Labor, Trade, & Finance Archives - Page 96 of 235

Mining for El Salvador’s Gold — In Washington

by Manuel Perez-Rocha | Aug 11, 2010

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to travel to Cabañas, El Salvador, to meet with some of the bravest and most successful environmental activists in the world. Ordinary villagers in this remote area of the country have joined with religious groups, research centers, and others to take on the powerful international mining companies that are seeking to plunder their country’s gold. So far, the activists have been winning this David-vs.-Goliath fight. Two successive Salvadoran governments have denied permits for gold mining on environmental and human health grounds.

A Solution to Congolese Violence — or Empty Gesture?

by Michael Busch | Jul 30, 2010

As part of the sweeping financial reform bill signed into law this past week by President Barack Obama, a surprising legislative rider took effect seeking an end to the internal conflict plaguing Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The provision, which resulted largely from intensive lobbying efforts by the Enough Project to stop genocide, is designed to prevent destabilizing elements within the DRC from feeding off the country’s lucrative trade in precious metals. The DRC boasts rich deposits of tungsten, tantalum, and tin—metals commonly found in cell phones, laptops, video game consoles and other electronic devices—profits from which have long been seen to fuel the activities of non-state combatants there.

Iran-Turkey-Syria: An Alliance of Convenience

by Richard Javad Heydarian | Jul 19, 2010

The Israel-Palestine conflict has been at the heart of regional affairs since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. This is the context wherein the “de facto” Iran-Turkey-Syria axis should be understood, although substantive normalization of relations in the last decade between Turkey and its neighbors Iran and Syria served as a pre-requisite for the supposed alliance.

Greece: Same Tragedy, Different Scripts

by Walden Bello | Jul 14, 2010

Cafés are full in Athens, and droves of tourists still visit the Parthenon and go island-hopping in the fabled Aegean. But beneath the summery surface, there is confusion, anger, and despair as this country plunges into its worst economic crisis in decades.

The Scramble for East Africa

by Dana Wagner | Jul 2, 2010

The East African Community has accelerated negotiations with Europe for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). The race is on for negotiators and lobbyists to either let Europe in or keep it out. And so far, influential EPA advocates are in the lead, according to Yash Tandon, former head of the South Centre and critic of African EPAs with Europe. As corporate proponents advance the trade deal, negotiations threaten East African unity at a critical time in its still early development.

G20’s Central Role? As a Lightning Rod

by Walden Bello | Jun 27, 2010

Endorsement of minimal financial regulation and an informal agreement to disagree over the stimulus question are likely to be the vapid results of this latest summit of the world’s so-called powerhouse economies. But the structural fissures of global capital have become too great to be papered over by the G20 in Toronto.

It’s Time to Step up Diplomacy with Iran

by Mary Slosson | Jun 25, 2010

Things are heating up for Iran. The international community, responding to doubts over the intentions of the Iranian nuclear program, has passed three sanctions packages over the past three weeks.

U.S.-India Nuke Transactions Go From Bad to Worse

by Russ Wellen | Jun 25, 2010

U.S.-India nuclear transactions are part of a broader set of agreements between the two countries that U.S.-based multinationals are hoping to use as a wedge to further open India to investment and sales.

Donating to Haiti and Beyond

by Marie Mainil, Jeremy Worthington | Jun 22, 2010

Media coverage of humanitarian crises appears to influence charitable giving. Using internet donations after the 2004 Indonesia tsunami as a case study, Philip Brown and Jessica Mintyof The William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan, show that media coverage of disasters has a dramatic impact on donations to relief agencies. According to Brown and Minty, an additional minute of nightly news coverage increases donations by 13.2 percent of the average daily donation for the typical relief agency. Similarly, an additional 700-word story in The New York Times or Wall Street Journal raises donations by 18.2 percent of the daily average.7

Question: Will Lithium Be Good For Afghanistan?

by John Goekler | Jun 16, 2010

Imagine the Pentagon officials supposedly part of the team that discovered significant mineral wealth in Afghanistan spelunking about in pith helmets with their little rock hammers.