The Venezuelan economy has halved since 2013. Amidst a deep economic crisis, there have been clashes between government and opposition forces and the recent power-struggle has escalated internationally, with multiple Western states introducing extensive economic sanctions. As the propaganda war reaches its peak, we have invited experts to answer some of the most pressing questions.
Law is fundamentally limited in its potential to challenge corporations' power and their harm, because the law has been created to facilitate capitalist accumulation and therefore the rights of the property-owning class to force others to submit to its will. It cannot, therefore, be expected to have any emancipatory potential.
Political impasse continues in Myanmar. Peace talks and general elections have failed to achieve national breakthroughs. All parties — both domestic and international — need to reflect on this failure. Civil society networks and representative governance must be strengthened at the community level if peace and democracy are to be built.
Prof John Ruggie has shared his comments on the Zero Draft treaty on TNCs and human rights on this blog earlier this month. His core concerns are that the zero draft has not adequately deal with ‘scale’ and ‘liability’. This response argues that Ruggie’s arguments in opposition to the binding treaty are misdirected and they fail to recognise the historic opportunity offered by the Human Right Council to create a human rights remedy system for corporate abuse across national boundaries.
As is now to be expected, the World Drug Report 2013 represents an impressive and wide-ranging set of data, analysis and policy prescription, and provides an overview of recent trends and the current situation in terms of production, trafficking, and consumption, including the consequences of illicit drug use on health. This year it also devotes considerable space to the phenomenon of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS).
In this response to the UNODC's World Drug Report 2008, the IDPC continues to support the concept of the Office acting in a capacity as a 'centre of expertise' that collates data, analysis and information on best practices, objectively facilitates policy debates between member states and civil society, and implements multilateral programmes. Nonetheless, it argues that there are still too many examples in the Report where the objectivity and expertise of the Office can be questioned.
This IDPC response to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)’s flagship publication, the World Drug Report, provides an overview of the data and topics presented in the Report and where appropriate, within the broader context of the current state of the UN drug control framework, offer a critical analysis of both.
This IDPC response to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)’s flagship publication, the World Drug Report, provides an overview of the data and topics presented in the Report and where appropriate, within the broader context of the current state of the UN drug control framework, offer a critical analysis of both.
The Bail Out Business is the most comprehensive and thorough analysis of the response to the 2008 financial crisis to understand who benefits from rescue packages in the EU. How effective were the bail out measures? What were the hidden costs to the taxpayer? and what was the role of the Big Four (audit firms) and financial consultancy firms in the business of designing and implementing bail out programs in EU Member States?
La Oficina de las Naciones Unidas contra la Droga y el Delito (ONUDD) publicó su último informe sobre la situación del mercado mundial de los estupefacientes ilegales, el Informe Mundial sobre las Drogas 2009, el día 24 de junio. Fue la primera edición de lo que se presenta como la publicación estrella de la ONUDD desde que finalizó, el pasado mes de marzo, el proceso de revisión de la UNGASS de 1998.
The World Drug Report 2009 was the first publication of note to come from the UNODC since the High Level Segment of the 52nd session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. As such, it was eagerly anticipated for not only what it would say about the trends in world drug markets, but also what it might reveal about the outlook of the senior management of the Office itself after the UNGASS review.
The 2009 Commission on Narcotic Drugs and its High Level Segment (HLS) marked the end of the 2-year process of the 10-year review of the 1998 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the World Drug Problem. The event was marked by the call of the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, to remove the coca leaf from the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, which represented the first ever truly open challenge by any nation state to the structure of the international drug control system. The HLS adopted a new Political Declaration and Plan of Action. A dissenting Interpretative Statement by 26 countries on harm reduction, not mentioned in the Political Declaration, marked a clear divide in drug control approaches.
The 2009 Commission on Narcotic Drugs and its High Level Segment (HLS) marked the end of the 2-year process of the 10-year review of the 1998 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the World Drug Problem. The event was marked by the call of the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, to remove the coca leaf from the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, which represented the first ever truly open challenge by any nation state to the structure of the international drug control system. The HLS adopted a new Political Declaration and Plan of Action. A dissenting Interpretative Statement by 26 countries on harm reduction, not mentioned in the Political Declaration, marked a clear divide in drug control approaches.
The Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for 2010 reveals not only the INCB’s continuing habit of exceeding its mandate, but also an enthusiasm for censuring what it regards as moves towards the liberalization of policy practice while preferring to remain silent on other areas that are within its purview and merit attention. This IDPC report concludes that this year’s Report does reflect some positive changes in the INCB’s outlook, but these are still outweighed by familiar negative practices and positions.
Serie de informes elaborados por el Consorcio Internacional sobre Políticas de Drogas (IDPC) sobre la Comisión de Estupefacientes 2009 y su segmento de alto nivel, celebrados en Viena en marzo de 2009.
This is the second edition of the IDPC Drug Policy Guide aimed at national government policy makers. This publication is a collaborative effort by a number of members of the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) and partners, and brings together global evidence and best practices on the design and implementation of drug policies and programmes at national level.
The International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) – of which TNI is a member – published a second version of its Advocacy Guide that provides an update on the emerging process for the review of global policies on controlled drugs being conducted under the auspices of the United Nations. It describes the latest situation on the planning for the review, and sets out the IDPC position on which issues need to be addressed in the review, and how these issues may be tackled in order to achieve a constructive outcome.
La Oficina de las Naciones Unidas contra la Droga y el Delito (ONUDD) publicó su último informe sobre la situación del mercado mundial de los estupefacientes ilegales, el Informe Mundial sobre las Drogas 2009, el día 24 de junio. Fue la primera edición de lo que se presenta como la publicación estrella de la ONUDD desde que finalizó, el pasado mes de marzo, el proceso de revisión de la UNGASS de 1998.
The 2009 Commission on Narcotic Drugs and its High Level Segment (HLS) marked the end of the 2-year process of the 10-year review of the 1998 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the World Drug Problem. The event was marked by the call of the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, 
The Report of the 
