The Copenhagen Climate Change Conference ended in failure today. Never mind the predictable rhetoric from several leaders who welcomed the tepid accord signed after two weeks of intense, acrimonious and chaotic negotiations. read more »
Global Affairs
From the Editor The Predictable Failure of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference
Posted December 20th, 2009 by PTZeleza
Carbon Trading: Colonizing the Atmospheric Commons By Khadija Sharife
Posted November 7th, 2009 by Guest BloggerWhether it is used to described rolling blackouts or civil wars, the catchphrase ‘Africa wins again' remains a favourite amongst naysayers naturalising the continent as a place where tragedies symbolise the realisation of Africa's innate ‘destiny' - to self-destruct.
ARMS AND ENERGY
Beyond Bandung: Awakening of the South By Samir Amin
Posted November 2nd, 2009 by Guest BloggerChallenging the imperialist dimensions of capitalism. Capitalism is in crisis, Samir Amin writes in Pambazuka News, creating new opportunities to challenge its imperialist dimensions. read more »
From the Editor The Internet Goes Multilingual: The Challenges for Africa and African Diasporas
Posted November 1st, 2009 by PTZeleza
Last Friday, October 30, the internet opened a new chapter in its long march towards internationalization. It entered a new era of multilingual globalization. Up to now, web addresses could only be displayed using Latin characters. This increasingly makes little sense as more than half of the world's 1.6 billion internet users employ non-Latin scripts including Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, and Russian.
- PTZeleza's blog
- BIO
- Login or register to post comments






From the Editor The Undistinguished History of the Nobel Peace Prize
Posted October 10th, 2009 by PTZeleza
The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Barack Obama has provoked a strange storm of controversy. I say strange because the protagonists in the debate--the advocates, ambivalents, and antagonists of President Obama's unexpected award--seem to read too much into the award. As shown by their partisan passions they seem, despite their apparent disagreement, to invest the prize with a measure of worldly greatness that is simply untenable.
2016 Olympics: The Obamas Need New Speechwriters
Posted October 3rd, 2009 by Wandia NjoyaI might be the only African who is getting a little tired of the Obama phenomenon. And I might be the only one who was relieved that Chicago didn't win the bid for the 2016 Olympics. And I might be the only one who was pleasantly surprised that Chicago lost in the first round.
From the Editor The G20 Summit: The Symbolic Birth of a New World Economic Order?
Posted September 27th, 2009 by PTZeleza
As is common with most international gatherings, the G20 Summit which ended in Pittsburgh last Friday was long on symbolism and short on substance. read more »
Global Cultural and Civilizational Contests: The Electoral Drama of UNESCO
Posted September 20th, 2009 by AnonymousTomorrow, September 21, the fourth round of voting will take place to elect the new Director General of UNESCO. Elections to leadership positions in UN agencies and other international organizations are ritualized performances in which nations and regions jockey for global recognition and sometimes power. It is often more about the symbolism of global rankings rather than substantive global power, for the latter continues to cohere around the complexes of military-industrial production and projection.
Emerging From the Crisis of Capitalism Or Emerging From Capitalism in Crisis? By Samir Amin
Posted September 19th, 2009 by AnonymousThe principle of infinite accumulation, which defines capitalism as synonymous with exponential growth, and the latter, like cancer, results in death. John Stuart Mill, who understood this, imagined that a 'stationary state' would put an end to this irrational process. John Maynard Keynes shared this optimism of the Reason. But neither was equipped to understand how the necessary overcoming of capitalism could come about. read more »
The Global Land Grab and the Dangers for Africa
Posted July 4th, 2009 by AnonymousWhile much of the world including Africa is understandably preoccupied by the current global economic recession, a development of potentially more lasting consequences is taking place behind the radar of public concern and scrutiny. A global land grab is underway in which rich countries and large corporations are buying up large tracts of land in poorer countries to secure food and biofuel supplies for the rich countries and multinational corporations.
Why Do You Call Yourself Black And African?
Posted July 4th, 2009 by Carina RayA little over a year ago I received an email with the subject line "Ok I wonder why you call yourself ‘black' and ‘African'" from a self-described longtime New African reader. Even if subsequent emails have been less direct in their articulation of the same underlying sentiment, they all point in a similar direction: some people are confused about my racial background and about the way I racially identify myself. Their need to seek clarification suggests that being able to label me is important to the way in which they understand the conten read more »
Uncivil Societies: Beyond the Valorization of Civil Society and Demonization of the State
Posted June 25th, 2009 by AnonymousAll too often, the underlying ideas that frame public discourse and even policy remain unexamined. One of the most powerful of such ideas is the notion of civil society, which enjoyed particular prominence at the height of the new wave of democratization in the 1990s and early 2000s across much of the world including Africa. Civil society was generally seen as the repository of all that was positive and possible for Africa, which the heinous state had thwarted through its authoritarian inflexibilities, inefficiencies and instabilities.
How Globally Competitive Is Africa
Posted June 25th, 2009 by AnonymousThe African Competitiveness Report was released earlier this month preceding the official opening of the World Economic Forum on Africa held in Cape Town, June 10-12. Jointly produced by the African Development Bank, the World Bank, and the World Economic Forum, the report discusses the short- and long-term challenges facing African economies including the current global economic crisis, as well as the successes that have been registered in recent years and how they can be spread and deepened.
SPECIAL REPORT: THE CRISIS IN IRAN
Posted June 21st, 2009 by AnonymousThe current crisis in Iran is, quite predictably, eliciting conflicting and often contradictory commentaries in the media and reactions from governments around the world. As is often the case with charged political events, the prevailing opinions and responses usually reflect existing ideological and political predispositions and tell us as much about what is going in Iran as what the protagonists would like to see happen.
The Islamic Republic at a Crossroad By Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi
Posted June 18th, 2009 by AnonymousOn its thirtieth anniversary the Islamic Republic of Iran has reached a significant crossroads. After validating the questionable re-election of President Ahmadinejad on June 12th, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has hesitantly but expediently instructed the Guardian Council to assess the allegations of voting irregularities and fraud during Iran's tenth presidential election. read more »
The Challenges of Extrajudicial Killings: From the United States to Kenya
Posted June 5th, 2009 by AnonymousStatement by Professor Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, United Nations Human Rights Council, Geneva, 3 June 2009
Mr President, distinguished delegates,
From the Editor The Academy and the Liberal Arts after Neoliberalism: Challenges and Opportunities
Posted April 8th, 2009 by PTZeleza
Anyone who regularly reads the academic press from The Chronicle of Higher Education to the trade books on universities is sometimes overwhelmed by a sense of crisis gripping institutions of higher learning. Over the past few months The Chronicle has been full of grim stories about the challenges facing American universities and colleges. read more »
- PTZeleza's blog
- BIO
- Login or register to post comments






Political, Economic and Climatic Crises of Western Civilization: Dangers and Opportunities By Yash Tandon
Posted April 4th, 2009 by AnonymousWestern civilisation has been going through a deepening crisis over the last 120 years - to be precise since around mid-1880s when serious colonisation began of the African continent as a desperate attempt to get out of the crisis created by the limits to growth within Europe. The present systemic crisis - whose most recent manifestations are the global financial crisis and the ecological crisis - is only its latest manifestation. Western civilisation's crisis is deeper than most people realise or willing to acknowledge.
From the Editor The G20 Summit: Stalling a New World Economic Order
Posted April 3rd, 2009 by PTZeleza
The G20 Summit is now over. It promised so much, but delivered so little. It offered a generational, even centennial, opportunity to restructure the global economy that has been in free fall since last September following the collapse of Wall Street. At the end some hailed the Summit for its unexpected "substantive" achievements but others were less impressed noting that it fell far short of the "global new deal" President Obama had called for. read more »
- PTZeleza's blog
- BIO
- Login or register to post comments






The Internet and the Globalization of Academic Cheating
Posted March 22nd, 2009 by AnonymousThe Internet has done wonders for higher education. The incorporation of information technologies into the activities of teaching, research, and publication has revolutionized knowledge production and dissemination. Online education helps remove the spatiotemporal constraints that limit access for nontraditional students, promote student interaction and cooperative learning, pedagogical experimentation, collaborative research, and transnational exchanges. read more »