March 30, 2012
Sponsored by the Munk School’s Program on Water Issues, ‘Not a Drop to Drink: Water Scarcity and Politics in the 21st Century’ was a conference that explored the causes of water scarcity, current accessibility and ownership of water as a...
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March 15, 2012
The Rio+20 UN conference on sustainable developmentshould mark nothing less than a constitutional moment, putting the planet on a more sustainable path. But, it is in grave danger of being stillborn, lacking the political will to commit to the transformations required to collectively thrive within planetary boundaries.
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March 1, 2012
This report documents Northern Ugandans’ attitudes towards returning children and transitional justice processes. The study was conducted in 14 sub-counties across the Acholi and Lango sub-regions of Northern Uganda from May to August, 2011. The authors surveyed 709 community members in war-affected communities, interviewed nearly 70 key informants across Uganda, and held 11 focus group discussions. This community-based approach to document Ugandan attitudes of children formerly affiliated with armed forces and armed groups, transitional justice, and children’s involvement in conflict is unique and offers a broad understanding of attitudes throughout the Acholi and Lango regions of Northern Uganda.
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February 29, 2012
Bashar al-Assad’s artillery shells blast into Homs and families huddle in dark and unheated basements trying to stay alive as the shuddering assault edges ever closer. With the bombardment entering its fourth week, those watching video clips filmed with mobile phone cameras feel the same emotion they felt watching the siege of Sarajevo twenty years ago. It is the feeling of shame.
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February 11, 2012
“We have a responsibility to do more as a country than we are presently doing,” Mr. Deibert said.
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January 24, 2012
In “Betting on Biotech: Innovation and the Limits of Asia’s Developmental State”, Joseph Wong examines the emerging biotechnology sector in Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore.
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January 11, 2012
This book offers a major challenge to our understandings of nationalism, racism, colonialism and wartime mobilization during the Second World War.
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December 17, 2011
In this new book, Tong Lam examines the emergence of the “culture of fact” in modern China, showing how elites and intellectuals sought to transform the dynastic empire into a nation-state to ensure its survival.
Read full entryNovember 10, 2011
The recent uprisings in the Middle East produced changes to the leadership of countries like Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, but not Iran, Algeria, and Bahrain, while the struggle continues in Syria and Yemen.
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November 7, 2011
The Nordic countries are small, unitary, and have largely homogeneous populations. Municipalities are the most important agents in the decentralized public sector and the middle tier (the county level) is losing importance. The expenditure of Nordic local authorities exceeds that in Canada by 10 percent of GDP. The difference represents the effect of local income taxes. Large local expenditures are for kindergartens, primary schools, social welfare, care for the elderly, and culture. These welfare functions are not, however, local public goods; local governments serve mostly as agents for the delivery of national public services.
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