International Relations & Politics Discussions

An Obama Presidency: what Growth Opportunities might it Engender for Africa and the Third World?

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Last comment added: Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:10:00 PDT

Portland- African Night- Reggae/Ndombolo/Katitu style

Another Ndombolo/REGGAE Night in Portland.

Please support us "EVERY LAST FRIDAY OF A MONTH", Your support crucual. We will be able to keep the African/Reggae Night in Portland forever. Remember, we are creating a culture so please raise with us. We trust that there is NO place for African/Reggae music in Portland so swing & sway in the African way.... all de way.

The theme of this night is "CONNECTION" people from various parts of the world come together to listen and dance to the sound of African/Reggae music.

WHEN: Friday, April 25th WHERE: The City (424 SW 4th street, downtown PDX) WHY: African Night- Together As One (TAO) COVER: $5.00 ONLY. ("Only Cultivation Can End Starvation And Heal The Nations!") TIME: 10 PM

Brought to you by:

Sir CK(Tanzania), Dj Madness ( Zambia ) BIG RIDDIM… PURE FIRE…. a mixture of Ndombolo, Bongo Flava, Zambian, Roots Reggae, Kenyan Flava & (Katitu style), Soukous, Dancehall, Ugandan, South African, Ragga Muffin.

This is a twice-in-a-lifetime-opportunity to meet those OTHER people from all over the world, particularly, the great continent of AFRICA. Kick back and relax to the sounds of Reggae & African Muziki.

KARIBU (Welcome....)

See you on Friday!

Peace & Guidance

Last comment added: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:29:23 PDT

International Plowshares

In the Crisis Sudan/Chad thread Lars Hasselblad Torres wrote:

Volatile nations are armed to the teeth. And where they are not, ideologically funneled money can make them, by infusing them with arms available for the cost of a chicken.

I would be very interested in getting involved in an aggressive international "plowshares" like initiative that was smart enough to not stimulate the market (ie had an answer to the problem of production). Anyone know of really good places to start?

I don't know of a really good place to start, but the issue is of such importance that I need to find out. My memory is like Swiss Cheese and organization isn't my forte. So the purpose of this thread is to collect information about arms flows and ways that ordinary people can influence harm reduction.

Ethan Zuckerman linked today to The SIPR Arms Transfers Database an important site for serious researchers.

Zuckerman is a treasure and his blog My Heart's in Accra a really valuable resource covering a range of subjects relating to the Internet and society. Recently he posted about Viktor Bout. Small arms kill more people than any other kind of weapon. There's a huge Black Market trade in small arms. Getting a handle on this illegal and secret trade is obviously difficult precise because it's illegal and secret. Nonetheless the illegal trafficking of small arms is an important aspect of the problem.

Darwin's Nightmare is a film about fish, and about how complex the problem of arms really is.

Films and popular culture seem to me a reasonable sort of information to add. Here's a review of Lords of War.

The testimony in the trial of Charles Taylor certainly provides evidence of the havoc arms trafficking wrecks. The broader circumstances of Taylor's power and connection to powerful business interests, like charismatic evangelist Pat Robertson is also an important part of the story.

Guns are an integral part of government corruption. One area that ordinary people can play a role is in exposing corruption and assisting citizen groups to combat corruption. Transparency International is a great resource. Arms and construction are the businesses most likely to offer bribes.

Please add resources as you come upon them. And in particular help us all to discover ways to turn arms into plowshares.

Last comment added: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:47:45 PST

Politics of Terrorism

HYPING TERROR

One of the topics that I followed at O Net is terrorism. One of the issues that emerged in this subject was how often terrorist cases were hyped.

QUI BONO

Many of the cases I looked at were so clearly contrived that it became incumbent upon me to look for 'manufactured' cases, i.e., cases that showed indications of being produced by overzealous or corrupt government officials. The justification for looking for these types of cases has less to do with my personal political beliefs than with theoretical predictions from political science, namely -- the Rally effect, which leads to the prediction that government officials can gain power by using the perception of a threat against the public.

THE DIX SIX

One of the cases that I covered on O Net was the "Dix Six," which only emerged in the final days of the Omidyar Network. Much about this case was suspicious, and a recent investigation by Time magazine confirmed some of my suspicions.

Playing Tricks with the Fort Dix Six

Last comment added: Sun, 27 Jan 2008 11:58:53 PST

Kenyan Elections

Kenyan elections were held on December 27. The elections saw many members of Parliament thrown out. The presidential election was extremely close with sitting president Mwai Kibaki claiming victory, amid reports of widespread election tampering, over challenger Ralia Odinga. The results have led to riots and widespread social disruption.

This thread is spot for discussing this emerging crisis in a country where many of us have friends.

Dozens burnt alive in church attack is an article in "The Nation" one of Kenya's leading independent newspapers. Press has been blocked at various times during this unfolding tragedy, blogs and online communities have been a source for information and perspective.

Right now I'm upset and jittery. There are some posts and sources I want to link to, but want to collect my thoughts. I would be very grateful to others who post here.

Edit: typos

Last comment added: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:12:58 PDT

Is withdrawal from Iraq an option ?

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Aug. 22 -- President Bush defended his ongoing military commitment in Iraq by linking the conflict there to the Vietnam War, arguing Wednesday that withdrawing U.S. troops would lead to widespread death and suffering as it did in Southeast Asia three decades ago. - Michael A. Fletcher, The Washington Post.

KOREA, December 1950 - When asked by a journalist if the US 1st Marine Division was retreating in the face of an overwhelming Chinese counter attack, Major General Oliver Prince Smith famously snapped "Retreat, hell!.... We're not retreating, we're just advancing in a different direction."

Thoughts ?

Suggested ground rules In opening up this discussion on Iraq I would suggest that discussions on the rights/wrongs of the invasion/occupation of Iraq are best held under a different thread in this group. I am more interested in this thread in raising questions about the future and the way forward.

I am also interested in Bush's revisionist views of the American withdrawal from Vietnam, the consequences of that 'advance in a different direction' and whether there really are any parallels that can be drawn with the consequences of withdrawal from Iraq.

Last comment added: Thu, 01 Nov 2007 20:01:59 PST

Is Protectionism the answer for the Developing World ?

Free trade, free markets and democracy are part of the litany of the so-called 'Washington Consensus' but does the enforcement of Free Trade principles through the World Trade Organisation (WTO) or the World Bank do more for the developed world than the developing world ?

SO long as USA and the European Union (EU)use tariffs, quotas and subsidies (including military expenditure)to provide protections for their own producers how can countries in the developing world best protect their own internal markets from the pressures of subsidised exports from the developed world ?

Can social, political and economic growth in the developing world ever be achieved under the pressures to remove barriers to free trade and free markets ?

In the first instance, is development actually best achieved through a selective protectionism that nurtures the growth of indigenous enterprises and internal markets ?

Last comment added: Sun, 23 Sep 2007 11:04:48 PDT