Global Pulse Blog

Global Pulse Blog Global Pulse compares and contrasts news reports on key issues from around the world. Watch new episodes and follow the issues. http://www.linktv.org/globalpulse/blog en-us Sun, 21 Mar 2010 14:43:44 -0700 Exercises in Futility: Dress Codes in Iran and France http://www.linktv.org/globalpulse/blog/post/392/exercises-in-futility-dress-codes-in-iran-and-france f73b76ce8949fe29bf2a537cfa420e8f <a href="/video/5253/muslim-fashion-cover-me-beautiful">On the latest Global Pulse episode</a>, host Erin Coker talks about the evolving world of Islamic fashion. Watch the episode below and share your thoughts!When I was studying in France a few years ago, I taught at a high school in a largely Muslim suburb. One of the most profound rituals of daily life at Voillaume high school happened during the few minutes immediately before and after the school day. Many Muslim girls would arrive at the school gate wearing the traditional Islamic head covering called the hijab, (Arabic for “scarf”). Seconds before entering the gate, they would whip off their hijabs, and they would just as rapidly reapply them as they exited through the gate when the school day ended. The speed and grace with which these girls would take off and put on their hijabs, within feet of the school entrance, fascinated me.But, why did they have to take them off? Because restrictions passed in 2004 disallow <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3619988.stm" target="_blank">religious head coverings</a> in public schools in France. The French government argues that the wearing of hijabs in public schools is an affront to the concept of “<a href="http://frenchwindows.hautetfort.com/archive/2008/01/02/what-is-laicite.html" target="_blank">laïcité</a>,” and threatens secular government. The vast majority of Muslim youth I encountered in France, many recent immigrants, cherished the personal liberties that France gave them. In fact, students I spoke with who objected to the policy didn’t frame the headscarf controversy in terms of the government suppressing Islam, but rather as a kind of hypocrisy - the French government limiting the same personal freedoms it claimed to defend. Nonetheless, they understood the secular nature of the French government and would find the idea of replacing it with an Islamic version as preposterous. Compare this to Iran, where the hijab is compulsory. A new generation of Iranians wants increased freedom from a stifling dress code that has been in place since the Islamic revolution. Simply put, many young women in Iran are <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090617/FOREIGN/706179978" target="_blank">sick of religious modesty laws and other limitations</a> on their personal freedoms. Some women are fighting the dress code by following it to the bare minimum. As opposed to wearing the chador – a traditional loose garment covering the entire body (and still worn by Iran’s most religious women), many young Iranian women have adopted modifications that comply with the law but allow a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/08/opinion/those-sexy-iranians.html?pagewanted=1" target="_blank">degree of fashion and mobility.</a> These modifications include jackets that sufficiently cover the body but are form fitting and stylish. Some wear hijabs in bright, lively colors instead of traditionally modest monotones. An Iranian journalist who has worked for increased rights for women in Iran, responded to these newer fashions by saying, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/lipstick-revolution-irans-women-are-taking-on-the-mullahs-1632257.html" target="_blank">"It signals that we obey the law, but nothing more than that."</a> The objectives of women who want to wear hijab in France, and those who would like to moderate it in Iran, are different. But the desire to have freedom to dress as one sees fit is essentially the same. When governments mandate how people can and can’t dress, they aren’t just trying to control what people wear, but how they feel. But does the Iranian government really think that easing restrictions on Islamic dress would instantaneously lead to a rise of Paris Hilton clones, promiscuous activity and the forsaking of Islam? Does the French administration really believe that allowing Muslim schoolgirls to wear the hijab will lead to a sort of “Franganistan,” where women lose all rights and Islam replaces secular governance? The fact that many French girls reapply the hijab as soon as they leave the gates of school, and that many Iranian women see modesty laws not as a symbol of their relationship with God but as an imposed annoyance, shows the ultimate failure of the social engineering schemes in these two countries. While governments can dictate how people dress, they ultimately can’t change how people feel. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:00:00 -0700 Link Media, Inc. Middle East Europe China: The U.S. Balancing Act http://www.linktv.org/globalpulse/blog/post/386/china-the-us-balancing-act 39461a19e9eddfb385ea76b26521ea48 <a href="/video/5209/chimerica-us-china-and-the-global-economy">On the latest Global Pulse episode</a>, host Erin Coker examines media coverage of the evolving relations between China and the US. Watch the episode below and share your thoughts!While this week’s Global Pulse, called “Chimerica,” looks at what the two nations share, there are plenty of points of friction between them. The U.S. regularly criticizes China’s human rights record, and now China has published a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/03/12/world/AP-AS-China-US.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=china%20human%20rights&st=cse" target="_blank">report</a> equally critical of the U.S., for “destabilizing the world economy and meddling in other countries' affairs.” The United States is in a tricky situation. On the one hand, the U.S. wants to encourage human rights and increased democracy in China; on the other hand it fears alienating China, its most prominent trading partner, which holds upwards of $800 billion of <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/16/markets/thebuzz/index.htm" target="_blank">American debt</a>. So how has the U.S. walked this delicate tightrope so far? Not very well. Perhaps the best recent example of the awkward U.S.-China relationship is the controversial meeting between President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama. Most in the west see the Dalai Lama as a man of peace who dares to stand up to the might of the Chinese government. Not surprisingly, China considers him to be a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/world/asia/21china.html" target="_blank">threat to a unified China</a>, due to his advocacy for the independence of Tibet. They also see him as a pawn of western nations bent on embarrassing the Chinese government. Even some western media sources have criticized the motives of the Dalai Lama. In an <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/may/29/downwiththedalailama" target="_blank">editorial</a> from the UK’s Guardian, Brendan O’Neill describes the Dalai Lama as a poseur who “once auctioned his Land Rover on eBay for $80,000 and has even done an advert for Apple.” He also charges that the Dalai Lama “has [been] used as a battering ram by western governments in their culture war with China.”But celebrities like <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/13/entertainment/et-cause13" target="_blank">Richard Gere and Sharon Stone</a> are prominent followers of the Dalai Lama who advocate his return to Tibet, and American Buddhists have made some of his books pop-religion <a href="http://www.hundredmountain.com/Pages/readingroom_pages/dalai_bestseller_bass.html" target="_blank">best sellers</a> in America, so there was tremendous pressure on Obama to meet with the Dalai Lama. Although the meeting was carefully planned to try to not offend either side, it ended up offending both. Initially Obama refused to meet, citing the need to meet with China’s Hu Jintao first: human rights activists and western media <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/06/dalai-lama-barack-obama-washington" target="_blank">called it a snub</a>. When the meeting finally did happen it took place in a <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/dalailama-obama-meeting-china/2010/02/20/id/350431" target="_blank">closed room without cameras</a>. The Chinese were angry that the meeting took place at all. Whether this and other rights issues are geat walls that will ultimately divide the two nations, or just side roads on the long march to cooperation remains unknown. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:00:00 -0800 Link Media, Inc. Asia North America The Culture of Obesity vs. The French Paradox http://www.linktv.org/globalpulse/blog/post/378/the-culture-of-obesity-vs-the-french-paradox 8bf1211fd4b7b94528899de0a43b9fb3 <a href="/video/5120/obesity-going-global">On the latest Global Pulse Episode</a>, host Erin Coker examines media coverage of rising obesity rates around the world. Watch the episode below and share your thoughts! I, like many (well, most) Americans have had issues with my weight. After going off to college in 2004, I noticed my weight beginning to climb until I started feeling unhealthy. I tried dieting and adding more exercise to my daily routine, but the extra weight stayed on. Then something miraculous happened: I left the country. During my year of study abroad, my waistline shrunk. Was I beating myself up about keeping to a certain number of calories a day? Did I take up an intensive exercise schedule? Not at all. So, what explains the weight loss?In a word, culture. Although diet, exercise, and body chemistry are the critical factors in determining body weight, there is evidence that one's culture plays a huge role (pardon the pun) when it comes to obesity. While America is known worldwide for obesity problems, it isn't technically the most obese nation on earth. According to Forbes, that distinction <a href="http://www.forbes.com/2007/02/07/worlds-fattest-countries-forbeslife-cx_ls_0208worldfat_2.html" target="_blank">goes to the tiny island nation of Nauru</a> with a remarkable 94.5 percent of its population overweight. In fact 8 out of the top 10 overweight nations are located in the South Pacific. Part of the reason for this may be genetic, but part of the cause is the widespread poverty on these islands and the dependence on imported foods. Highly processed foods imported from the west are a cheap sources of calories; unfortunately they're also the unhealthiest. Cultural factors, including, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1682477.stm" target="_blank">"[the] notion that 'bigness' is a sign of wealth and power" </a>also contribute to a culture of obesity which has left the South Pacific the fattest region in the world. Is America, like the South Pacific, a victim of having a culture of obesity? We certainly don't equate 'bigness' with wealth and power - quite the reverse, if our celebrities and icons are any indication.Which brings me to France, the country in which my weight-loss miracle occurred. While the United States and the South Pacific are two of the world's fattest regions, France is championed for its low national obesity rate. How do the French, with a diet rich in carbs, fats, and oils, stay so thin? Researchers have called this <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mindful-eating/200903/mindful-eating-the-french-paradox" target="_blank">the French paradox</a>.But the French paradox really isn't much of a paradox at all. When it comes to how French citizens stay thinner than Americans, both the <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19055377/" target="_blank">quantity and quality of food</a> consumed makes the difference. French consumers typically eat less processed food than their American counterparts, and when they do indulge in fats and sweets, they generally eat smaller portions. In my personal experience, I found processed junk foods to be more expensive in France than fresh fruits and vegetables - where in American supermarkets, the situation is often the opposite. America also has a <a href="http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/fast-food-nighttime-trend" target="_blank">24 hour fast food culture</a> with opportunities to eat just about anything at anytime, anywhere. In France, the majority of supermarkets are closed by 9PM - and you can't get a decent burrito anywhere.So do I really attribute my weight loss to a geographical change? In many ways, I do. When I was surrounded by a culture whose values about food and eating promoted a healthier way of life, I found myself behaving like those around me. Think of it as positive peer pressure. This is not to say that all is perfect in the land of foie gras and baguettes. The French, like many cultures worldwide, are beginning to grapple with <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/world/europe/03iht-obese.html" target="_blank">their own obesity problem</a> as the fast-food culture spreads. So how is my weight now that I'm back in the US? In 1.5 years, I've gained back most of what I lost in France. I can't blame America, though. In France I was able to change my lifestyle so I could eat fresher, smaller, and more slowly. I learned the right way to eat, but I just started to get lazy once I returned to a culture where it's a little harder to do so. Oh well, I gotta go... the pizza delivery guy is here. Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:44:59 -0800 Link Media, Inc. Europe Oceania North America Presidential Illness: How to Respond? http://www.linktv.org/globalpulse/blog/post/370/presidential-illness-how-to-respond d709f38ef758b5066ef31b18039b8ce5 While Former President Bill Clinton's hospitalization is currently the focus of much media attention, the health of political leaders has recently been an imperative topic in Nigeria. On Feb 9th, Nigeria's parliament <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2010/0209/Nigeria-lawmakers-vote-to-make-VP-acting-president" target="_blank">transferred temporary presidential power</a> to VP Goodluck Jonathan, ending almost 2 1/2 months of political uncertainty after President Umaru Yar'Adua refused to cede power during his hospitalization in Saudi Arabia. The image of a nation is inextricably related with the image of its leader, so the situation in Nigeria raises a larger question. When a leader becomes seriously ill, is it best for a government to come clean and share the gravity of the situation, potentially leading to a worried population? Or to remove the President from power and install a leader who is more physically fit? Is it unethical to hide the full extent of the leader's illness, or to even deny that there is any illness at all?By their very nature, totalitarian regimes seek to limit information considered damaging to the nation, and promote an often quasi-religious cult of personality around their central leaders. It is believed by American sources that Kim Jong-Il, North Korea's leader, is extremely ill. North Korea's government <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/09/10/north.korea.60th.anniversary/index.html" target="_blank">vociferously denies any claims</a> that Kim is sick, and accuses western sources of creating such rumors to undermine the government. Curiously, South Korean government and media officials have also downplayed allegations that Kim Jong-Il is ill, in hopes of maintaining an image of a strong North Korea for their own political purposes.Totalitarian regimes hardly have a monopoly on lack of disclosure when it comes to the illness of a President. Democracies, including the United States, have downplayed the full extent of a President's illness: FDR's battle with severe polio restricted his ability to walk, although the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/05/opinion/05iht-edcurl.t.html?pagewanted=1" target="_blank">vast majority of Americans were unaware</a> of his illness. This was partly due to a media that shied away from detailing the disability of a wartime president, an act unthinkable today with an American media fixated on every detail of a president's personal life. The secrecy surrounding FDR's illness was <a href="http://www.healthmedialab.com/html/president/deception.html" target="_blank">far from unique in American history</a>. So, how well did Nigeria handle the crisis? On one hand, there was a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/08/crisis-nigeria-president-missing" target="_blank">noticeable lack of information from the government</a> about the state of Yar'Adua's health. There was also a nearly two month period in which the Nigerian political apparatus failed to come to an agreement on how to handle the president's absence. This lack of action led to allegations that politically powerful pro-Yar'Adua factions were stalling to keep him in power.On a positive note, the fact that the presidential handover was accomplished without a coup d'état is notable for a nation that has seen no less than 8 coups during its 50 years of independence. Unlike Cuba's undemocratic transfer of power from <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/07/31/cuba.castro/index.html" target="_blank">one brother to another</a>, at least Nigeria's transfer was within parliamentary procedure (Max Siollon's blog gives an excellent overview of <a href="http://maxsiollun.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/yaraduas-illness-and-nigerias-constitution-all-you-need-to-know/" target="_blank">Nigerian legislative procedure</a>, showing the nation's commitment to its democratic infrastructure and the rule of law. Perhaps most importantly, opposition groups were not prohibited from <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201001110022.html" target="_blank">demanding to know</a> the full extent of their president’s illness, which is a positive sign in any democracy. Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:33:09 -0800 Link Media, Inc. North Africa For Haiti Earthquake Coverage, Would Less Have Been More? http://www.linktv.org/globalpulse/blog/post/365/for-haiti-earthquake-coverage-would-less-have-been-more 9be40cee5b0eee1462c82c6964087ff9 In the latest Global Pulse Episode, host Erin Coker looks at media coverage of the Haiti earthquake. Watch the episode and share your thoughts below! Does the excessive coverage of Haiti’s earthquake – not to mention the <a href="http://www.healthnewsreview.org/blog/2010/01/an-examination-of-the-ethics-of-md-reporter-involvement-in-haiti.html" target="_blank">questionable journalistic and medical ethics involved</a> when doctor/reporters can’t decide whether to operate or do interviews — give the viewer a better understanding of the disaster? Or is it little more than the casting of journalists as action heroes? The New Republic’s Chief Editor, Noam Scheiber, in his recent <a href="http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/the-disaster-pool" target="_blank">article</a> taking the news establishment to task, wrote that “in Haiti the dozens of redundant dispatches are stressing an already perilously fragile situation.” In a follow-up interview with Global Pulse featured in <a href="http://linktv.org/globalpulse" target="_blank">this week’s episode</a>, Scheiber says, “More information is great. But if an airport is being taxed with a volume way above its normal capacity and as a result aid workers, doctors and nurses can’t get in, then I think we have gotten to the point where one good—information—is trumping another good—relief workers…to the detriment of the people we are trying to help.” The solution, Scheiber thinks, is a so-called “disaster pool.” Comprising a limited number of reporters in country, the disaster pool would share information with news outlets in a similar manner that White House correspondents share “pool reports” with the dozens of journalists unable to attend a briefing. You can <a href="/sitecontent/pages/noamscheiberinterview.mp3.zip" target="_blank">download an MP3 of the complete Scheiber interview here</a>.This might preclude scenes like those we used in this episode, of Anderson Cooper and Katie Couric aiding wounded children, but it may give networks more time for in-depth stories that discuss <a href="http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/history/history.htm" target="_blank">Haiti’s tumultuous history</a>, the roots of its abject poverty and <a href="http://www.rte.ie/tv/ahundreddeadpeople/" target="_blank">what day-to-day life was like for the average Haitian pre-earthquake.</a> Journalist Marc Cooper, characterizing the coverage as “myopic” and “disaster porn”, on his <a href="http://marccooper.com/cnn-in-haiti-disaster-porn/" target="_blank">blog</a>, wrote, “It's a totally legit news story for CNN or anyone else [to] zoom in on this or that dramatic and heart-rending rescue of one or another victim trapped in rubble. But every one of those stories is also a stark and rather sickening reminder of how the daily pre-earthquake deaths, starvation and deprivation were considered SO non-newsworthy.”This reminds me of my own trip to Haiti in the fall of 2008, as part of a disaster response team after a series of hurricanes killed hundreds of people and badly damaged the city of Gonaïves. While the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/world/americas/08ike.html" target="_blank">storms made headlines</a>, the fallout apparently wasn’t on a large enough scale to warrant widespread news coverage. Looking back, what I remember most is the darkness. There is little electricity in Haiti, and the nighttime’s dim storefronts and weak candlelight gave the impression of a city that was a relic of another age. Will Port-au-Prince once again become a forgotten city? As this article from the Columbia Journalism Review reminds me, there was once, and is likely to be again, only <a href="http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/the_undercovered_country.php?page=1 " target="_blank">one full-time American journalist in Haiti</a>. Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:00:00 -0800 Link Media, Inc. Central America Stalled START: A New Arms Race? Or Not. http://www.linktv.org/globalpulse/blog/post/358/stalled-start-a-new-arms-race-or-not- aa942ab2bfa6ebda4840e7360ce6e7ef In this week's episode of Global Pulse, host Erin Coker asks if the U.S. and Russia could be entering a new arms race. Watch the episode and share your thoughts below! As a young child in the mid-1980s, thoughts of total nuclear annihilation at the hands of the Russians would occasionally prevent me from sleeping. On one family holiday to Maine, I actually wondered if we were far enough away from major cities to be safe from an atomic blast. Looking back on the decade it is easy to see why a little kid would be so uneasy. The threat of nuclear war was ingrained in popular culture, lurking in everything from <a href="http://cominganarchy.com/2009/06/17/early-1980s-nuclear-armageddon-films/">movies</a> to <a href="http://www.inthe80s.com/nuclearwar/index.shtml">songs</a>. In 1982, Time Magazine devoted nearly 3,500 words to an article entitled, <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,953406,0.html">"thinking the unthinkable."</a> Today such fears seem nearly as dated as the all-out nuclear panic that resulted in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW4s7TETtJA">this 1950s public service announcement</a> that acknowledged the imminent threat of the bomb, while advocating questionable albeit, hilarious, blast survival techniques. Picnic blankets and newspapers, anyone? However, with negotiations on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) stalling in recent months, the <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/12/20091218211629217734.html">global media have taken notice.</a> As Ariel Cohen points out in a New York Times editorial, the failure to agree on a new treaty by the December 5 deadline, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/opinion/09iht-edacohen.html?scp=1&sq=start%20treaty&st=cse">has left the two countries in "uncharted waters."</a> Or has it? Calling Cohen's argument "alarmist and misleading," <a href="http://www.democracyarsenal.org/2010/01/a-new-start-on-arms-control.html">William D. Hartung argues that despite the delay in sorting out the new START agreement, Russia and the U.S. are still “abiding by the basic principles of the agreement” as they craft a new one. </a> The director of the Arms and Security Initiative at the <a href="http://www.newamerica.net/">New America Foundation</a>, Hartung notes that even if both sides chose to ignore START's provisions, "it is absurd to suggest that either side could gain a strategic advantage in the few weeks (or in the absolute worst case, months) it will take to hammer out a new treaty." Hartung is also quick to dismiss what he terms the "unsupportable notion that there is a resurgent Russian bear out there, and that it cannot be trusted and should not be cooperated with in any substantial way." Such thinking, according to Cohen, is obsolete—the detritus of the Cold War—and is no longer relative today. So are the media overreacting, then? Is it only a matter of time before the U.S. and Russia iron out the details of the new START, or is Hartung being cavalier about the whole thing? In today's world, how crucial is U.S.-Russia arms control to global security? Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:42:12 -0800 Link Media, Inc. Europe 10 Bright Spots in a Pretty Bad Year http://www.linktv.org/globalpulse/blog/post/347/10-bright-spots-in-a-pretty-bad-year c5ff2543b53f4cc0ad3819a36752467b In this week’s special edition of Global Pulse, host Erin Coker reviews 2009 news stories that will matter in 2010. <a href="/programs/global-pulse-once-and-future-news-2009-2010">Watch the episode</a>, and share your thoughts, below! Between the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an upsurge in violence in Pakistan, Iran’s political upheaval and the global financial crisis, 2009 has been tumultuous to say the least. Even for someone immersed in global media, it was difficult at times not to hit the cheap (and the not-so-cheap) wine just to get through the daily barrage of bleak news. Which is why I took it upon myself to drum up 10 of the year’s more positive stories. Some were widely reported, others warranted only a fleeting mention, but all stand out as bright spots on an otherwise challenging year. A good reminder that even in the darkest of times, a silver lining can be found if you look hard enough. I’ll drink to that! 1. A Different Kind of Hotel RwandaFollowing the instability and brutal civil war that plagued the central-African nation in the late-1990s, tourists are returning to the country to marvel at its mountain gorillas and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewsquirespictures/260827137/" target="_blank">lush landscapes.</a> <a href="http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE55303E20090604" target="_blank">Tourism revenues rise 11 percent in the first quarter of 2009,</a> compared to the same period last year. Even better, the Cartagena Summit on a Mine-Free World <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8388822.stm" target="_blank">announces that Rwanda is officially “landmine free”</a> – a distinction that is doubtless welcomed by tourists and residents alike. 2. Afghanistan and Pakistan Get More SchoolsNon-profit activist Greg Mortenson and his <a href="https://www.ikat.org/" target="_blank">Central Asia Institute (CAI),</a> continue to <a href="https://www.ikat.org/projects/regional-map/" target="_blank">build schools in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan, even in Taliban areas.</a> Because CAI schools rely heavily on community involvement, militant groups have largely avoided destroying or damaging what are perceived as locally-backed projects. To date, the CAI has built <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34238313/ns/us_news-giving/" target="_blank">130 schools in the two countries.</a> To learn more about CAI or to get involved, visit <a href="https://www.ikat.org/." target="_blank">www.ikat.org.</a> 3. Aceh RebuiltFive years after the Indian Ocean Tsunami devastated communities in Aceh, Indonesia, rebuilding efforts in the <a href="http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=87522" target="_blank">hardest-hit province are wrapping up.</a> In November, aid group CRS announces that it has <a href="http://crs-blog.org/five-years-after-tsunami/" target="_blank">met its reconstruction goals in Aceh.</a> 4. Karadzic Faces the International Criminal Court. Sort of.<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-10-26-karadzic_N.htm" target="_blank">Although the alleged Bosnian Serb war criminal boycotts the opening of his trial,</a> claiming that he did not have sufficient time to examine the evidence against him – 10 years on the lam wasn’t enough time? – <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fae04e36-c892-11de-8f9d-00144feabdc0.html. " target="_blank">Radovan Karadzic does appear in court on November 3.</a> The trial is expected to resume in <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5A43C420091105" target="_blank">March of next year.</a> 5. Kidnapped Aid Workers Released After being seized by Somali gunmen in Kenya, three aid workers with Action Against Hunger <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8288386.stm" target="_blank">are released three months later.</a> In a similar bit of good news, assailants also <a href="http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/B681011.htm " target="_blank">free kidnapped aid workers snatched in Sudan’s Darfur region.</a> 6. U.N. Demands Halt to Rape as War Weapon Unanimously voted in, resolution 1888 reflects the 15-member body's <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i9dQnIKuqYh7sVZvms4E4elwq0uQ" target="_blank">"demand for the complete cessation by all parties to armed conflict of all acts of sexual violence with immediate effect."</a> Plans are in the works to create a special U.N. post to front the effort. 7. Detained Journalists Freed in Iran, Iranian Writers Honored Following domestic and international protests, jailed U.S./Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi is released from a Tehran prison. <a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/good-news/roxana-saberi-released-jail-iran-20090512 " target="_blank">Saberi had been originally sentenced to eight years in prison for “having collaborated with a hostile state.”</a> Newsweek journalist <a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/good-news/roxana-saberi-released-jail-iran-20090512" target="_blank">Maziar Bahari is also released</a> after being held for nearly four months following Iran’s June elections. In November, Human Rights Watch honors four Iranian writers with prestigious Hellman/Hammett awards <a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/11/09/iran-four-journalists-receive-hellmanhammett-grants " target="_blank">for their courage in the face of political persecution.</a> 8. Latin America Takes Steps Towards Equality Mexico City backs a gay marriage bill, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8425269.stm" target="_blank">making the city the first in Latin America to legalize gay marriage.</a> In another first, Uruguay passes a same-sex adoption bill, <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/09/10/uruguay.gays/index.html" target="_blank">granting same-sex couples the right to adopt children.</a> 9. Zimbabwe Slowly (Very Slowly) Improving Following political instability, runaway inflation and a devastating cholera outbreak, Zimbabwe is making some inroads to recovery. <a href="http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86332 " target="_blank">HIV prevalence rates continue to fall</a> and <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=7297319" target="_blank">inflation is dropping.</a> After months of fruitless negotiations, Zimbabwe’s rival leaders reach an agreement on commissions for human rights, election and the media, <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/21/ap/africa/main6006452.shtml" target="_blank">possibly putting an end to ongoing political deadlock.</a> 10. Child Brides Take a StandA Saudi court rules in favor of an 8-year-old girl seeking to divorce her 47-year-old husband. Soon after the decision, the <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/04/30/saudi.child/index.html" target="_blank">Saudi justice minister announces plans to enact a law protecting young girls from marriages.</a> In rural India, <a href="http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL511342.htm" target="_blank">young girls follow the lead of Rekha Kalini, who attracted widespread attention after refusing a forced marriage.</a> For more news highlights from 2009, catch the Global Pulse year-end special <a href="/programs/global-pulse-once-and-future-news-2009-2010">Once and Future News 2009-2010.</a> Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:00:00 -0800 Link Media, Inc. North Africa Oceania Sub-Saharan Africa Middle East Asia North America On Climate Change: An Open Letter to World Leaders http://www.linktv.org/globalpulse/blog/post/331/on-climate-change-an-open-letter-to-world-leaders 6da37dd3139aa4d9aa55b8d237ec5d4a In this week’s Global Pulse Episode, host Erin Coker asks whether Africa deserves reparations for climate change damage from the developed world. <a href="/video/4707/africa-cash-for-climate-change">Watch the episode</a>, see <a href="/realconversations/8/">how others responded</a> and share your thoughts below! To the world leaders en route to Copenhagen for the U.N. Change Conference – Today, December 2, climate change resulted in the deaths of some 1,000 people. By the end of the year, the figure will be around 300,000. To put this in perspective, this is equivalent to the number of people killed in the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and 100 times the number of people killed in 9/11. Each year. If you haven't already, I suggest reading through the <a href="http://ghfgeneva.org/Portals/0/pdfs/human_impact_report.pdf">Global Humanitarian Forum’s (GHF) Human Impact Report on climate change</a> – perhaps on the plane to Copenhagen – to get a sense of the human cost of climate change. Next, I suggest some face time with Maldives president’s envoys. <a href="http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/maldives-seeks-carbon-neutrality-by-2020/">President Nasheed is among the more vocal supporters of carbon neutral development,</a> a position I imagine many of you would likewise adopt if rising seas threatened to <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=maldives-drowning-carbon-neutral-by-2009-03-16">wipe your entire country off the map.</a> Speaking of rising seas, Greenpeace’s <a href="http://iht.greenpeace.org/berlusconi-confounds-critics/">mock IHT article on Italian Prime Minister Burlusconi’s new sweeping climate change initiatives</a> would have been funny, if <a href="http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1863044_1808417,00.html">these images of a severely flooded Venice</a> did not offer a real glimpse of <a href="http://www.insidescience.org/research/global_warming_threatens_venice_italy">what could become of Italy’s historic city a few decades from today.</a> As the leaders of two of the world’s largest polluters, international focus will be on U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao. Both Washington and Beijing have been slow to act on climate change, and the U.S. refusal to sign the <a href="http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php">Kyoto protocol</a> is an embarrassment. I am aware as no doubt you are, of t<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/26/AR2009042601515.html">he arguments in favor of inaction</a> – the loudest among them citing the <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jQ_IXP6DZV_pEhouxIuT4oztHM6Q">high cost of emissions reductions.</a> Before your arrival in Copenhagen, I recommend reading a recent <a href="http://bipartisanpolicy.org/sites/default/files/Climate%20Change%20and%20The%20Economy%20-%20Expected%20Impacts%20and%20Their%20Implications.pdf">National Commission on Energy Policy report</a> [PDF link] analyzing the risks, economic and otherwise, of unmitigated climate change. The 36-page report recalls a similar publication put out by Tuft’s University a few years ago that likewise <a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae/pubs/rp/climate-costsofinaction.pdf">confirms the frightening cost of inaction.</a> [PDF link] In the several hours it takes to read through these documents, climate change will kill another 150 people. An estimated 5,000 more will die between now and the opening session of the Copenhagen Climate Change summit. This is unacceptable. To do justice to their memory and to the future of our planet, you must embark on a cohesive international agreement to slow and reduce global warming. As Kofi Annan remarked in GHF’s impact report, "If political leaders cannot assume responsibility for Copenhagen, they choose instead responsibility for failing humanity." Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:00:00 -0800 Link Media, Inc. Sub-Saharan Africa In the Shadow of a Wall http://www.linktv.org/globalpulse/blog/post/321/in-the-shadow-of-a-wall caf1a3dfb505ffed0d024130f58c5cfa In the latest episode of Global Pulse, host Erin Coker looks at global media coverage of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Watch the episode and share your thoughts below! I remember a talk I had with Danuta Pawlowska, the Polish grandmother of a good friend of mine, in her Warsaw apartment several years ago. A member of the Warsaw resistance during the Nazi occupation, Danuta was closely monitored after the communists took over in the mid 1940s.She recalled a long gossip-filled phone conversation with a close friend. Two hours into the conversation, a booming male voice suddenly burst through the receiver. "Would you just shut up already?" the man groaned. "How much more of this must I listen to?!" I had laughed at the time. For a young American with roots in Warsaw, the idea of a government agent listening to a banal chat with a friend was amusing – something fit for a dime store spy thriller. In Warsaw's meticulously reconstructed <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89921956@N00/399017619/" target="_blank">Old Town</a>, today's foreign tourists purchase T-shirts and shot glasses; bursts of bad American pop music filter out of the same fashion chain stores that line Paris' Rue de Rennes or Copenhagen's Strøget. The stylish, boisterous students crowding the bars and cafes have no memory of life in pre-1989 Warsaw. Yet, if you venture outside of the city center, the medieval architecture gives way to <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/heartbeeps/471466181/" target="_blank">monotonous tenements</a>, the color of diesel exhaust. Passing by some of these buildings at dusk is an unnerving, somewhat melancholy experience, and I'll admit that I glanced over my shoulder more than once. For Danuta and millions of others, that reality was life.I was a child when the Berlin Wall came down. I remember <a href="http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/the-fall-of-the-berlin-wall/" target="_blank">the now-iconic images</a> of jubilant Berliners rushing the wall with pickaxes, but I was too young to grasp the larger significance of the event and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/6528859/The-Berlin-Wall-fell-and-a-new-Europe-rose.html " target="_blank">what it meant to Germany, Europe and the world</a>.I would like to say that I left Poland with a greater understanding of what day-to-day life must have been like for Europeans, such as Danuta, who had lived under the Soviet regime. Like Warsaw's younger generation, however, that second-hand knowledge can only resonate so much. The generation gap in Poland has resulted in a new type of barrier, between those who remember and those who came of age in a different time. In the flood of anniversary coverage this week, the most telling, perhaps, is a BBC special report. Amidst the frenzy of anniversary festivities, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/world/2009/walls_around_the_world/default.stm " target="_blank">Walls Around the World</a> is a sobering reminder of the barriers, from North Korea to Botswana, that have yet to topple. I think of Danuta and of the magnitude of what she witnessed. I wonder which other walls will come down over the course of my lifetime. Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:35:50 -0800 Link Media, Inc. Europe War and Fallout: What is Behind the Pakistan Violence? http://www.linktv.org/globalpulse/blog/post/314/war-and-fallout-what-is-behind-the-pakistan-violence 758874998f5bd0c393da094e1967a72b In the latest Global Pulse episode, <a href="/video/4552/pakistan-at-war">Pakistan at War</a>, <a href="/globalpulse/erin">host Erin Coker</a> asks who is to blame for the violence in Pakistan. Watch the episode and share your thoughts below!Wednesday's market bombing in Peshawar capped off a particularly deadly month in Pakistan amidst a shored up military campaign in the country's western region of Waziristan. More than 100 people died in Wednesday's attack, many of them women and children. Global media largely attribute the <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33322113/" target="_blank">recent bloodshed</a> to the Pakistani Taliban's attempt to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/world/asia/29pstan.html" target="_blank">destabilize the government in retaliation</a> for recent military efforts to drive extremists from the country's volatile North-West Frontier Province. However, militant violence in Pakistan has been on the rise long before the government launched its new offensive. According to the terrorism database, <a href="http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/pakistan/index.htm" target="_blank">South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP)</a>, terrorist violence killed 2,155 civilians in 2008, compared to 140 in 2003. Similarly, nearly 1800 civilians have been killed in the first 10 months of 2009, exceeding the total number of civilian deaths from 2003 to 2006, according to the SATP. Some international and media experts note that the <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/218930" target="_blank">Pakistani Taliban has absorbed Punjabi militants</a> and other separatist groups, resulting in a new and dangerous band of extremists. These militants are further bolstered by al-Qaeda members who have taken refuge in the country's tribal areas near the Afghan border. This new incarnation of militants, <a href="http://www.cfr.org/publication/15422/" target="_blank">notes the Council on Foreign Relations' Jayshree Bajoria</a>, is "more violent and less conducive to political solutions than their predecessors." <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/10/20/how_to_help_pakistan_win_this_fight?print=yes&hidecomments=yes&page=full" target="_blank">In a Foreign Policy editorial</a>, the Washington, DC-based Atlantic Council attributes Pakistan's inability to contain the growing extremist threat to a lack of modern military might and calls on the U.S. to furnish Pakistan with adequate weaponry to defeat the Taliban. Failure to do so, argues Shuja Nawaz, will result in continued terror strikes on the public. However, <a href="http://www.riazhaq.com/2009/10/pakistans-intelligence-failures-amidst.html" target="_blank">Pakistani blogger Riaz Haq</a> blames the violence not on a lack of American weapons, but on government intelligence failures. "The best way to stop the increasing carnage on the streets of Pakistan...is to stop the attacks well before they occur," writes Haq. "Unfortunately, however, the intelligence agencies which are supposed to frustrate the blood-thirsty attackers appear totally ineffective, even paralyzed." While the exact cause of the surge in violence may be up for debate, the toll it is taking on Pakistani civilians is undeniable. The renewed clashes between government forces and the Taliban in North-West Frontier Province have resulted in a <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125603231303996151.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop" target="_blank">second wave of refugees fleeing the fighting</a>, adding strain to <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/worldview/090612/full-frame-swat-valley-refugee-camps" target="_blank">already-crowded camps</a>. According to the U.N., <a href="http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/MYAI-7X68P6/$File/full_report.pdf" target="_blank">fighting in South Waziristan has forced an estimated 139,400 people from their homes</a> [PDF link] and could displace thousands more.The latest bombing in Peshawar has also disrupted the lives of Pakistan's urban residents. "The people want to go back to their mundane routines," writes Murtava Razvi in a Dawn editorial. "Youngsters want to go out to the parks, to the beach, to bowl, to eat out. Women want to go shopping unescorted, and men want to go about their daily chores without worrying about families left at home. This isn’t happening anymore." Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:08:31 -0700 Link Media, Inc. South Asia From Europe with Love? Nobel Surprise on Both Sides of the Atlantic http://www.linktv.org/globalpulse/blog/post/302/from-europe-with-love-nobel-surprise-on-both-sides-of-the-atlantic 577bcc914f9e55d5e4e4f82f9f00e7d4 In this week's Global Pulse episode, <a href="/video/4469/obamas-nobel-war-and-peace-prize">Obama's Nobel War and Peace Prize</a>, <a href="/globalpulse/erin">host Erin Coker</a> asks whether the Norwegian Nobel Committee made the right choice in awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama. Watch the episode and share your thoughts below!Following the unexpected announcement in Oslo last week, much of the domestic press attributed Obama's Nobel win to his international appeal, particularly in Europe. <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1009/p02s13-usgn.html" target="_blank">The Christian Science Monitor notes</a> the award indicated "a particularly European appreciation" of the U.S. president, while an <a href="http://news.aol.com/article/barack-obamas-nobel-peace-prize-reflects/711836" target="_blank">AOL News headline reads "Obama's Nobel Reflects Europe's Approval."</a>"The puzzled and heated domestic reaction…is only the latest instance of a gulf in perception between the two sides of the Atlantic," writes James Graff. "The Nobel Committee's decision is a European vote of confidence on the way this particular American president is setting the global agenda."There is little doubt that Obama is popular among Europeans. A recent <a href="http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1376/obama-nobel-prize-global-opinion" target="_blank">Pew Research Center Global Attitudes Survey</a> reported that 93 percent of Germans and 86 percent of Britons said they had confidence in Obama to do the right thing in world affairs. Similarly, 91 percent in France rated Obama favorably -- a dramatic shift from 2008 when only 13 percent of French expressed confidence in George W. Bush.However, even the <a href="http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/europe_reacts_to_obamas_nobel.php" target="_blank">U.S. president’s transatlantic supporters were baffled and perplexed by the win</a>, calling the award premature and, like their U.S. counterparts, questioning what Obama had actually done to warrant such an honor. "It used to be the rule that the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to politicians if they could point to tangible political successes," writes <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,654251,00.html" target="_blank">Claus Christian Malzahn in a Der Spiegel editorial</a>. "Awarding him the Nobel Prize now is like giving a medal to a marathon runner who has just managed the first few kilometers."<a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6867711.ece" target="_blank">The U.K.'s Times Online took the criticism even further</a>, calling the decision to award the prize to Obama "absurd," and accusing the committee of making a "mockery" of the award.So if not an endorsement from Europe, what was behind the Nobel shakeup?Some international media outlets point to former <a href="http://www.norway-coe.org/ARKIV/jagland/News/nobel/" target="_blank">Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland</a>, appointed earlier this year to head the Nobel committee, as the driving force behind Obama's win. <a href="http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/10/09/the-international-politics-behind-obamas-nobel-peace-prize/" target="_blank">The Christian Science Monitor's global news blog notes</a> that Jagland "has an activist vision for the Nobel as a prize that can spur peace, rather than simply reward its achievement."<a href="http://www.lemonde.fr/ameriques/article/2009/10/10/les-coulisses-d-une-nomination-qui-tranche-avec-la-tradition_1252116_3222.html#ens_id=1249605" target="_blank">France's Le Monde was even more blunt</a>: "The former Nobel Committee president would have never nominated Obama."Regardless of the politics behind the award, the reaction to Obama's Nobel is a reminder that action, not vision, will be most crucial in the president's long-term success at home and abroad. Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:00:00 -0700 Link Media, Inc. Europe North America Global Media on China: The Worst of Both Systems? http://www.linktv.org/globalpulse/blog/post/296/global-media-on-china-the-worst-of-both-systems d296c101daa88a51f6ca8cfc1ac79b50 In the <a href="/video/4440/china-peaks-world-freaks">latest episode of Global Pulse</a>, <a href="/globalpulse/erin">host Erin Coker</a> asks whether China's 60th anniversary festivities were a display of power for the world or just for Chinese citizens. Watch the episode and leave your comments below!Media worldwide covered China's celebration of 60 years of communist rule, acknowledging <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1924366-2,00.html" target="_blank">China's rise over the past six decades,</a> while also pointing out its <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8285215.stm" target="_blank">spotty human rights record</a> and the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/6249085/China-puts-on-its-Party-best-for-60th-anniversary.html" target="_blank">barring of its own citizens</a> from attending the festivities. Such general wariness of the Communist Party of China's (CPC) celebration may be indicative of a greater global anxiety concerning China's new place on the world stage. In marrying the tenets of communism with explosive economic growth, the country has, perhaps, come to embody the worst of communism and capitalism -- reckless urbanization within the rigid framework of a repressive authoritarian system. The result? A growing power whose rapid industrial expansion and repression of personal freedoms is both a <a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB115955597971578257-Rw5Z_NF7IewWdQJ2HrHo0cduenk_20070423.html" target="_blank">detriment to its people</a> and a <a href="http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/63042/g-john-ikenberry/the-rise-of-china-and-the-future-of-the-west" target="_blank">possible threat to western interests.</a>Some experts question the durability of the so-called "authoritarian capitalism" model. "The more open and competitive an economy becomes, the greater the pressure to liberalize political institutions and democratize civil society," <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/01/china-60th-anniversary" target="_blank">notes Tim Dunne in a Guardian editorial.</a> "China wants the former while resisting the latter."For state-run Chinese media however, capitalism remains an opposing ideology that is distinct from both the country's government and its burgeoning economy. A recent opinion piece in the state-run <a href="http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90780/6681433.html" target="_blank">People's Daily extols socialism as the country’s historical choice</a>, while an article on the <a href="http://english.cctv.com/program/bizchina/20090927/101438.shtml" target="_blank">CCTV website attributes China's private sector expansion</a> to the country's larger socialist market economy.In <a href="http://web.mit.edu/yshuang/www/" target="_blank">Yasheng Huang's</a> 2008 book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Capitalism-Chinese-Characteristics-Entrepreneurship-State/dp/0521898102" target="_blank">Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics</a>, the MIT professor points to reforms of governance, not market reforms, as crucial for China’s brand of capitalism to thrive. "Many of the endemic problems in the Chinese economy today—massive pollution, corruption, inefficient capital deployment, land grabs, and so forth—cannot be tackled without…reforms of Chinese political governance," a <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5040IU20090105?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0" target="_blank">Reuters article notes in an analysis of Huang's book.</a> In the end, whether seen as a pure success story, a threat to the west, or the worst of two economic systems, China's continuing rise assures that it will not be ignored. Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:03:49 -0700 Link Media, Inc. Asia U.S. Media and the Overseas Invasion http://www.linktv.org/globalpulse/blog/post/295/us-media-and-the-overseas-invasion 49182f81e6a13cf5eaa496d51fea6406 In this week's special behind-the-scenes episode, <a href="/video/4435/inside-global-pulse">Inside Global Pulse</a>, <a href="/globalpulse/erin">host Erin Coker</a> gives viewers an inside glimpse of what goes into the making of a Global Pulse Episode, particularly the role of international news outlets. Watch this episode below!Since the conclusion of the Cold War, and particularly in the last decade, U.S. coverage of international news has significantly declined. While U.S. news outlets briefly ramped up overseas coverage immediately following 9/11, in recent years <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/04/6176" target="_blank">international stories have once again dropped off</a> in favor of nationally focused pieces. In 2008, <a href="http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45300" target="_blank">foreign news coverage was at a record low</a>. Strained budgets and sinking ad revenues have further altered the global media landscape, forcing the <a href="http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=3409" target="_blank">closure of U.S. foreign bureaus</a> from Paris to Bangkok, with foreign correspondents in the traditional sense <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021601713.html" target="_blank">becoming increasingly obsolete. </a>Ironically, news outlets broadcasting in English have exploded in the last decade. Such newly emerging global news channels include <a href="http://russiatoday.com/" target="_blank">Russia Today</a>, <a href="http://english.cctv.com/01/index.shtml" target="_blank">China’s CCTV</a>, <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/" target="_blank">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a href="http://www.france24.com/en/" target="_blank">France 24</a>, and <a href="http://www.presstv.ir/" target="_blank">Press TV from Iran</a>, to name a few. Why the news invasion? Some experts point to a desire to offer a unique country-specific perspective on a world media stage dominated by CNN and the BBC. A jab, perhaps, at "<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/dec/06/france.broadcasting" target="_blank">Anglo-Saxon imperialism.</a>" Others see the phenomenon as propaganda by non-democratic <a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/01/29/chinas-new-propaganda-machine" target="_blank">governments like China</a>, attempting to skew the facts. <a href="http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0713/comcast-al-qaeda-will-americans-tune-to-al-jazeera.html" target="_blank">Al Jazeera English is still reviled by many Americans</a> as promoting anti-western bias at best, and as a mouthpiece for dangerous extremists at worst. Regardless of one's position on these international outlets, the majority of Americans are unable (or unlikely) to tune in. <a href="http://experts.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/06/04/the_international_news_will_not_be_televised" target="_blank">In a Foreign Policy editorial</a>, Cyril Blet, author of Une Voix Mondiale Pour un État, (A World Voice for a State), a book profiling the state of world news, notes that unlike in Europe and elsewhere, international channels in the U.S. are available only via special cable or satellite packages, if at all. The lack of easy access to international news channels, he says, puts Americans at a disadvantage. "When American viewers can't access international news, their ability to take part in global conversations suffers greatly," argues Blet. "The average U.S. television-watcher doesn't ever see the diverse interpretations of any single event that filter in to most TVs across the world."With the Internet making international programming more accessible than ever, this may change in the coming years. But perhaps less important than specific broadcast platforms in international news distribution, is the belief in the value of these global conversations. Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:36:40 -0700 Link Media, Inc. North America The French Exception: Sarkozy's Bonus Battle http://www.linktv.org/globalpulse/blog/post/282/the-french-exception-sarkozys-bonus-battle 6a9aeddfc689c1d0e3b9ccc3ab651bc5 For this week's Global Pulse episode, <a href="/video/4359/bonus-battle">Bonus Battle</a>, <a href="/globalpulse/erin">host Erin Coker</a> asks whether France's new bonus restrictions are workable. Share your thoughts and watch this episode below!A leader whose extravagant lifestyle once <a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1697098,00.html" target="_blank">earned him the moniker "President Bling-Bling,"</a> Nicolas Sarkozy has adopted a <a href="http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/wealthofnations/archive/2009/09/07/sarkozy-bullies-french-banks-over-bonuses.aspx" target="_blank">tough stance against financial excess in recent weeks</a>. Following <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gHEh4cIXw5TQVD5ziuZgKBARy3og" target="_blank">national furor over banking giant BNP Paribas' partial use of government bailout funds</a> to finance a one billion euro bonus payout, new rules require French banks to spread bonus payments over three years, with one-third of bonuses to be paid in stocks. If a trader's investments lose money, the trader also loses the bonus.The French president has since taken his bonus battle to the international stage, calling for broad global measures to curb traders' compensation, including a fixed international limit on bonuses. <a href="http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-42437620090914" target="_blank">Sarkozy even threatened to walk out of the G-20 summit</a> if leaders fail to reach an agreement on bonuses. European Commission President José Barroso told Bloomberg television that citizens "are horrified" by banks' use of government funds to pay bonuses, and that international bonus restrictions could <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=abaL5Bm_QXaY" target="_blank">"restore credibility to the financial system."</a>Although American and British leaders agree on the need for financial regulation, they have <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125304930897313465.html" target="_blank">balked at the idea of bonus caps</a>. President Obama is "<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=abaL5Bm_QXaY" target="_blank">reluctant to set individual compensation levels</a>." It is looking like Sarkozy may compromise on the caps, as long as the larger package is put in place.Debates over bank bonuses are also raging outside of the political sphere. Earlier this year, American and British outrage over executive bonuses spurred demonstrations from <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE52I7ZP20090319" target="_blank">Wall Street</a> to <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE5193KD20090210" target="_blank">London</a>. However, as the global economy shows signs of recovery, some experts have questioned the need to quell bonuses. "I don't think, ultimately, people really care that much about banker bonuses," <a href="http://business.theatlantic.com/2009/09/will_the_g20_regulate_bank_bonuses.php" target="_blank">writes Daniel Indiviglio in a recent Atlantic Monthly article</a>. "The only reason they do now is because there was a financial crisis. Once things get better, most of that anger dissipates." He adds: "The bonus culture isn’t what caused the financial crisis, it was a culmination of factors."The Washington DC-based <a href="http://www.ips-dc.org/articles/can_europe_pop_the_us_ceo_pay_bubble" target="_blank">Institute for Policy Studies hailed the Sarkozy decision</a>, arguing that European government action "will open up opportunities in Washington for real change to an executive compensation system that now threatens our economy and our democracy."But even some French supporters are doubtful that the global financial world will embrace the measures. "Sarkozy's idea is a good one," Nicolas Bouchard, a 32-year-old Paris-based corporate attorney told Global Pulse in an email. "But it is a difficult one to carry out in a global system. Paris is a small financial center in comparison with Wall Street or London."One self-described French "utopist" offered another way that Sarkozy could display support for the end of economic excess. In an email to Global Pulse, Alexandre Carpentier, 28, <a href="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_636641.html" target="_blank">challenged summit attendees to forgo luxury hotels</a> in favor of more modest accommodations. "It would help the local economy, there would be less rioting and people would be proud of their leaders," the Paris-based competition lawyer explained.A bit of a stretch? Probably. But a reminder that in a world recovering from financial fallout, public scrutiny is on political leaders as much as it is on banks -- particularly a president trying to distance himself from a "bling-bling" image. Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:02:37 -0700 Link Media, Inc. Europe Swine Flu Diary http://www.linktv.org/globalpulse/blog/post/276/swine-flu-diary- db8e1af0cb3aca1ae2d0018624204529 For this week's Global Pulse episode, <a href="/video/4322/swine-flu-the-vaccination">Swine Flu: The Vaccination</a>, <a href="/globalpulse/erin">host Erin Coker</a> asks, Will you get vaccinated? Share your thoughts and watch this episode below!When I first learned of swine flu, I dismissed the general reaction as unnecessary panic over something no more threatening than – well, catching the flu. Inconvenient and uncomfortable, but hardly the second coming of the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol12no01/05-0979.htm" target="_blank">1918 influenza pandemic</a>.Then I caught the H1N1 virus myself. After being diagnosed, I took comfort in the fact that, <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/surveillanceqa.htm" target="_blank">according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>, of the estimated 1 million Americans believed to have been infected with the virus between April and June, only about 593 have died. To provide a bit of perspective, seasonal flu can result in up to 500,000 deaths worldwide each year. So if you do get swine flu, chances are it will not kill you, or even result in serious symptoms. I am living proof, although there were times over the last week when I wasn’t so sure."Uncomfortable and inconvenient" is an understatement. I am a generally healthy young person, but I was immobilized by a high fever, chills, severe muscle pain and fatigue. I would be dishonest if I said that there weren't a few scary moments when I felt compelled to inhale deeply to make certain my lungs were still working. The normally benign shadows on my ceiling took on a menacing hallucinatory quality. Would ever feel like myself again? Six days of bed rest, fluids and the antiviral Tamiflu later, I am starting to feel better. So, have my feelings about swine flu changed? Yes and no. <a href="http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFluNews/swine-flu/Story?id=8525109&page=1" target="_blank">As ABC News reported earlier this week</a>, thousands of people have contracted swine flu in recent months and have made a full recovery. Global mortality rates to date are lower than those associated with seasonal flu -- the World Health Organization (WHO) reports 2,837 H1N1 deaths worldwide -- but health experts have noted that H1N1 may cause more severe illness and death in younger adults and children than does the seasonal flu. <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE57R3DR20090829" target="_blank">Reuters reported that the WHO has also warned of a severe strain of swine flu</a> that can cause acute respiratory illness in otherwise healthy young people. More disturbing is the potential threat to developing countries, which often lack the resources to produce vaccines. A <a href="http://maplecroft.com/Influenza_Pandemic_News_Release.pdf" target="_blank">recent report released by a UK-based global risks intelligence firm (PDF)</a> notes that while Western nations may be at the greatest risk of spreading H1N1, they also have significant resources to contain the proliferation of the virus. In contrast, Sub-Saharan Africa stands out as the area least able to contain an influenza pandemic. Underdeveloped health facilities and the difficulty of accessing doctors in rural areas could pose further risks to vulnerable populations. Nonetheless, as I read recent reports warning of a more aggressive <a href="http://health.yahoo.com/news/afp/healthfluwho_20090823032222.html" target="_blank">second wave of H1N1</a>, or speculations of a <a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20090827-pandemic-virus-could-get-nastier-year-two" target="_blank">deadly mutated super virus</a>, I recall what <a href="http://know-hari.blogspot.com/2009/08/happenings-in-pune-swine-flu-hysteria.html" target="_blank">Indian blogger Hariharan Krishnamurthy</a> wrote in mid-August after a swine flu outbreak killed 20 people in Mumbai and in the western city of Pune: "There is a mass hysteria about the swine flu... The news channels are adding fuel to the fire... and newspapers showing only the negativity... I am not trying to undermine the seriousness of the issue but also so much panic is also not at all required."A good reminder that prudence and preventative measures are best combined with a healthy dose of perspective. Take it from one of the latest statistics. Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:44:58 -0700 Link Media, Inc. Europe Sub-Saharan Africa Asia North America http://www.linktv.org/rss/linktv_rss.gif http://www.linktv.org/globalpulse/blog