UNESCO, a subdivision of the United Nations, aims to to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development, and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication, and information. On October 12th the US State Department announced the US withdrawal from UNESCO, citing an anti-Israel bias, mounting US arrears, and theContinue reading “The US Withdrawal from UNESCO: Fighting an "anti-Israel" Bias?”
Category Archives: Global
Remembering Liu Xiaobo
Last Thursday (October 19th), a service took place at Washington National Cathedral to commemorate the work and life of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Liu Xiaobo, and celebrate his wife, Beijing-based poet, artist, and activist, Liu Xia. The event included messages from the Dalai Lama, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Congressman Chris Smith, as wellContinue reading “Remembering Liu Xiaobo”
The Right to Food: Climate Change
While some politicians continue to deny either the existence or the importance and urgency of global climate change, as seen recently in the US, it is evident that climate change is having a tangible, present-day impact on food production, and may in the future lead to greater food insecurity. It is therefore vital that contemporaryContinue reading “The Right to Food: Climate Change”
What’s in a Name? Afghanistan and the #WhereIsMyName Campaign
It is widely acknowledged that names are important. Identities are built around them, and they are instrumental in creating a sense of dignity and autonomy. They often embody the independence of that person, their status, and encourage them to stand up for their rights. Names may therefore be seen to have a massive psychological impactContinue reading “What’s in a Name? Afghanistan and the #WhereIsMyName Campaign”
The Third Generation Project: What We Talk About When We Talk About Human Rights
The notion that people are entitled to certain inalienable rights has long been a part of the fabric of international relations, in theory if often not in practice. However, the form that these rights should take is far from straightforward, with tensions and tradeoffs to be made between civil, political, social, and economic rights, andContinue reading “The Third Generation Project: What We Talk About When We Talk About Human Rights”
Human Rights and Business: The Corporate Accountability Paradox
Imagine if, one day, your local water supply suddenly started turning an acidic yellow colour. This is currently the case in the rivers near Zambia’s Copperbelt region. Fish are dying and the people are suffering. In 2015, toxic contamination from the London-based mining giant Vedanta Resources’ copper refinery reached such severe levels that the peopleContinue reading “Human Rights and Business: The Corporate Accountability Paradox”
Express Yourself: To What Extent Are We Free to Express Ourselves?
We express ourselves in a plethora of ways every day. We express ourselves in the way we dress, the societies we join, the friends we make, and even the supermarkets that we chose to shop in. This ability to express ourselves is fiercely protected within democracies, and is fundamental to our social and political lives.Continue reading “Express Yourself: To What Extent Are We Free to Express Ourselves?”
How Human Rights Present Barriers to Cloning
The exciting technology of human cloning, and its as-yet unknown impacts on the world, has captured the imagination of the general public through popular films, books, and television programmes. Animal reproductive cloning became a reality on 5 July 1996 when Dolly the sheep was born in Midlothian, Scotland. She was the first mammal ever toContinue reading “How Human Rights Present Barriers to Cloning”
Human Trafficking and the Internet
In February 2017, Ashton Kutcher and his tech company Thorn went viral. Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children is an anti-trafficking organisation that focuses primarily on the use of the internet in facilitating the sexual trafficking of children. Kutcher addressed the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee to speak about ending modern day slavery, recounting theContinue reading “Human Trafficking and the Internet”
Rediscovering the Art of Proxy War
The Cold War is often described as a ‘competition’ between the USA and the Soviet Union that existed in many different fields, from technology to diplomacy to sports. However, the opponents were limited from direct military confrontation by both sides’ terror of Mutually Assured Destruction through nuclear war. Yet, very quickly the Cold War turnedContinue reading “Rediscovering the Art of Proxy War”
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