GLOBALISM These are articles previously published by Toward Freedom related to this category.
Missile defense is quickly becoming the most significant global arms race of the 21st century. This race may soon reach into space, what the Patriot Missile
In a remarkable combination of civil society pressure and leadership from a small number of progressive states, a strong ban on the use, manufacture, and stocking of cluster bombs was signed in Oslo, Norway on December 3, 2008. However, all bright sunlight casts a dark shadow, and in this case the shadow is the fact that the major makers and users of cluster munitions were deliberately not there: Brazil, China, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia and the USA.Anti-Cluster Bomb March, Ireland
Once again, developing countries will have to bear the brunt of the global financial crisis originating in the U.S. and other developed countries. The financial positions of many developing countries are much stronger than they were at the time of the financial crises in Asia and Latin America, given their strong foreign reserve positions and generally better fiscal balances. Yet, this does not mean these countries are immune to the crisis originating in the developed countries as suggested by those who claim that the larger developing countries have "decoupled" from the U.S. economy.
In theory the world's wealthiest countries and supra-national institutions like the IMF, World Bank and WTO want to see all nations developing into modern industrial societies. In practice, though, those at the top are 'kicking away the ladder' to wealth that they themselves climbed. Why? Self-interest certainly plays a part. But, more often, rich and powerful governments and institutions are actually being 'Bad Samaritans': their intentions are worthy but their simplistic free-market ideology and poor understanding of history leads them to inflict policy errors on others.
In the late 1990s, well before Bush's 'war on terror', New Zealand TV screened a particularly awful US action drama called 'Soldier of Fortune Inc.', about an elite team (composed of former US Marines, Delta Force, CIA, British SAS personnel) who performed 'unofficial' covert missions for the US Government. They would get a briefcase full of money from a shadowy military liaison and head to the Middle East, Latin America, Haiti, or the Balkans, or smoke out foreign agents and assorted enemies within the USA, missions for which Washington could claim plausible deniability because none were active duty soldiers. It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it to keep 'US democracy' safe, for a price. Sounds familiar?
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019