President Obama hopes changing generals will yield victory -- or at least “success.” But the killing of more innocent civilians will only strengthen support for the Taliban.
Action: Ancient memories (Part I).

Presentation to the Preparatory Committee for the 2010 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to NPT
Peter Weiss

"Der soziale Konsens ist bedroht"
Interview mit Jochen Hippler
Es ist ein Wunder, wenn sich in einigen Ländern soziale Ungleichheiten nicht verschärfen. Der Politologe Jochen Hippler spricht im FR-Interview über die Gefahren der Krise für den Frieden.

En español

Selección del editor

	Israel-Palestina ¿Y si negociar no fuese la solución? Mariano Aguirre En las últimas semanas, el gobierno del presidente estadounidense, Barack Obama, ha dado una serie de pasos novedosos hacia la solución del conflicto palestino-israelí. Sin embargo, se corren fuertes riesgos si sólo se acuerda continuar dialogando, como se ha hecho durante la última década.

Visita de Chávez a Argentina implica un avance a la integración
Entrevista con Atilio Borón
En una entrevista exclusiva a la cadena televisiva Telesur, Borón resaltó que la visita del presidente Chávez a Argentina es beneficiosa para ambos países para fortalecer el proceso de integración regional. Destacó la importancia de la creación del Banco del Sur para enfrentar la crisis en América Latina.

	¿Por qué Cuba se ha vuelto un problema difícil para la izquierda? Boaventura de Sousa Santos La izquierda mundial y Cuba se desarollaron en diversas direcciones en el último medio siglo, pero 'este es el momento para que el mundo de la izquierda le devuelva a Cuba lo mucho que le debe para ser lo que es.

Perspectiva global

Bailando la giga afgana
Saul Landau
Al igual que Lincoln durante la Guerra Civil, el presidente Obama espera que el cambio de general conduzca a la victoria o, al menos, al “éxito”. Sin embargo, la matanza de más civiles inocentes servirá solamente para fortalecer el apoyo popular a los talibanes.
Véase también: Antiguas memorias (Primera parte)

El estado de la calle
Joan Subirats
El problema del sistema político es que no escucha a quien no grita. No resulta extraño que cada vez se amplíen más las distancias y las incomprensiones entre el estado de la calle y el estado de la nación.

New from our network

Good news, there's a climate bill — Bad news, it stinks
Op-Ed by Daphne Wysham, Institute for Policy Studies

Climate Summit Inc. (PDF)
Climate Greenwash

International No-bases Network launches new website
La red internacional No Bases presenta un nuevo sitio web.
no-bases.org

Native American Environmental Leader Tom Goldtooth: Climate Change Bill Fails to Address Indigenous Rights
democracy Now!

‘Biochar’, a new big threat to people, land, and ecosystems

Impacts of Expansion of Sugarcane Monocropping for Ethanol Production (PDF)
Maria Luisa Mendonca

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