Project SyndicateThe highest quality commentaries and analysis from distinguished voices across the worldLouise Arbour: Human Rights Made Whole- (Found July 5, 2008 ) On June 18, the United Nations intergovernmental Human Rights Council took an important step toward eliminating the artificial divide between freedom from fear and freedom from want that has characterized the human rights system since its inception. By giving the green light to the Optional Protocol to the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the Council has established an important mechanism to expose abuses that are typically linked to poverty, discrimination,.http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/arbour1/English Naomi Wolf: White House Sex Crimes- (Found July 5, 2008 ) NEW YORK Sex crime has a telltale signature, even when those directing the outrages are some of the most powerful men and women in the United States. How extraordinary, then, to learn that one of the perpetrators of these crimes, Condoleezza Rice, has just led the debate in a special session of the United Nations Security Council on the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/wolf1/English Robert Skidelsky: A League of Democracies- (Found July 5, 2008 ) LONDON Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, has been calling for the creation of a League of Democracies. This new international group would possess a formidable military capacity, based partly on NATO and partly on a new quadrilateral security partnership in the Pacific between Australia, India, Japan, and the US. Neither Russia nor China, of course, would be invited to join: indeed, McCain wants to exclude Russia from the G8.http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/skidelsky6/English Joschka Fischer: Europe's Calamity- (Found July 5, 2008 ) It has happened. After France and the Netherlands rejected the European Constitutional Treaty, Irelands No vote is the second and probably decisive blow against a united and strong Europe.http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/fischer27/English Constantinos Simitis: The Inevitable Re-Birth of European Integration- (Found July 5, 2008 ) ATHENS European integration implies successive transfers of national sovereignty to the Union. But, while member states readily comply with decisions that abolish protective measures say, import duties they hesitate to formulate or advance policies that would grant the European Union discretionary powers to take initiatives. Typical examples of this are the stalled Lisbon Strategy, the incomplete Economic and Monetary Union, and now, following the Irish publics blocking maneuver, the...http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/simitis1/English Jeffrey D. Sachs: Saving Resources to Save Growth- (Found July 5, 2008 ) NEW YORK Reconciling global economic growth, especially in developing countries, with the intensifying constraints on global supplies of energy, food, land, and water is the great question of our time. Commodity prices are soaring worldwide, not only for headline items like food and energy, but for metals, arable land, fresh water, and other crucial inputs to growth, because increased demand is pushing up against limited global supplies. Worldwide economic growth is already slowing under the...http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/sachs142/English Wing Thye Woo: The Right Way to Beat Chinese Inflation- (Found July 5, 2008 ) WASHINGTON, DC High inflation is threatening social stability in China, soaring from 3.3% in March 2007 to 8.3% in March 2008. As a result, the Peoples Bank of China has raised interest rates substantially and increased banks reserve requirements. The trick for the Chinese government will be to quell inflation in a way that does not compromise its long-term goal of continued strong economic growth. The risks are high.http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/wing1/English Marc van Ameringen: The Fight for Food- (Found July 5, 2008 ) GENEVA Every year, 3.5 million mothers and children below the age of five die in poor countries because they do not have the nutrition they need to fight common diseases. Three-quarters of them could have survived diarrhea or malaria if they had been properly nourished.http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/vanameringen1/English Jorge Castaeda: Farewell to the Revolution- (Found July 5, 2008 ) The FARC are finished, no matter how many men and weapons they may still have. Former Salvadoran guerrilla leader Joaqun Villalobos lapidary conclusion about the Colombian narco-guerrilla movement is worthy of consideration, given his unmatched insight into Latin Americas armed, revolutionary left. So is the almost tearful acknowledgement by Venezuelan President Hugo Chvezs ideological guru, Heinz Dieterich, that Chvezs speech on the FARC (calling on it to abandon armed struggle and free its...http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/castaneda19/English Bjrn Lomborg: McCain, Obama, and Hot Air- (Found July 5, 2008 ) WASHINGTON, DC Whatever the outcome of the United States presidential election, climate change policy will be transformed. Both candidates have placed great importance on global warming. Republican John McCain believes that it presents a test of foresight, of political courage, and of the unselfish concern that one generation owes to the next, while Democrat Barack Obama calls it one of the greatest moral challenges of our generation.http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/lomborg29/English |