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20 YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL: A LOST OPPORTUNITY
Ignacio Ramonet

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

The historic opportunity presented by the fall of the Berlin Wall twenty years ago has been squandered, writes Ignacio Ramonet, editor of Le Monde Diplomatique in Spanish.

20 YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL: BEYOND THE FREE MARKET
Eric Hobsbawm

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, NOVEMBER 2009

The short twentieth century was an era of religious war between secular ideologies. For historical rather than logical reasons it was dominated by the opposition between two and only two mutually exclusive types of economy, ‘Socialism’, which was identified with centrally planned economies of the Soviet type and ‘Capitalism’ which covered all the rest, writes Eric Hobsbawm, British historian and author.

20 YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL: THE STORY CONTINUES
Mikhail Gorbachev

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, OCTOBER 2009

Twenty years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world has not become a fairer place: disparities between the rich and poor have grown while the crisis of ideologies now threatens to become a crisis of ideals, values, and morals and strengthen the atmosphere of political pessimism and nihilism, writes Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union from 1985-1991, Nobel Peace Prize 1990 and president of the World Political Forum (WPF).

FUNDS WITHOUT FUNDS: THE CHILEAN CASE
Manuel Riesco

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, OCTOBER 2009

Chile's private pension system lost 30 percent of its overall value during the current financial crisis, writes Manuel Riesco, a Chilean economist, vice president of the Centre for National Studies of Alternative Development (CENDA), and director of the Foundation for Overcoming Poverty.

THE PRIVATISATION OF LIVELIHOOD
Vandana Shiva

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, OCTOBER 2009

Globalisation and trade liberalisation policies have led to the privatisation of water and biodiversity and the concentration of land ownership in India, reversing six decades of land reform and introducing a new form of corporate zamindari -a feudal land tenure system- through instruments like "special economic zones", writes Vandana Shiva, an author and international campaigner for women and the environment.

NOBEL TO OBAMA: THE RIGHT TIME, THE RIGHT PERSON
Mario Soares

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, OCTOBER 2009

Obama's greatest strength derives from the hope he arouses for a better world, one with more solidarity and justice. This is not a new utopia. Today it is possible to take a major step forward, like those taken during other crucial periods of history, writes Mario Soares, ex-president and ex-prime minister of Portugal.

A CULTURE OF PEACE - THE TIME HAS COME
Federico Mayor

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, OCTOBER 2009

The culture and economy of war and the hegemony of the "globalisers" have been a catastrophic failure and the cause of incalculable levels of suffering, hunger, and extreme poverty. A "new beginning" is needed urgently, writes Federico Mayor, president of the Culture of Peace Foundation and former Director General of UNESCO.

LOW-INTENSITY PROTECTIONISM, SO FAR
Pascal Lamy

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, OCTOBER 2009

World economic growth, as measured by the world's production of goods and services, has slowed abruptly in 2008 and the early part of this year. The contraction in demand led to a slowdown in production, and in international trade. World merchandise trade is projected to fall by a full 10 per cent this year, and foreign direct investment, which fell by 15 per cent in 2008, is projected to drop further, writes Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

CRISIS SLOWS NORTH-TO-SOUTH INVESTMENT
Supachai Panitchpakdi

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, SEPTEMBER 2009

The current crisis has precipitated a significant downturn in world foreign direct investment (FDI) flows which over the past year has spread to all sectors and regions. 2008 marked the end of a growth cycle in international investment that began in 2003 and reached a historic high of nearly $2 trillion in 2007, writes Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

CUBA: START THE DEBATE
Leonardo Padura Fuentes

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, SEPTEMBER 2009

Cuba's official newspaper and organ of the Communist Party recently published a story that stunned the populace: in a country where the lack of food has become endemic and causes the people dire economic hardship, tonnes of agricultural products were left to rot outside the city of Havana because there were neither the containers nor the vehicles nor the organisational capacity to transport them, writes Leonardo Padura Fuentes, a Cuban writer and journalist whose novels have been translated into a dozen languages.

WHY SHOULD WE ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Hiromichi Umebayashi

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, SEPTEMBER 2009

Why should we abolish nuclear weapons? This apparently naive question seems to have become a matter of debate, writes Hiromichi Umebayashi, founder and special advisor of Peace Depot, Inc. Japan.

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Q&A: ‘Creating Artificial Glaciers Is Simple, Easy and Replicable’

INDIA: ‘Glacier Man’ Vows to Build More Artificial Glaciers

US-INDIA: State Visit by Singh Could Smooth Bumpy Relations

PERU: Fighting Hunger with Native Crops

RIGHTS-CHAGOS: 'My Navel is Buried There'

GENDER-AFRICA: Some Progress Amidst Continuing Challenges

AFGHANISTAN: Insurgents Infiltrate Security Forces

LEBANON: Migrant Women Dying on the Job

POLITICS: U.N. in Final Push for 2015 Development Goals

CLIMATE CHANGE: Health at Risk

FORO SOCIAL MUNDIAL: Llega la hora del debate con gobiernos

COLOMBIA-VENEZUELA: Conflicto se agudiza velozmente

POBLACIÓN-BRASIL: Quilombo de resistencia cultural negra

CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO-CHILE: El costo de no hacer nada

DERECHOS HUMANOS-HAITÍ: Misión de la ONU despierta ira

Q&R : Reconnaître les avantages de ralentir la croissance démographique

AFRIQUE : Utilisation croissante du téléphone cellulaire pour le planning familial

OUGANDA : "L’expulsion du Mont Elgon nous a réduits en mendiants"*

REFUGIES-RD CONGO : Les humanitaires reprennent à zéro au nord Congo

EAU-ZAMBIE : Des inquiétudes avant la saison des inondations

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