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Sunday, February 12, 2012 00:17 GMT

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ALGERIA IS EVEN WORSE THAN SYRIA
Johan Galtung

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, FEBRUARY 2012

On 16 January, French minister of interior ordered the arrest of Swiss-based Dr. Mourad Dhina, a physicist at CERN and the Swiss Federal Polytechnic Institute and executive director of Alkarama ("dignity"), a Swiss foundation working on human rights in the Arab world. Though he is a totally nonviolent campaigner for human rights and democracy, Dhina was arrested at the request of the Algerian authorities, who are seeking his extradition for prosecution on charges that he belonged to an armed terrorist group in Switzerland in the 1990s, writes Johan Galtung, Rector of the TRANSCEND Peace University and co-author with Paul Scott of "Democracy - Peace - Development".

2012: THE YEAR OF DANGER
Ignacio Ramonet

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, FEBRUARY 2012

With the hawks ratcheting up their cry to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, the need for diplomacy is all the more urgent, writes Ignacio Ramonet, editor of "Le Monde diplomatique en espanol".

LATIN AMERICA: DEEPENING DEMOCRACY'S ROOTS
Oscar Arias Sanchez

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, FEBRUARY 2012

Certain Latin American governments have fallen into the trap of believing that being democratically-elected gives an official the mandate to modify the rules of democracy to advance a given political project. If a government restricts individual liberties, limits the freedom of expression, and scales back the freedom of commerce without justification, it is subverting the very bases of democracy that brought it to power, writes Oscar Arias Sanchez, ex- president of Costa Rica (1986-1990/2006-2010) and Nobel Peace Prize laureate for 1987.

GLOBAL SUPPORT PEAKS FOR NO NUKES
Jonathan Frerichs

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, JANUARY 2012

We live under a nuclear 'umbrella' that is outdated, unwieldy, extremely costly, and doesn't even work. People today see themselves as part of a global community. They want to live in ways that protect life instead of putting it at risk. Nuclear weapons are wrong and need to go. It's time to get involved. Each person can do his or her part; all can make a big difference, together, writes Jonathan Frerichs, programme executive for peace-building and disarmament for the World Council of Churches.

WHAT ARE THE CONCERNS IN DAVOS?
Johan Galtung

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, JANUARY 2012

The self-appointed "World Economic Forum" will meet again in Davos, Switzerland, 25-29 January 2012. We can expect a new load of gratuitous advice to emanate from the meeting, the invited participants of which were utterly unable to comprehend the September 2008 manifestation of the world economic crisis when they met three years ago. So, what are they going to talk about now? asks Johan Galtung, Rector of the TRANSCEND Peace University and author of "The Fall of the US Empire-And Then What?"

CLIMATE EMERGENCY
Ignacio Ramonet

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, JANUARY 2012

The grave financial crisis and the economic horrors besieging European societies are causing people to forget that climate change and the destruction of biodiversity remain the greatest threats to humanity, as they were reminded only last December at the climate summit in Durban, South Africa. If we do not radically change the dominant modes of production imposed by economic globalisation, we will soon reach the point of no return, after which human life on the planet will become gradually unviable, writes Ignacio Ramonet, editor of "Le Monde diplomatique en español".

THE UNITED STATES AND THE DEFEAT OF VICTORY
Joaquin Roy

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, JANUARY 2012

The official end of the Iraq war will serve as a bitter reminder of all that everyone loses in war, including the victors, writes Joaquin Roy, "Jean Monnet" Professor and director of the European Union Centre of the University of Miami.

IS CHINA STILL A DEVELOPING COUNTRY?
Martin Khor

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, JANUARY 2012

Is China still a developing country or has it joined the ranks of the advanced developed countries? asks Martin Khor, Executive Director of the South Centre in Geneva.

SHED LIGHT ON THE SHADOW ECONOMY
Raymond Baker

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, DECEMBER 2011

My first encounter with the "shadow" financial system was half a century ago in Nigeria. Fresh out of Harvard Business School, I was starry-eyed with hope that the free-market economy would help this newly independent country thrive. Instead, in only a matter of months, I became witness to a system of financial manipulations so incredible that I still have trouble believing it is real, writes Raymond Baker, director of the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development.

EUROPE ON THE BRINK
Mario Soares

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, DECEMBER 2011

It is hard to see how the European Union and the euro can find their way out of the imbroglio their leaders have led themselves, and all Europeanists, into, writes Mario Soares, ex-president and ex-prime minister of Portugal.

EUROPEAN DEMOCRACY AND THE FINANCIAL COUP D'ETAT
Ignacio Ramonet

IPS COLUMNIST SERVICE, DECEMBER 2011

It is clear that the European Union cannot summon the political will to stand up to the markets and resolve the crisis. Until now the lamentable behaviour of European leaders has been blamed on their staggering incompetence. However, this (correct) assessment doesn't go far enough, particularly after the recent ''financial coups d'etat'' that in Greece and Italy have dynamited a certain conception of democracy. What has been happening is less a matter of mediocrity and incompetence than active complicity with the markets, writes Ignacio Ramonet, editor of "Le Monde diplomatique en espanol".

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