AIDemocracy.org

Recent summit raises questions about North Korea’s growing nuclear program

January 13, 2012 by Emily 1 Comment

A summit the week of January 9 between South Korea and China raised discussion about a free trade agreement, diplomatic relations, and perhaps most importantly, North Korea’s nuclear program. As the two countries discuss the importance of a bilateral trade agreement, they will undoubtedly examine ways to confront the growing problem of North Korean nuclear proliferation. While both countries want peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula, their views diverge on how to achieve these goals. Beijing’s foremost concern is protecting its own … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Security Tagged With: aid, China, Food Aid, free trade, Government, humanitarian aid, Japan, North Korea, nuclear, nuclear proliferation, Peace, policy, refugee, Russia, sanctions, United States

From Fortress Lids to City Grids: trust, economics, and security

January 2, 2012 by remi Leave a Comment

The images below are aerial views of Berlin, the capital of Germany, and Groningen, a city on the road from Germany to the Dutch republic. What is notable about Berlin is that during a good portion of the Enlightenment it did not have the increasingly complex fortifications present in Groningen. Star Fortresses popped up all around Europe starting in 1500, getting to the point that Sienna went bankrupt simply to afford her city walls. This presents rather nicely the relationship between two of the most powerful forces in the world today: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Security Tagged With: policy, security, trade

Freedom of Speech or Freedom of Hate?

July 1, 2011 by Anton Leave a Comment

In our country we have something called Freedom of Speech. Americans enjoy this freedom because they can speak their mind on just about any subject: sports, cars, politics, and defaming a religion. Yes, I said it, defaming a religion! Since 9/11 happened, Americans believe that is what Islam is: full of hate, attacking American freedoms and values, and that Muslims are plotting to taking over. Remember though that it was not Muslim Americans that attacked us on 9/11 but rather Muslims that were from overseas that became radicalized for a cause they … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less Tagged With: 9/11, diplomacy, discrimination, Gender, Islam, Muslim, Muslim American, policy, Politics, race, religion, women

The OECD Forum: better policies for better lives?

May 27, 2011 by Rachel Merker Leave a Comment

Yesterday, as the highly publicized 2011 G8 Summit got underway, another international dialogue was drawing to a close: the Opportunity for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Forum. The OECD, which to date consists of 34 member countries representing mainly developed and emerging economies, gathered in Paris, France from May 24-26th to commemorate its 50th anniversary as an economic organization that, “Promotes policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.” Primarily a body that collects and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Climate Change, Featured Less, Hunger Tagged With: Climate Change, economic growth, economy, fair trade, free trade, G20, G8, global development, Hunger, international financial architecture, new media, policy, sustainable development

Fatima’s Story in Pittsburgh: Report from an AIDemocracy Chapter Conference on Global Health Disparities

April 10, 2011 by Patrick McDermott

Last Friday and Saturday, the brand new chapter of Americans for Informed Democracy at the University of Pittsburgh held its inaugural event to kick off the launch of its chapter. Most people might think an inaugural event might be a film screening or an info. session to launch their chapter. However, the students at UPitt like to do it big...their inaugural event was an entire conference on global health as affected by development, environment and conflict! Heady stuff I know for a first event, but that's how our students like to do it. And I can say to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Sex and Justice Tagged With: advocacy, Climate Change, events, health, Hunger, policy, refugee, student organization

Bigger Carrots and Bigger Sticks? A Problematic Approach to Iran’s Nuclear Program

February 3, 2011 by Patrick McDermott

Today, I had the opportunity to attend a half-day session on Iran's nuclear program and US policy options for addressing the problems posed by their program. The session was organized by the National Security Network and the Center for American Progress. Throughout the day, there were three panels of experts that were tasked with sharing their views on a particular aspect of Iran and its relations with the United States. The first focused on the political situation within Iran itself. The second focused on Iran's nuclear program and the country's … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Security Tagged With: Egypt, Iran, Middle East, national security, nuclear weapons, policy, sanctions, Tunisia, United States

Lost in Translation

January 28, 2011 by Sara Hooker

There was a stats conversion problem I had to do today, changing miles per gallon into gallons per mile. Gallons per mile, the end result of the problem, which might seem unusual to US drivers is actually how the rest of the world views gas consumption. My textbook said it best: Americans think of it as: I’ve got 10 gallons in the tank. How far can I drive? Where as most of the world says: ‘I’ve got to go 100km, how much gas do you think I need’ This little math (or maths, if we are continuing with our global conversions) problem actually … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Hunger Tagged With: activism, capitalism, economic growth, economy, Europe, financial crisis, Issue Analyst, policy, poverty, public opinion, United States, youth

Global Malnutrition and the Politics of Food

January 18, 2011 by Alex B. Hill

Whether they are starving or eating too much, children around the world are malnourished. A full belly doesn't necessarily mean that a child is getting proper nutrition from the food that they eat. Obese children are just as nutritionally deficient as children who have bloated bellies from hunger. The result is a global generation of unhealthy children who will experience a shorter life expectancy than normal from complications with their health and related diseases. The double burden of malnutrition is seen in both a complete lack of access to food and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Hunger, Sex and Justice Tagged With: hunger, Obama, policy