A few months ago, I wrote an article about China’s effort to make the city of Shenyang more environmentally friendly. In recent days with the Durban Climate Change Conference having just finished in South Africa, environmental issues have garnered a little more focus in the last few weeks. While I am typically a quick skeptic …
Tag: Government
Dec 13
Conquering the Global Digital Divide
I stumbled upon an image this weekend showing the digital divide of the world. It graphically shows what parts of the globe have access to digital technology, measured through IP address locations. Showing the layers between high and low-density areas in relation to internet access is powerful. I once heard someone say that Africa is …
Dec 08
End of Year Review: Arab Spring, Part 1
A lot has happened in the Middle East and North Africa in the last year, and if you’re anything like me you’ve had a difficult time trying to keep up with all the protests, names, elections, et cetera. So I’m doing a 3-part series on the Arab Spring. The first …
Dec 01
Myanmar: The Final Frontier
The Republic of Myanmar (commonly known as Burma) is not the most tourist-friendly place. That may change soon, however, as the government seeks to capitalize on the benefits of 50 years of heavy tourist restrictions and isolation: beautiful, unspoiled landscapes and culture. For decades the country has faced heavy sanctions because of the oppressive regime …
Nov 22
Inversiones peligrosas
Read this post in English Durante los últimos años en los países del sur se está experimentando un aumento de la inversión extranjera directa en tierras agrícolas. Motivados en parte por la crisis alimentaria, los inversores públicos y privados están comprando millones de hectáreas de tierras agrícolas en África, Asia y América Latina. Sin embargo, muchas inversiones …
Nov 18
Arab League Threatens Syria with Sanctions
Two weeks ago the Syrian government agreed to ends its crackdown on anti-government demonstrators, a development I was skeptical of. I hoped that the Syrian government was legitimately ready to end the violence, but worried that President al-Assad’s history of broken peace agreements was a sign that he was not going to commit to a …
Nov 11
¿Cuántos Esclavos Trabajan Para Usted?
Read this Post in English ¿Sabe dónde está hecha su ropa? Que manos recogieron los tomates que usted come? ¿Cómo los cosas que usa a diario se fabricaron? Su respuesta probablemente es no, y la verdad es que la mayoría de nosotros no tomamos el tiempo para averiguarlo. Podemos leer la etiqueta cosida en nuestra …
Nov 10
Is Happiness a Good Measure of Development?
A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the possibility of including factors besides GDP as measures of development, so I thought today it might be interesting to do a sort of case study on a country that has done just that. I’m sure many of you have heard that Bhutan, that small kingdom …
Nov 03
Trafficking Calls to Action
January is right around the corner. It signifies the beginning of a new year, of new opportunities and resolutions. It is also gives a solemn reminder of the 27 million people who don’t enjoy the freedoms and opportunities we do. In 2010, President Barack Obama designated January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness month. …
Nov 03
New Hope for Peace in Syria
A few weeks ago I wrote a post about Syria and whether or not the international community should intervene and impose a no fly zone like they did in Egypt. Well, today, some heartening news came from Syria: Syria has agreed to end its crackdown on anti-government demonstrations, pull troops from the streets, and release …