By Greg Flakus

The White House says that a ban on travel to Ebola-affected countries in West Africa would be counter productive. Homeland Security Advisor Lisa Monaco said that a travel ban would “actually impede the response” to Ebola cases in affected countries and that airport screening procedures are keeping ill people off planes.

Speaking at a Friday press briefing, Monaco said that airport screening, which has been in effect since the summer, has been “effective” preventing “dozens and dozens of people” from getting on planes. The procedures check for temperature and other symptoms of illness.

Also during that time, Monaco said, “tens of thousands of individuals have come to the United States from this region [West Africa]. We now have this isolated case in Texas.”

Liberian national in Dallas

The first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States was in serious, but stable condition, at a Dallas hospital as health workers monitored four family members and others who had contact with Liberian national Thomas Duncan after he arrived from Liberia, officials said.

Health officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, say they now are monitoring about 50 people who had direct or indirect contact with Duncan.

Dr. Beth Bell of the CDC told reporters Friday that officials are being “extremely cautious” with those contacts, but added that such caution does not imply “a high level of concern.”

Of the people being monitored, about 10 are considered at high risk, while the rest are considered at low risk, according to Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services.

A cleanup crew worked throughout the day to decontaminate Duncan’s Dallas apartment Friday. Four family members who had been quarantined there have been relocated to an undisclosed location.

An infected U.S. cameraman working for NBC News in Liberia will arrive Monday in the U.S. Ashoka Mukpo’s father said his son will be treated at a facility in Omaha, Nebraska. The father said Mukpo “is weak. He has some fever and he’s got some muscle aches, but he’s in the early phases, so basically he doesn’t feel too badly.”

Possible case in Washington

Meanwhile, a patient in a Washington, D.C., hospital is being monitored for possible Ebola. At the Friday news briefing, Secretary of Health and Human Resources Sylvia Burwell said the patient’s symptoms were “malarial” but could be Ebola.

Kerry-Ann Hamilton, a spokeswoman for Howard University Hospital, said the patient who recently traveled to Nigeria was in stable condition.

Hamilton said medical authorities have isolated the patient and “activated the appropriate infection control protocols.”

Controversy swirls

Controversy continued over the Dallas hospital’s failure to immediately isolate Duncan.

Dr. Tom Kenyon, director of global health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said such mistakes come with the appearance of an epidemic.

“It is inevitable that the longer this epidemic exists, the bigger it gets, the greater the risk of importation events like we have just seen,” Kenyon told reporters Thursday. “So, while we regret that this [Texas case of Ebola] has occurred, we hope the best for the gentleman’s health.

“We do want to point out that this is not a failure of the screening system. It is a reality of the epidemic that we find ourselves in,” he said.

Children being monitored

Officials have said some school-age children are among those being monitored for having contact with Duncan. He has been isolated in a special ward, under treatment for his symptoms.

There is no proven cure for Ebola, though a drug manufactured by a U.S. company has shown promise.

Some Dallas residents have said openly they fear what would happen if others end up being infected.

Local media reports have said parents of some children who attended the same school as the children now quarantined have been keeping their own children away.

“At first it was just over in Africa, but now it is here, so it is something local. It is not widespread, but it’s still here,” said one man, who declined to give his name.

Others, however, have expressed little worry.

“I am not really concerned. It is at the hospital and I am not in contact with anyone who is affiliated with it,” one woman told VOA.

“It is so far beyond my capability to do anything about it that I am just going to trust,” another man said.

Confidence in medical system

Gabriel Ogueri, who immigrated to the United States from Nigeria, said he was confident the U.S. medical system would prevent the spread of the virus.

“We have what it takes to eradicate it. I am not scared at all,” Ogueri said.

Ebola experts have said the best way to prevent further infections in the United States or elsewhere is to defeat the disease in West Africa, where health infrastructure and medical care remain inadequate.

More than 3,000 people have died of Ebola this year in the worst outbreak ever, according to the World Health Organization. Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea have been the worst affected.

The post Airport Ebola-Screening Procedures Keeping ‘Dozens’ Off Planes appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Prevention, information exchange, investigation and capacity building were highlighted as the four core elements in combating cybercrime at the conclusion of the INTERPOL-Europol conference.

Centered around the theme ‘Cybercrime investigations – the full cycle’, the three-day (1 – 3 October) meeting brought together some 230 specialists from law enforcement, the private sector and academia from 55 countries to review current trends and new modus operandi used by organized crime networks.

The need to coordinate enforcement activities, enhance law enforcement capacity and identify the legal tools required for successful prosecutions also topped the agenda.

Closing the conference, Executive Director of the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI) Noboru Nakatani, and head of Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) Troels Oerting said the engagement and input from delegates had served to increase understanding and encourage greater interaction between the various sectors involved.

Delegates supported a number of joint activities to be undertaken by INTERPOL and Europol in coordination with involved partners and countries including publication of joint reports, disseminating early warning messages, conducting assessments of inter-regional cyberattacks, carrying out operations to take down Botnets and standardization of training, tools and processes.

Fast and effective information sharing with partners from different sectors through structures such as the Joint Cybercrime Action Task Force or the Cyber Fusion Centre at the IGCI was also highlighted as an area to be further developed.

The 2015 Europol-INTERPOL cybercrime conference will be held at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague.

The post INTERPOL-Europol Cybercrime Conference Reinforces Multisector Commitment To Cybersecurity appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a message to the Hajj pilgrims on Friday.

The full text of the message is as follows:

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

And praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds and Allah’s Greetings to Mohammad (PBUH) and His Holy Progeny

A salutation and greeting arising from enthusiasm and reverence on you, the fortunate people who have accepted the call of Quran and have rushed to be guests at the House of God. The first word of advice is to know the value of this great blessing and try to endeavor to get close to its goals by musing about personal and social and spiritual and international dimensions of this unique obligation and ask the Merciful and Powerful host to help you do this.

I, accompanying you both with my heart and my words, ask the forgiving and gracious God to complete His blessing on you and since He has bestowed upon you the success of taking this trip, [He may] also help you to fulfill the Hajj rituals in their entirety and then through his generous acceptance, see you off to your destinations with full hands and complete health.

In the good opportunity that has been provided by this rich and unparalleled ritual, apart from spiritual purification and rehabilitation, which is the most sublime and the most basic achievement of Hajj, due attention to various issues of the Islamic world as well as a comprehensive and broad-based approach to the most important and highest-priority issues related to the Islamic Ummah, should top the list of duties and rites of Hajj pilgrims.

The issue of unity among Muslims and cutting the knots that have created distance among various parts of the Islamic Ummah is among these important issues, which are of high priority today.

Hajj is the manifestation of unity and integrity and the bedrock of brotherhood and cooperation. In Hajj, everybody should learn a lesson about focusing on commonalities and doing away with differences. Sowing discord to meet their ominous ends has been high on the agenda of the filthy hands of colonialistic policies since a long time ago.

However, now that in the light of the Islamic Awakening, Muslim nations have correctly found out about the animosity of the Arrogant and Zionist front and have taken stances against it, policies that aim to divide Muslims are being pursued with more fervor.

The deceitful enemy is bent on fanning the flame of civil wars among Muslims in order to deviate motivations for resistance and struggle among them and create a safe margin for the Zionist regime and other agents of Arrogance that are true enemies. Launching Takfiri terrorist groups and the likes of them in countries located in West Asia region is a consequence of this treacherous policy.

This is a warning for all of us to put the issue of unity among Muslims on top of our national and international duties.

Another important topic is the issue of Palestine. With the lapse of 65 years from the outset of the usurping Zionist regime and through ups and down of this important and sensitive issue, and especially as a result of bloody developments of the past recent years, two realities have been revealed to all people. Firstly, the Zionist regime and its criminal backers know no boundary and limit for cruelty and brutality and trampling upon all human and ethical norms.

They consider themselves authorized to commit any crime, genocide, destruction, massacre of children and women and defenseless people, and any other act of aggression and oppression that they can do, and they are also proud of it. Woeful scenes of the recent 50-day war on Gaza were the latest example of such historical crimes, which have been of course repeated frequently during the past half a century.

The second fact is that all this brutalities and catastrophes have not been able to help the leaders and supporters of this Zionist regime to achieve their goal. To the contrary of the foolish aspiration of strength and power, which evil politicians wished for the Zionist regime in their minds, day by day, this regime is getting closer to collapse and annihilation.

The 50-day resistance of the besieged and defenseless Gaza against all the power that the Zionist regime had brought to the scene, and finally, failure and retreat of that regime and its submission to conditions set by the Resistance, were clear manifestations of this weakness and inability and impotence.

This means that: the Palestinian nation should be more hopeful than ever; the fighters of [Islamic] Jihad and Hamas should reinvigorate their endeavor, determination and resolve; the West Bank should continue on its regular proud path with more strength and vigor; Muslim nations should require their governments to lend real and serious support to Palestine; and Muslim governments should take this path with honesty.

The third important and high-priority issue, is the smart approach that should be taken by sympathetic activists in the Muslim world to the discrepancy between pure Mohammedan Islam and the American Islam, and while avoiding mistaking and mixing this two, prevent others from doing that. Our late great Imam was the first person to try to differentiate between these two categories and entered [that difference] into the political lexicon of the Muslim world. The purified Islam is the Islam of serenity and spirituality, the Islam of piety and democracy, and the Islam that is tough on infidels but lenient on the faithful.

The American Islam is the result of putting the costume of Islam on subservience to foreigners and enemies of the Islamic Ummah. An Islam that fans the flames of division among Muslims; instead on trusting the Divine Promise, puts its trust in the enemies of God; instead of fighting Zionism and Arrogance, fights its Muslim brethren; [and] becomes united with the Arrogant America against its own nation or other nations, is not [true] Islam. It is rather a dangerous and pernicious hypocrisy against which every true Muslim should fight.

An approach combined with insight and deep thinking will clearly reveal these important facts and issues in the reality of the Islamic world for any person who seeks truth; and also determines the duty and obligation of the day without any ambiguity.

Hajj and its rituals and rites provide a golden opportunity to acquire such insight and I hope you, the fortunate Hajj pilgrims, would be able to take full advantage of this divine blessing.

I leave all of you under protection of Almighty God and ask the Almighty to accept your endeavor.

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah

Seyyed Ali Khamenei

The post Ayatollah Khamenei’s Message To Hajj Pilgrims appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Hamid Reza Kamali

Iran and Saudi Arabia are two important countries in a region, which plays a pivotal role in historical changes and developments. Iran has a history which dates back to thousands of years ago and is the remaining part of ancient empires whose story has been told by historians living as far back as 2,000 years ago, including the Greek historian, Herodotus. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, came into being after the fall of the Ottoman Empire and as a result of colonialistic treaties of the 20th century, including the Sykes–Picot Agreement. Its geographical location, however, is the cradle of a religion, which is almost 1,500 years old and which is currently being followed by more than one billion people across the world. The diplomatic relations between these two political entities during the past century have been a function of personal will of their leaders as well as the external effect resulting from the general conditions that prevailed during the Cold War. Bilateral relations between Tehran and Riyadh have been also influenced by the hegemonic powers. A review of past developments in relations between these two countries can, therefore, serve as a guide to study the possible future outlook of those relations.

Iran opened its embassy in the Saudi Arabian capital city of Riyadh in 1930. Under the former Iranian monarch, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia were influenced by the presence of the British forces in the region as a colonialistic force and were also affected by religious and racial differences between the two nations. However, those relations became somehow tense after an Iranian citizen called Aboutaleb Yazdi was executed in Saudi Arabia in 1943. Of course, the common fight against Communism and Nasserite nationalism in addition to the issue of the conflict between Palestinians and Israel and the security void caused by the withdrawal of the British colonialistic forces from the Middle East, finally led to more convergence between the two government’s viewpoints and encouraged them to cooperate on regional issues. As a result, the former Saudi monarch, King Fahd, announced when he was just a crown prince in 1977 that relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia were at a very high level. The need for having good neighborly relations with Iran was felt so strongly by Saudi officials and was considered to be such a necessity that even following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, King Fahd announced that his government recognizes the new government in Iran and holds great respect for its leadership.

After the breakout of war between Iran and its western neighbor, Iraq, and subsequent escalation of religious disputes, relations between Tehran and Riyadh went sour for a second time. Iran accused Saudi Arabia of granting billions of dollars in aid to the then government of Iraq. The Islamic Republic also charged Saudi Arabia’s officials of trying to undermine Iran’s economy during the war by increasing their country’s crude oil output and exporting more oil to international markets. The acme of that tense situation was seen in a development that took place during the Hajj pilgrimage. During the Hajj pilgrimage in 1987 and when the Iranian pilgrims were conducting a ceremony to show their hatred for infidels, they were attacked by Saudi police as a result of which, a total of over 400 pilgrims were killed more than 270 of whom were Iranian.

Following a subsequent period of total freeze in relations and through the presence of the Saudi King Abdullah in Tehran in 1977 to take part in a conference of Muslim countries, new hopes blossomed about possible rapprochement between the two countries. The improvement of relations between Tehran and Riyadh continued until it culminated in the signing of a joint security agreement between the two countries in 2001. However, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in the United States and the fall of the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, as a result of invasion of his country by the occupying American forces, pitted the two countries against each other again. Iran and Saudi Arabia parted ways and for one more time, the two countries’ behavior was determined by existing religious differences.

At present, Iranian officials are accusing Saudi Arabia of supporting such terrorist groups as Al-Qaeda, armed Sunni opposition groups in southeast Iran, opposition groups fighting against Syrian President Bashar Assad, as well as the entirety of Takfiri current in the region. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, incriminates Iran of trying to build a Shia empire and dominate all Sunni Muslims in the Middle East. An instance in which serious differences between the two governments soared was when Saudi officials reached the conclusion that Iranians were not serious in cooperation against Al-Qaeda terrorist group, which they considered as enemy number one of Al Saud ruling family. Of course, Iran could not take part in a one-way game in which all benefits were reaped by one side of the game, leaving all the losses for the other side.

During recent months, as the ISIS Takfiri group has emerged in Iraq following its conquests in Syria, the Middle East region has been scene of another important development. But it seems that even now, the two countries are following the same old line in their analyses of each other. Iran has charged Saudi Arabia of providing financial and logistic aid to the ISIS in order to mount pressure on the Shia government in Baghdad and to claim an unfair share of political power in Iraq. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, claims that the government of Iran is using the ISIS as an excuse in order to strengthen its influence over the entire region by deceiving the international community and putting pressure on Sunni Muslims in the Middle East.

Regardless of all the negative aspects of such incriminations, the point which should be taken into account here is that there is a very remarkable positive side to these charges as well. The two countries have owned up to the fact that both of them have powerful pressure tools and leverage in the region. When two political players in a sensitive region like the Middle East consider each other of having high political capability, it proves that they have accepted each other as major regional powers. Therefore, they have actually forged a certain form of threat balance on the basis of political principles. However, both countries should be very careful not to turn into dead heroes in the heat of this regional game. This is totally true because in view of the prevailing conditions in the region, the void of a suitable gaming model between these two important regional players is more than evident. In this situation stag hunt could serve as a good model for cooperation between Tehran and Riyadh.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau described a situation in which two individuals go out on a hunt. Each can individually choose to hunt a stag or hunt a hare. Each player must choose an action without knowing the choice of the other. If an individual hunts a stag, he must have the cooperation of his partner in order to succeed. An individual can get a hare by himself, but a hare is worth less than a stag. The two countries of Iran and Saudi Arabia have many figurative hares in the basket of their national interests. However, to get rid of the threat posed by religious extremism, which is currently represented by the ISIS Takfiri terrorism, will be like having a figurative stag in the basket of their national interests. This aspect of bilateral relations between the two countries is affected by both internal and external elements. The internal element, which affects bilateral relations between the two countries, is the existence of religious extremist currents while the external element is the influence exerted by foreign powers, especially the United States. The Saudi king, as Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, is currently facing a challenge of legitimacy both within and without Saudi Arabia, which stems from the establishment of the Islamic State by the ISIS that seeks to strip Saudi Arabia of its role as a political and religious center in the Muslim world. On the other hand, Iran, as a country most of whose population is Shia, is also facing a threat from the ISIS very close to its borders.

Following what happened in Syria, the statesmen in Saudi Arabia have found out that they can no more count on unconditional support of their Western allies. By refraining from launching a military strike on Syria, the American government practically made Saudi Arabia change its mind about becoming a member of the United Nations Security Council. Under these conditions, the two important neighboring governments are looking into each other’s eyes, knowing that through serious and high-level consultation, they will be able to put an end to existing differences, which are only remarkable and striking at a media level. Riyadh should accept that the red line it had previously drawn about not accepting Iran’s involvement in the developments of the Arab world has been rejected even by its close allies. It should come to grips with the reality that ongoing crises in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Bahrain and even Yemen cannot be resolved without due respect for Iran’s national interests and taking advantage of the influence that Tehran sways in those countries. The fight against terrorism and religious extremism, including the threat that the Saudi kingdom is feeling from political currents affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood, can be taken as the main axis of cooperation between the two countries. Let’s not forget that there are always hares in the basket, but the time is short for hunting a stag, which if left on its own may turn into a bloodthirsty wolf.

Hamid Reza Kamali, Middle East Analyst

The post Iran And Saudi Arabia: Past And Future – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Experts from the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC), in the east coast of Mexico, develop new generation dental implants from mixtures of polymers with ceramic and a light consistency. So far the experts at this university have optimized the performance of those dental tools as they simulated the repetitive force of mastication and considered this factor to ensure that the impact of stress is absorbed by the piece and not by the bone structure.

They have proposed some formulations that allow those teeth to be resistant to the effort of chewing and corrosion as titanium implants (which are often used by dentists), but at a more affordable cost. “By optimizing the geometry and consistency of the implants we can ensure that they remain in place longer, but with a lower cost than the titanium implant,” said Mauricio Paz González, project collaborator in charge of industrial design.

Through mathematical simulations, UABC experts seek to reduce stress levels in patients before the introduction of these auxiliary pieces. Traditional implants are placed with the same dynamics as a screw, and bone structure functions as a base for holding those dental tools.

Meanwhile, Juan Antonio Paz González, head of the manufacturing processes of the pieces, commented that a goal is to have the implants coated with vitamin D, because that chemical stimulates production of bone tissue around the piece. This, he said, adds support; he added that once pilot tests were trough, they will be compared to traditional implant performance.

Luis Villarreal Jesus Gomez, head of research, said that the manufacture of these implants will not only improve the oral health of patients, but also benefit their economy. “Most people who require implants are older adults, who often find it impossible for a transaction of this nature to be affordable,” he said.

So far, the specialist has proposed several possible formulations for achieving the implant. “Additionally we seek to include vitamin D in the composition of dental implants, to achieve a better integration of the piece with the bone structure of the patient,” commented the scientist at UABC.

The post New Materials For Better, Stronger And Cheaper Dental Implants appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Elizabeth Sidiropoulos

From Gaza to Syria, Iraq and Ukraine, the existing political order is under attack. The crises in Europe challenge the stability that was the product of post-Cold War settlements, while the post-World War II arrangements in the Middle East are unravelling.

The ongoing instability in the Arab Spring countries illustrates that new orders might necessarily go through protracted convulsions before their true nature is revealed. These conflicts are far from South Africa geographically, yet are also proximate. The ANC government has always advocated the Palestinian cause and been a harsh critic of Israeli occupation.

On Syria, South Africa disagreed with the West’s hardline approach, concerned it would spawn the mayhem that engulfed Libya. On Ukraine, South Africa has had a more muted response since the conflict escalated in late February, but one that nevertheless is consistent with its opposition to the West’s promotion of democracy or regime change (perceived or otherwise).

South Africa’s post-1994 philosophy has been that military solutions are no guarantee of a genuine self-sustaining peace. Ideally, conflict resolution should be multilateral and favour diplomacy. The country has been a strong proponent of non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states and, in line with the AU, has adhered to the principle of the inviolability of borders.

On Ukraine, South Africa’s public statements have focused on the need for dialogue in the interest of stability. These are valid points but, as with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, need to be placed in the context of who wields greater force.

Soon after the referendum in Crimea, South Africa abstained on the UN General Assembly resolution on the territorial integrity of the Ukraine on March 27 this year as did Brazil, China and India, Russia’s other BRICS partners.

As chairperson of the BRICS when the foreign ministers met on the margins of the nuclear summit at The Hague in March, South Africa issued a statement that “the challenges that exist within the regions of the BRICS… must be addressed within the fold of the United Nations in a calm and levelheaded manner”.

Neither South Africa nor other BRICS members have condemned publicly any Russian actions against Ukraine. Russia is a member of BRICS, a body to which South Africa accords priority, even though economically the US and the EU combined are bigger players in the country.

Russia does not see itself just as a regional power. Under Vladimir Putin, it has sought to assert its global role and influence. In its eyes the West has not accorded it the status it believes it deserves. Ukraine has thus become the stage for the test of wills between traditional Cold War adversaries.

Ukrainians still have vivid memories of Soviet repression, especially under Stalin, making this contest for many Ukrainians a struggle against a former imperial master. Both sides have used these fault lines to advance their particular objectives.

But the tipping point was the Crimean referendum and its annexation by Russia. It set in motion a potential precedent, which may boomerang on multi-ethnic states like Russia. It also violated the post-Cold War arrangements that included Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons in return for the guarantee of its territorial integrity.

Russia has been ambiguous about the extent of its involvement in Ukraine. Yet, observing Russia’s engagement with its neighbourhood under Vladimir Putin reveals a strong propensity for the use of military means – overt or covert – whether in Georgia, the north Caucasus, Moldova or Ukraine.

The permanent five in the UN Security Council have a great responsibility to be judicious in their engagements and to exercise restraint in their actions as the ultimate guarantors of global peace and security (whether this is fair or not). Since the end of the Cold War, neither Russia nor the US in particular has always acted with such restraint.

The Ukrainian crisis poses a number of questions and dilemmas. First, how the challenge to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are tackled will have implications for the shape of the international order.

Already borders have been altered de facto in Iraq mechanisms in east Asia, how will disputes over territory and historical claims be addressed there? And what about African borders? Libya is fragmenting (thanks in part to the Nato operation which worsened fault lines), Mali’s divisions have not healed, and arcs of conflict persevere across the Sahel and central Africa.

Second, the growing voice of the demonstrators in the streets, sometimes with violent dimensions, is an increasing challenge even for democratic governments. This will pose more ethical dilemmas for governments and external actors. Is an armed uprising against a democratic state (however flawed), acceptable?

Third, do less powerful states have a right to determine their alliance partners or should there be a tacit acceptance of spheres of influence? It is for these reasons that South Africa needs to consider how its statements might be seen to condone the role played by Russia in fomenting and encouraging the separatists. South Africa’s credibility as an advocate for certain values is eroded by adopting equivocal positions; after all, South Africa’s soft power is in building legitimate and accountable processes for resolving conflicts, and in upholding international principles.

Our relationship with partners should be such that we feel comfortable enough to disagree with them when we feel that these principles are breached – as we do vocally with our US and EU partners but hardly ever with the BRICS members.

This includes encouraging our partners to respect institutional processes and international principles, and emphasising that great powers have a larger responsibility to abstain from the use of force (direct or indirect) as a means to solve crises. South Africa is not a player in Ukraine, but it has a stake in the outcome.

Elizabeth Sidiropoulos is chief executive of the South African Institute of International Affairs. This article was first published in the Sunday Tribune on 07 September 2014.

The post South Africa Response To Conflict Must Be Astute – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Providing consumers lower-calorie foods is good for business and public health, according to a new research report from Hudson Institute, an independent policy research organization. The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF) asked Hudson Institute to analyze sales data from the 16 major food and beverage companies it counts among its members to determine both trends in sales and product availability.

Hank Cardello, senior fellow & director of Hudson Institute’s Obesity Solutions Initiative and author of Stuffed: An Insider’s Look at Who’s (Really) Making America Fat, said the research reveals that over a period of five years ending December 31, 2012, 16 Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation companies increased their sales of lower-calorie products, made those items more available in grocery stores and retail outlets, and promoted them more in-store.

“While there is still much work to be done in addressing the nation’s obesity epidemic, this study reveals that consumer preferences are changing, and answering the demand for lower calorie products is both good for business and America’s waistline,” said Cardello.

Cardello’s study, “Lower-Calorie Foods and Beverages Fuel Growth at Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation Companies,” released at a National Press Club briefing, was designed to determine quantitatively whether HWCF companies were making progress in selling more lower-calorie foods and beverages in concert with their pledge to Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) — an initiative to eliminate 1.5 trillion calories from the food supply.

“The 16 Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation companies not only met their goal, but exceeded it, removing 6.4 trillion calories from the marketplace,” PHA Chief Strategy Officer Ryan Shadrick Wilson said. “We’re pleased that this commitment offered new options for families and kids, at the same time improving companies’ bottom lines. There’s much more to do, and we hope HWCF’s success will inspire more innovation and promotion of healthier options.”

HWCF President Lisa Gable also commented: “When some of the country’s largest food and beverage manufacturers and retailers formed the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation in 2009, we recognized that an absolutely critical component of this work would be the analysis and tracking that this study documents.”

In an independent evaluation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation verified that the companies cut 6.4 trillion calories from the marketplace from 2007-2012 to fulfill a pledge they made to First Lady Michelle Obama to do their part in the fight against obesity.

“We’re excited to see that these 16 companies have not only more than met their calorie cutting commitment but are also reaping financial rewards,” said Tracy Orleans, Ph.D., senior scientist at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Both results provide a spring board for these companies to take further action and for others to get on board.”

According to the study, 99 percent of the almost $1/2 billion sales growth came from lower-calorie foods, while only 1 percent of sales growth came from higher-calorie foods. On the supply side, there was a 96 percent increase in the availability of lower-calorie products.

“The HWCF efforts have improved the quality of food purchased in America simultaneously with reducing calories. The fact that their efforts are supported by the market will inspire food service and additional food companies to join this effort along with those focused on promoting higher levels of physical activity,” said Derek Yach, executive director of health research firm Vitality Institute.

Compiled using A.C. Nielsen Company data for a five-year period ending Dec. 31, 2012, the report also documents a 96 percent increase in the availability of lower-calorie products compared with a 4 percent increase in the availability of higher-calorie products.

By the end of 2012, the study noted that lower-calorie products are increasingly available in-store as findings highlighted a 14.1 percent net increase of these products still on grocery shelves.

Cardello said sales trends are the most compelling demonstrations of the consumer shift toward “better for you products.” He compared the $485 million increase in lower-calorie products sales, to the paltry $2 million increase of higher-calorie item sales.

Cardello’s approach was to quantitatively measure increases in the following:

1) Sales of lower-calorie foods and beverages;
2) Sales of lower-calorie products moved on in-store promotion;
3) Number of lower-calorie products introduced; and
4) Supermarket availability of lower-calorie products.

Cardello said Hudson Institute formulated a composite INDEX or Score capturing the sum of improvements made across all the aforementioned categories. The INDEX will serve as a benchmark and an ongoing tracking system of aggregate HWCF company progress in delivering and supporting better-for-you products. Cardello noted that the Index is a follow-up to the 2013 research the Hudson Institute conducted for the HWCF.

The post Market Data Shows 99 Percent Of Sales Growth For Leading Consumer Packaged Goods Companies From Lower-Calorie Foods appeared first on Eurasia Review.

A new study led by Queen’s University Belfast into how cheetahs burn energy suggests that human activity, rather than larger predators, may force them to expend more energy and thus be the major cause of their decline.

Wild cheetahs are down to under 10,000 from 100,000 a century ago with conventional wisdom blaming bigger predators for monopolising available food as their habitat becomes restricted. The traditional thinking has been that cheetahs no longer have sufficient access to prey to fuel their enormous energy output when engaging in super-fast chases.

But, in the first study of its kind, published today in the international journal Science, academics from Queen’s, other Universities and conservation institutions have made the surprising discovery that, in the main, cheetahs do not use significantly more energy than other, similar-sized mammals.

The scientists also discovered that, in searching for prey, cheetahs incur more energy loss than in outbursts of running which, although spectacular, are infrequent. So, where their prey have been reduced or re-distributed through human impacts, their ability to balance energy budgets has been severely curtailed.

Lead researcher Dr Michael Scantlebury from Queen’s School of Biological Sciences said: “We studied 19 free-roaming cheetahs each for two weeks across two sites in southern Africa, one in the Kalahari desert and the other in a wetter area. We injected heavy water into the animals before tracking them continuously and collecting their faeces. From these samples, we could determine how much of this heavy water they were losing each day and calculate their energy expenditures.

“What we found was that the cats’ energy expenditure was not significantly different from other mammals of similar size – cheetahs may be Ferraris but most of the time they are driving slowly. What our study showed was that their major energy costs seem to be incurred by travelling, rather than securing prey. If you can imagine walking up and down sand dunes in high temperatures day in, day out, with no water to drink you start to get a feel for how challenging these cats’ daily lives are, and yet they remain remarkably adapted and resilient.

“They can even withstand other species, such as lions and hyenas, stealing their prey. The reality may be that human activities – for example erecting fences that inhibit free travel or over-hunting cheetah prey – are forcing cheetahs to travel ever-increasing distances and that this may be compromising their energy more than any other single factor. Our study, which is the result of ten years’ of research, seriously questions previously held assumptions about the factors affecting population viability in large predators threatened by extinction.”

Co-researcher Dr Nikki Marks, also from Queen’s University Belfast said: “Research of this type helps improve our understanding of the challenges facing cheetahs as they strive to survive and helps inform future decisions on conservation strategies for cheetahs and other threatened animals.”

Manuscript co-author Dr John Wilson of North Carolina State University said: “Too often we blame lions and hyenas for decimating cheetah populations when in fact, it is likely to be us humans that drive their declines. Imagine how hard it must be for a small cub to follow its mother further and further through the desert to look for food, while she herself is fighting for survival.”

Another key member of the research team, Dr Gus Mills from The Lewis Foundation said: “Having spent the best part of six years studying these animals in the Kalahari you get a good understanding at first hand of the challenges they face in order to survive, even without the detrimental impact of human activity.”

The Queen’s-led research was carried out in partnership with Oxford University, Swansea University, Ohio State University, North Carolina State University, the University of Aberdeen, the University of Pretoria, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, The Lewis Foundation (South Africa), the South African Wildlife Research Expedition and the Zoological Society of London. It was supported by awards from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Royal Society.

The post New Study Suggests Humans To Blame For Plummeting Numbers Of Cheetahs appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Teenage years are a turbulent time of learning independence, developing social skills and experiencing sexuality and romance. Teens face peer groups pressure and have no micro guidance from parents. Texting is an important social communication channel for teens, giving the opportunity for anxiety free communication with the opposite sex. This study in Journal of Children and Media explores teenager’s use of text, language differences between sexes and overall gender identity.

The authors conducted 9 focus groups of 12-18 year olds across 4 US cities to broadly investigate teen communications via mobiles. How do teens use them to negotiate the choppy waters of “flirt, hook-up and break-up”?

Gender segregated groups completed questionnaires on issues of phone ownership, parental interaction and girl/boy communications. Interestingly, historical differences in use of language in males and females were shown to resonate in girls and boys texting styles.

Boys view phones as a status symbol to perform a basic function; they are direct and rapid in their conversations, make their arrangements and go. One boy noted that to be texting another “dude” was not okay, implying that long text conversations are for girls only.

Another boy claimed that girls’ texts were “just BS”. Girls undeniably like to chat, socialise and enhance their conversations with smiley faces etc. and clearly see texting as a way of building and maintaining friendships. Intriguingly male participants acknowledge that when texting girls, they “play the game”.

In other words boys step outside their usual style and use more emotive text to please girls and to avoid hurt feelings or misinterpretations.

12-17 year olds send or receive an average of 60 texts per day. Texting is a significant communication channel for teens and, the authors note an important area for study of gender identity and cross gender interaction. Boys seek social acceptance from girls using text and the ability to edit the conversation in private undoubtedly makes it easier.

On the other hand, potential for misunderstanding and disagreement is high. The study showed that texting seems not to challenge traditional gender identities but the authors conclude, “It is in these texts, the teens are working out their notions of gender and how to interact with people of the opposite gender.” It appears if we are to understand our teenagers, we need to acknowledge the pivotal importance of texting in the social life of a teen.

The post Teen Texting: Difference In Girls And Boys Text Talk And Reflection On Gender Identity appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Jim Garamone

The Defense Department could deploy up to 4,000 service members to Liberia as part of Operation United Assistance against Ebola, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon today.

There are 205 U.S. service members in Liberia today with another 26 in neighboring Senegal. All service members are supporting the lead federal agency for American participation in the crisis — the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel “has approved the potential deployment of up to 4,000 [service members],” Kirby said. “But I want to make one thing real clear, that that’s a potential deployment. That doesn’t mean it is going to get to that number.”

Testing labs operational

Operations are moving forward in Liberia. “Over the last 36 hours, two Ebola testing laboratories manned by personnel from the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center are now fully operational,” Kirby said. The labs can process about 100 samples each day.

U.S. personnel are also on track for completing a hospital for infected medical personnel on Oct. 18. “Construction of two treatment centers for other Ebola victims will begin today and should be completed by the end of the month,” the admiral said.

Kirby forecast a significant increase in the operations tempo in Liberia and with it an increase in troops.

Troop deployments

The U.S. Army announced the units that will deploy to the region beginning in mid-month and running through November. With the previously announced unit deployments, this will bring the total Army commitment to about 3,200 soldiers.

More than 1,800 Fort Campbell, Kentucky-based soldiers will arrive in Liberia sometime late this month. Other soldiers will deploy from the 101st Sustainment Brigade, the 86th Combat Support Hospital of the 44th Medical Brigade, and a Military Police company from the 16th Military Police Brigade.

These units will provide medical and logistic support, as well as site security, to the Joint Task Force. Soldiers will deploy from other bases as well including, Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Carson, Colorado; Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Stewart, Georgia; Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Eustis, Virginia and Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

U.S. government response to Ebola threat

“As we continue our support to the broader U.S. government response to the Ebola crisis, I want to emphasize that our operations remain focused on four lines of effort: command and control, logistics support, training, and engineering support,” Kirby said.

Troops going to the region will be monitored before, during and after deployment, Kirby said.

“Before they go, they are … especially going to get trained on Ebola and what the disease is like, what it means, what it does,” Kirby said. “Because, as I said, the troops that we’re sending down there are not health care professionals. They are not doctors, nurses, corpsmen. They are logisticians and engineers.”

Health experts will explain the best way to protect themselves from the disease. They will also explain the symptoms of Ebola.

“While the troops are there, they’re going to be constantly monitored on a regular, frequent basis,” Kirby said.

The post US May Deploy Up To 4,000 Troops To Combat Ebola, Says Defense Dept appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Juliana Moraes-Pinheiro and Juan Acosta

President Dilma Rousseff (2011-2015) is running for a second term in office in Brazil’s upcoming October 5th election, which has turned out to be a closer race than Rousseff expected.

The current head of state is campaigning on what she sees as a successful record of social policies, namely following many of the initiatives popular former President Luiz Ignacio “Lula” da Silva (2003-2007, 2007-2010) set forth. Lula’s vision for Brazil aimed to eradicate extreme poverty, augment educational opportunities, and expand basic healthcare. Social welfare programs such as Fome Zero (Zero Hunger) and Bolsa Família (Family Allowance) have improved the quality of life for the country’s low-income households. The United Nations (UN) reported a 75 percent reduction of extreme poverty between 2001 and 2012, meeting one of eight Millennium Development Goals set forth by the UN.[1] In regards to educational projects, Rousseff established in 2011 the Ciência Sem Fronteiras (Science Without Borders) initiative, which sends university students abroad to enhance their education. The goal is for students to return and make Brazil more competitive in science research.

Under Bolsa Familia, families receive subsidies based on their child’s school attendance; without this, families are ineligible for support. Additionally, children enrolled in the program must regularly visit doctors. Historically, however, Brazil has a low doctor-to-citizen ratio, particularly in low-income areas and remote regions. In an effort to address the shortage of health experts in the country to better serve those Bolsa Família recipients, the Brazilian government collaborated with the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) to attract doctors from abroad. As a result, thousands of Cuban doctors were hired under the Mais Médicos (More Doctors) program. Though this initiative’s rollout continues to have its critics, it is widely acclaimed by Brazilians and is regarded as a major achievement for Rousseff.[2]

Modern Democratization in Brazil

Politically speaking, Brazil has made impressive strides in recent decades. After a harsh 21-year military dictatorship (1964-1985), Brazil democratically elected its first president in 1985 and in 1988, a modern constitution was drafted.[3] In the 1980s and 1990s, several political parties formed. Generally speaking, Brazil has had a two-party system since the 1994 elections, namely between the right wing party PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party) and the left wing party PT (Labor Party). Rousseff (PT), a former guerilla fighter during the dictatorship, is the second leftist president since the 1988 constitution was developed.

Since Lula’s 2003 election, PT has faced a continuous stream of corruption accusations, one of which was the Mensalão scandal (a vote-buying scheme) in 2005. A recent incident includes a Petrobras scandal where former Petrobras Executive Director, Paulo Roberto Costa, revealed a kickback scheme involving congressmen, senators, and a PT minister.[4] Costa confirms he received $1.5 million Reais (roughly $725,000 USD) to purchase a refinery in Pasadena, California. Rousseff vehemently denies any knowledge of this scheme and has supported an in-depth investigation into the matter.

Despite Rousseff’s strong opposition to these accusations, the Petrobras issue, which has not yet been verified, undermines voter confidence in her effectiveness and will hurt Rousseff because of voters’ weariness of PT’s corrupt officials. If she loses votes, it could mark a historical end to Brazil’s two-party political system. The end of bipolar politics is contingent on how split Rousseff’s swing voters are because the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) party has never had a victorious presidential candidate. The latest Datafolha poll predicts Rousseff 40 percent; Silva will obtain 24 percent of votes, and right-wing Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) candidate Aécio Neves 21 percent.[5] While other candidates from small parties like, among others, Eduardo Jorge from the Green Party (PV) and Luciana Genro from the Socialist and Freedom Party (PSOL) have 1 percent each. [6] Whether swing voters elect Neves, or shift their support to center-left (PSB), Marina Silva, the tradition of having only two main parties has come to an end. Silva became a prominent presidential candidate after Eduardo Campos (PSB) died in a tragic plane accident leaving the presidential opportunity to Silva. If she emerges victorious, it would be a historical election not only because it would end the bipolar political system, but also because she would be the first candidate to be elected without initial support from a major political party.

Brazil’s Economy

Over the past six months (the last two fiscal quarters), Brazil’s economy contracted. In the first quarter, it contracted 0.6 percent and in the second quarter, it contracted 0.2 percent.[7] A survey sent to economists, conducted by the Wall Street Journal, estimates Brazil’s economy will only grow 0.52 percent in 2014. In the same report, there is an inflation forecast of 6.3 percent, dangerously close to the 6.5 percent maximum set forth by Brazil’s Central Bank.[8]

Though these trends reflect poorly on Rousseff, in the larger scope Brazil’s economy has blossomed under the PT. The rise of Foreign Direct Investment ($4.4 billions USD in 1995 and $63.3 billions USD in 2014) makes Brazil the world’s seventh biggest economy. Another factor is the local Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which in 2004 was $663.55 billion USD and jumped to $2.5 trillion USD in 2014.[9] Despite the assumption that many entrepreneurs would leave Brazil if Lula won the 2002 election, these figures prove otherwise.[10] Employment rates were also positive (12.4 percent in 2003 and 4.9 percent in 2014).[11] Today, a controversial issue is high inflation, which Rousseff argues is a result of previous years of neglect.[12] According to Portal Brasil, inflation is at 6.27 percent for this year, which is high, but stable, compared to the last four years.[13]

A contentious issue between presidential candidates is the government’s relationship with the Central Bank. Rousseff believes the Central Bank should remain under the purview of the federal government, whereas Silva believes in granting the institution more autonomy by privatizing it. Mauricio Rand, Silva’s economic advisor, would like to implement a tax reform. He guarantees that his strategy will offer credit to more Brazilians and attract global investors.[14] Though the economy is contentious and both frontrunners have varied approaches, one issue Silva and Rousseff see eye-to-eye is on the significance of social programs. PT’s goal is to provide better conditions to marginalized sectors in Brazil. However, the accusations of corruption blur the positive image PT garners for its social programs.

Nevertheless, Silva stands as a strong alternative to Rousseff. Silva’s popularity and notoriety for this presidential election came quickly, standing as a major threat to Rousseff. Silva’s popularity dates back to her days as an Environmental activist and Minister. She combatted corporate projects with high environmental impact, particularly in the Amazon where she worked side-by-side with prominent environmental activist, Chico Mendes.[15] Orphaned at age 16, Silva was taken to a covenant where she learned to read and write. She later graduated college when she was 26 and created the first workers union of Acre, her rural home state that borders Peru and Bolivia.[16] Despite her remarkable background, Silva’s socially conservative stance could prevent her from triumphing over Rousseff. Silva disapproves of same-sex marriage and abortion, stemming from her Evangelical faith.[17] Silva also avoids addressing the war on drugs and is inflexible when it comes to legalizing marijuana. She is calling for a political renewal, but her agenda is still dramatically unclear. Additionally, though Silva claims to have a centrist/moderate political ideology, her support for privatizations juxtaposes this claim.[18]

Rousseff has Catholic support (65 percent of the population) and Silva has Evangelical support (22 percent of the population), though these are not necessarily decisive factors in the election.[19] The president of the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops (CNBB), Raymundo Damascenso, asserts churches should not be involved in elections.[20] He calls for Brazilians to vote based on the candidate’s platform, history, and proposals. However, Silva does have religious officials in her corner. For example evangelical conservative congressman and pastor, Marco Feliciano (Social Christian Party – PSC) and influential pastor Silas Malafaia openly support Silva. Interestingly, they only started to support her when she stopped defending LGBT rights.[21] Silva’s polls increased when she gained the support of the aforementioned. Although they are not decisive factors, church affiliation does play a role in the election.

The economy, corruption, and political reform stand as the most significant issues in this election. The tragic death of Campos spun the international community to closely monitor Brazil’s upcoming election. Whether Rousseff or Silva emerge victorious, this election will stand as a beacon of democracy for other countries. Though voting is compulsory in Brazil, there is also a strong spirit of political participation. The combination of a growing middle class, greater access to information, and a more politically active population contributes to a successful democracy, but most importantly, a democracy with a population who is more attune to their choices.

Juliana Moraes-Pinheiro, Research Fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs and Juan Acosta, Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs

References:

[1] “Relatório Da ONU: Fome Diminui, Mas Ainda Há 805 Milhões De Pessoas No Mundo Com Desnutrição Crônica.” ONU BR Nações Unidas Do Brasil. ONU, 16 Sept. 2014. Web. 25 Sept. 2014.

[2] Juan Acosta, “Brazil: More Doctors, More Politics” Washington Report on the Hemisphere. Vol.34, No.14 September 24, 2014. Council on Hemispheric Affairs. Print.

[3] “Diretas Já – 30 Anos Do Movimento.” Portal Da Câmara Dos Deputados. Câmara, n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2014.

[4] “The Petrobras Affair.” The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 08 Sept. 2014. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.

[5] “Pesquisas Eleitorais.” UOL Eleições 2014. N.p., 02 Oct. 2014. Web. 03 Oct. 2014.

[6] ibid

[7] Mario Sergio Lima, and Matthew Malinowski. “Brazil Keeps 11% Rate as Inflation Crimps Recession Response.” Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 03 Sept. 2015. Web. 01 Oct. 2014

[8] Paulo Trevisani, “Slow Economy, Stubborn Inflation Put Brazil’s Central Bank In Tough Spot.” Real Time Economics RSS. The Wall Street Journal, 02 Sept. 2014. Web. 03 Oct. 2014.

[9] “Brazil – Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 2014 | Statistic.” Statista. N.p., 2014. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.

[10] Hélio Campos Mello, “Bolivarianos! Comunistas! Socialistas! Tucanos! Petralhas! Coxinhas! Haja Impropério!” Brasileiros. N.p., 21 Aug. 2014. Web. 25 Sept. 2014.

[11]ibid

[12] “Dilma Rousseff é Entrevistada No Jornal Nacional.” Globo.tv. N.p., 18 Aug. 2014. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.

[13] “Previsões De Inflação, Juros E Câmbio Em 2014 Ficam Estáveis, Diz BC.” Portal Brasil. N.p., 01 Sept. 2014. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.

[14] Rogerio Jelmayer, and Paul Kiernan. “Silva Aide Outlines Plan to Lure More Investors to Brazil.” The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 15 Sept. 2014. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.

[15] Eliane Cantanhê de, Fernando Rodrigues, Jeff Hornbeck, David Fleisher, and Paulo Sotero “The Changing Course of the Brazilian Elections”The Changing Course of the Brazilian Elections. Wilson Center, Washington D.C. 16 September 2014. Lecture.

[16] “Marina Silva 1996 South & Central America.” | Goldman Prize. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.

[17] “Marina Silva Fala Sobre Aborto E Casamento Gay.” Roda Viva. TV Cultura, 28 Sept. 2014. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.

[18] Antônio David, “O Paradoxo De Marina.” Brasileiros. N.p., 19 Sept. 2014. Web. 25 Sept. 2014.

[19] Gisele Motta. “Apesar Da Maioria Católica No País, Quem Lidera Nas Eleições São Os Evangélicos.” Jornal Do Brasil. N.p., 04 Sept. 2014. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.

[20] Gabriela Guerreiro. “Igrejas Não Devem Influenciar Eleitores, Diz Presidente Da CNBB.” Jcnet.com.br. N.p., 30 Aug. 2014. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.

[21] Bernardo, Caram. “Feliciano Sugere Que Everaldo Desista E Apoie Marina Silva.” Estadão Política. Estadão, 02 Sept. 2014. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.

The post Brazilian Presidential Election: Dilma Rousseff Is Tough Sell Against Marina Silva’s Popular Standing appeared first on Eurasia Review.

In recent interviews, German Cardinal Walter Kasper suggested that while Church doctrine cannot change, it can be adapted and interpreted in different ways, and language can be softened when it is deemed offensive.

If an individual divorces their spouse and enters a new civil marriage without an annulment, the second union is “not a sacramental one,” Cardinal Kasper acknowledged.

“That’s clear. It’s not of the same level as the first one,” he said in a video interview with Catholic News Service, released Oct. 2.

However, he continued, it is still “a new situation of marriage” in which a couple is living together and “There is love, there is commitment, there is exclusivity, it is forever.”

He urged against using the language of adultery, generally drawn from the words of Jesus that one who divorces his wife and marriages another commits adultery.

Cardinal Kasper said that “to tell them that’s adultery, permanent adultery, I think they would feel insulted and offended.”

“Such a sexual relationship within a couple has also its positive values, it’s not only its negative values,” he said, rejecting the idea “that every sexual act is sinful” in such situations.

The most important thing, the cardinal said, is to accompany individuals where they are at, realizing that we are fallen beings and none of us loves God and neighbor fully as we are called to.

“I can encourage them to do according to their conscience when it is a very mature conscience,” he added.

Cardinal Kasper has recently completed a series of media interviews leading up to the Synod on the Family, a global gathering of bishops in Rome Oct. 5-19.

While the synod is intended to cover a wide range of pastoral issues related to the family – including marriage preparation, single motherhood, and polygamy – the bulk of media hype has focused on divorce and remarriage since Cardinal Kasper gave a speech on the subject to a group of cardinals in Rome this February.

In that address, the cardinal suggested a change in the Church’s practice. Church teaching holds that marriage is a permanent sacrament that does not come to an end if spouses obtain a civil divorce. An annulment process exists within the Church to examine whether the marriage was invalid in the first place. But without an annulment, individuals may not enter into a second marriage while the first marriage is still binding. Individuals who do so may not receive Communion.

In recent months, Cardinal Kasper has been a vocal advocate of changing this practice to what he views as a more pastoral approach based on an individual’s conscience.

As part of a final media blitz before the synod, the cardinal also spoke with Vatican Radio in an interview released Oct. 1.

Noting the “gulf” between Church doctrine and the actions of many Catholics, he suggested that teachings on issues such as divorce and contraception be examined.

“(T)he Church will not and cannot change the teachings, the doctrine, but it’s a question of the adaption of the doctrine,” he said.

Asked specifically about the Church’s teaching on the immorality of contraception, as stated in Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae, Cardinal Kasper said that “we have to interpret what he said about contraception.”

“I think what he said is true,” the cardinal said of Pope Paul VI’s teaching. However, he rejected the idea that any specific application of the teaching can be deducted.

Rather, he said, “it’s an ideal and we have to tell people, but then we have also to respect the conscience of the couples.”

Comparing the upcoming synod to the Second Vatican Council, he said the event will be “a listening gathering, listening to what the Spirit says to the Church.”

“We have to be realistic, we have to stick to the Gospel, to the doctrine,…but then apply it to the concrete situation of people who are on the way,” he said, also stating that “family life is today lived in a very different way, it’s not just the ideal we have, but we have to take people as they are and listen to them.”

The post Cardinal Kasper: Adultery Language Is Offensive, Insulting appeared first on Eurasia Review.

The United Nations is the organisation which, through executing precisely, concretely and thoroughly the E-Government survey 2014 (with almost 300 pages in length) explores the scientific, social, political and cultural approach for establishing a path for the worldwide presence of E-Government,  which as they underline is “for the future we want.”

Although, there is always… a “but.” Why? The answer is simple: We are humans. And humans tend to do everything possible to undermine all the good that has been sent (or given, or learned) to us since the dawn to of civilization, regardless if it came from God, Budda, Allah or another kind of reflected energy. How is that?

First, before I try to give an answer on the above question, I would like to quote “the most dangerous philosopher of the West,” the respected colleague from Slovenia, Slavoj Žižek ( both of us are on the International board of the magazine “New Flame“ (Zagreb, Croatia) who is really painfully denuding the form of the essence of the ruling in the World of XXI century (quote from Kliker.info as of 21.8.2014): “The main culprits for the financial deluge of 2008 now are imposing themselves as the professionals that might be able to carry us on the painful path of financial recovery, and whose advices should therefore be more important than parliamentary politics. Or, as said the former Italian Prime Minister and technocrat Mario Monti, EU: “If the governments allow them to be fully commited by the decisions of their parliaments, and not protect their own freedom of action, the collapse of Europe will be much more likely outcome than its deeper integration.” What is, therefore, a higher power whose authority will suspend the decisions of democratically elected people’s representatives? The answer is given in 1998 by Hans Tietmeyer, Governor of Deutsches Bundesbank, which considered “permanent plebiscite of global markets” superior to “plebiscite of the ballot box.” Notice the rhetoric of this shameful statement: global markets are more democratic than parliamentary elections, since the voting process takes place continuously on them, instead of once every four years, and globally, rather than in the framework of the nation state. The basic idea: when separated from more control of the market (and experts), parliamentary-democratic decisions are “irresponsible.”

Finally, after quotation, another question then appears: How can this be related to the forth-coming Global E-Government Forum in Astana, Kazakhstan which will be held in a couple of days. as Eurasia Review recently announced?

It is almost possible to see light at the end of tunnel as addressed by some of the topics of the the Global E-Government Forum in Astana which can be seen at Agenda at glance – 2014 Global E-Government Forum.

Basically, to make a long story short, “Power to the people“ through better, bigger and sustainable E-government execution and connection is not just through:

• analysing and defining the problem/issue (like UN did in an excellent methodology fullfilled way);
• proposing the way on the path towards society of the people and for the people;

…but also executing, with the clear goals given from the respected Legislative power within every democratic (what is Democracy than the freedom of thoughts, expressions and decision making through the formula that will satisfied thoughts, expressions and decision making of the one towards the all and vice versa) country of the World which has to be focused on:

• an easy way to provide information to the people to make better judgment before executing final decision on any of the issue related to their ordinary lives (with exact deadline and methodology – when and how it will be executed);
• an easy way to make two-way street communication process for the Executive power to make better judgmeent in regards helping those above to do what is best for them and for the society in general;

How we will do all of that in the demolished and ruined World of XXI century? Maybe to see, talk, exchange adequate, and through Forum accepted, proposals to be able to make final recommendations to the decision makers (who mentioned Governments?) from the side of the forth-coming Global E-Government Forum in Astana, Kazakhstan, that will be held on Oct. 7 – Oct. 8.

Maybe to use the words: ” We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children,” as goes the quote of an Ancient Indian Proverb, but having in mind that nothing can be done without seriously considering interaction between the UN E-Government survey 2014 and quoted sentences of Slavoj Žižek, the “most dangerous philosopher of the world”.

If we do not do that, the phrase “for the future we want“, will be just another slogan that bites the dust and we will keep asking ourselves, why do we like so much to avoid the truth? Even in the forthcoming E-Government Hyperconnected society.

The post On The Path Of Global E-Government Forum: Astana, Kazakhstan, October 2014 – Why We Like So Much To Avoid The Truth? appeared first on Eurasia Review.

In this week’s address, the President highlighted that six years after the Great Recession, thanks to the hard work of the American people and the President’s policies, our economy has come back further and faster than any other nation on Earth. With 10.3 million private sector jobs added over 55 straight months, America’s businesses have extended the longest streak of private-sector job gains on record. But even with this progress, too many Americans have yet to feel the benefits. The President reiterated the vision he set out earlier this week for steps that can lay a new foundation for stronger growth, rising wages, and expanded economic opportunity for middle class families.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
Princeton, Indiana
October 4, 2014

Hi, everybody. I’m at Millennium Steel in Princeton, Indiana, to have a town hall with workers on National Manufacturing Day. Because in many ways, manufacturing is the quintessential middle-class job. And after a decade of losing jobs, American manufacturing is once again adding them – more than 700,000 over the past four and a half years.

In fact, it’s been a bright spot as we keep fighting to recover from the great recession. Last month, our businesses added 236,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate fell to under six percent for the first time in more than six years. Over the past 55 months, our businesses have added 10.3 million new jobs. That’s the longest uninterrupted stretch of private sector job creation in our history. And we’re on pace to make 2014 the strongest year of job growth since the 1990s.

This progress has been hard, but it has been steady, and it is real. It is a direct result of the American people’s drive and determination, and decisions made by my administration.

During the last decade, people thought the decline in American manufacturing was inevitable. But we chose to invest in American auto industry and American workers. And today, an auto industry that was flatlining six years ago is building and selling new cars at the fastest pace in eight years. American manufacturing is growing almost twice as fast as the rest of the economy, with new factories opening their doors at the fastest pace in decades. That’s progress we can be proud of.

What’s also true is that too many families still work too many hours with too little to show for it. And the much longer and profound erosion of middle-class jobs and incomes isn’t something we’re going to reverse overnight. But there are ideas we should be putting into place that would grow jobs and wages faster right now. And one of the best would be to raise the minimum wage.

We’ve actually begun to see some modest wage growth in recent months. But most folks still haven’t seen a raise in over a decade. It’s time to stop punishing some of the hardest-working Americans. It’s time to raise the minimum wage. It would put more money in workers’ pockets. It would help 28 million Americans. Recent surveys show that a majority of small business owners support a gradual increase to ten dollars and ten cents an hour. The folks who keep blocking a minimum wage increase are running out of excuses. Let’s give America a raise.

Let’s do this – because it would make our economy stronger, and make sure that growth is shared. Rather than just reading about our recovery in a headline, more people will feel it in their own lives. And that’s when America does best. We do better when the middle class does better, and when more Americans have their way to climb into the middle class.

And that’s what drives me every single day. Thanks, and have a great weekend.

The post Obama: We Do Better When The Middle Class Does Better – Transcript appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Sri Lanka concluded the provincial council election for the Uva province, one of the nine provinces, on September 20, 2014. The significance of the Uva election was its implications for the presidential vote, which will materialize sooner than later followed by the general election to the national legislature. Uva confirmed that the incumbent president’s chance of winning a third term will not be as easy as it was originally contended.

It was widely believed that President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has the authority conferred by the constitution to call for a fresh presidential election after completion of four years in office, would face a snap presidential election in early 2015. The current term commenced on November 19, 2010. One of the main effects of the Uva election results is that it has augmented the need for the government to call for an early election. There are two reasons for this. One, the Uva election results confirmed that the government vote bank is gradually shrinking. The ruling party which won the Uva provincial election in 2009 with 72.39 percent of the votes and 25 seats managed to secure only 51.24 percent of the votes and 19 seats in 2014. An approximate 21 percent dent in the government votes would come as a shock to the party leadership. Of significance is the fact that in the recently held (March 2014) Western and Southern provincial council elections the government lost 12 and five seats respectively. The President therefore, needs to face and win the election before popular endorsement drips to an unmanageable level.

Two, for the first time since the government effectively overpowered the LTTE in 2009, the main opposition party, the United National Party has gained substantial votes and seems to be in a position to electorally challenge the government. The UNP’s votes in Uva rose from 22.32 percent in 2009 to 40.24 in 2014. The government will be keen to conduct the presidential election before the UNP gains momentum based on the recent voting indicators.
Now, an early presidential election is almost confirmed as the government immediately went into action. Last week it opened a Presidential Elections Operations Room in Colombo and informed sources indicate that the annual national budget will be presented in October, which will allow the government to submit a “voter friendly” budget and permit the handouts to reach the constituents well before the election.

The fundamental significance of the Uva results, however, is that they have created some doubts about President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s chance of winning a third term. The conventional wisdom is that Rajapaksa will win the next presidential election with ease. Uva has demonstrated that it will not be a cake-walk. Despite the shocking setback, pro-government commentators who woke up the morning after the election argued that the government did not lose the election, but had won. The government won the vote with about 51 percent of the votes. In a presidential election the winner needs only 50 percent of the votes plus one. Therefore, the argument is that the Uva results do not prove that the ruling party cannot win the next presidential election. This however, is a superficial analysis, because Uva as a province does not reflect the demographic realities of the country.

Uva entails two districts, Badulla and Moneragala. Moneragala is predominantly Sinhala in nature as it has about 95 percent Sinhala people. However, Badulla to a certain extent reflects the demographic composition of the country. 73 percent of the total population in Badulla are Sinhala and the minorities form the rest. The government managed to win only 47.37 percent of the votes in Badulla. In a presidential election the whole country will serve as one electoral unit. Therefore, the government will do well to take note of the Badulla results and ethnic politics rather than the provincial results.

Sri Lankans generally vote heavily on ethnic lines. The Sri Lankan Tamils, especially since the end of the war, have demonstrated serious hostility towards the government and supported the TNA. In the Northern provincial council election the TNA secured about 80 percent of the total votes cast in the predominantly Tamil province. In the presidential election one can expect the Tamils to vote for the candidate endorsed by the TNA and TNA will not be able to support Mahinda Rajapaksa. The TNA will find it easy to endorse the UNP if Ranil Wickremesinghe is the candidate. Therefore, Rajapaksa cannot count on the Sri Lankan Tamil vote.

There is also a heavy concentration of Tamils in the Western province. The Western province Tamils traditionally vote with the UNP. In the recent past however the Democratic People’s Front, headed by Mano Ganesan, has taken control of a large chunk of this block of votes. One reason why Ganesan was able to secure the support of the Colombo Tamils is that he is seen as a pro-UNP personality. He is already working with the UNP and likely to formally endorse the UNP. The President’s standing within this block of votes is also weak.

The Sri Lankan Muslim community favored Mahinda Rajapaksa in the last presidential election and their votes, in the recent past, tend to go to the government because all of the Muslim parties are with the government currently. The Muslim dissatisfaction of the government however seems to be growing due to the recent ethnic clashes against the Muslim community. It is widely believed that Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), which is spearheading the anti-Muslim campaign, has the blessings of some of the leading elements within the government. Many Muslims believe that the government is unwilling to arrest the anti-Muslim activities of the BBS. This could easily channel the Muslim votes towards the UNP. It is imperative to note that two of the Muslim parties which are part of the government teamed up and contested the Uva election separately precisely because they knew that the Muslim votes cannot be garnered under the government symbol. The Democratic Unity Alliance (DUA) however, could not win a single seat in the Uva province. Therefore, the majority of the Muslim votes will go to the UNP.

Even in the Badulla district minority voting behavior could differ between a provincial election and the presidential election. In the Badulla district the India Tamils form about 18 percent of the total population. The Indian Tamils probably voted for the government in the Uva election because their own candidates were contesting under the government symbol. In the presidential election however they could and most probably will vote for the UNP. For example, in the 2010 presidential election the Indian Tamil majority Nuwara Eliya district went to Sarath Fonseka. In the Nuwara Eliya district Fonseka gained 52.14 percent of the vote and Rajapaksa managed only 43.77 votes. Therefore, in a presidential election the governing party is unlikely to get what it gained in the Badulla district in September 2014.

The point is, Mahinda Rajapaksa will not have adequate support from the minority communities in the forthcoming presidential election. This leads us to the pertinent question, can Mahinda Rajapaksa win the presidential election with only the Sinhala votes. Given the prevailing realities, Rajapaksa can win only if he has about 65 percent of the Sinhala votes. The ruling party was able to gain only 58.34 percent of the votes in the predominantly Sinhala district of Moneragala in the Uva election. Also, Moneragala is President Rajapaksa’s home turf. Therefore, it is unlikely that President Rajapaksa can gain the support of about 65 percent of the Sinhala votes.

Meanwhile, it is imperative to note that all anti-government votes did not go to the UNP. They also went to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and a very minor portion to Sarath Fonseka’s Democratic Party (DP). The JVP fielding its own candidate in the forthcoming presidential election would hamper the UNP’s chances of winning. Meanwhile, the JVP will find it difficult to endorse the UNP as well. The DP, given its dismal performance in the Uva election, could be convinced to join the UNP under a grand opposition alliance. Therefore, in a free and fair election, Ranil Wickremesinghe has a very good chance of winning if the UNP can form an alliance with the DP and the JVP, or convince the JVP to stay away from the election, while accommodating the minority groups.

(Dr. S. I. Keethaponcalan is Chair of the Conflict Resolution Department, Salisbury University, Maryland. Email: skeetha@yahoo.com).

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At face value, a recent one minute video clip on You Tube leaves little doubt about support for the Islamic State, the jihadist group that controls a swath of Syria and Iraq, among supporters of storied Moroccan soccer club Raja Club Athletic.

The clip released by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) shows fans of the Casablanca club that prides itself on its nationalist credentials dating back to opposition to colonial French rule and its reputation as the team of ordinary Moroccans chanting: “Daesh, Daesh,” the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State, and “God is Great, let’s go on jihad.”

The clip appeared to reaffirm the Islamic State’s widespread emotional appeal to youth across the Middle East and North Africa rather than a willingness to actually become a foreign fighter in Syria or Iraq notwithstanding last week’s arrest of nine people in Morocco as well as a Spanish enclave in the country on suspicion of links to the Islamic State and the fact that an estimated 1,500 Moroccan nationals are believed to have joined the group.

The Islamic State despite its brutality and severe enforcement of a puritan form of Islam symbolizes successful resistance for many in the Middle East and North Africa disillusioned by the failure of popular revolts in various countries even though they toppled four Arab leaders; the collapse and/or intransigence of autocratic regimes that fail to live up to their people’s aspirations; the lack of prospects for economic advancement and political change; and the West’s refusal to empower rebel groups opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as well as its perceived strengthening of Assad with its coalition against the foremost opposition to a regime that matches the jihadists in brutality.

“We have a high rate of unemployment. Young people want politicians to think about them… Some of them can’t understand… They are too impatient,” Moncef Mazrouki, the president of Tunisia, the Arab country with the largest number of Arab foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq, said in an interview with Al Jazeera.

While Raja Athletic’s management failed to respond to the video on its official website and Facebook page that has more than 1.7 million followers, supporters of the club sought to minimize the clip’s significance. Writing on their Facebook page with its 118,830 likes, supporters quipped: “We are terrorists… Our goal is to bomb other clubs. We do not want land or oil, we want titles” below a mock picture of Islamic State fighters with the inscription, “Raja’s Volunteer Championship.”

The supporters asserted elsewhere on their Facebook page that “we will not start to argue and beg people to believe that this is a sarcastic action and a joke.” Some supporters dismissed the video as a public relations stint. They insisted that they were demanding reform not radical change. To emphasize the point, the supporters posted two days after the appearance of the video an image of Osama Bin Laden with the words: “Rest in Pieces Motherf*****r.”

The Islamic State’s appeal as a symbol for Moroccan youth is rooted in the gap in perceptions of King Mohammad VI. The monarch, unlike most of the region’s rulers, neutralized anti-government protests in 2011 by endorsing a new constitution that brought limited change but kept the country’s basic political structure in place. As a result, foreign media have described Mohammed VI as the King of Cool. Moroccans however have seen little change in their economic, social and political prospects while journalists and activists face increased repression.

Mouad Belghouat, a prominent dissident rapper better known as Al Haqed, was arrested in May on charges of having scalped game tickets as he was entering a stadium to watch a soccer match. The arrest occurred a day after he had mocked the King on Facebook because he passed a performing group of musicians on his way to Friday prayers. “In Islam, this would be highly disrespectful given the spiritual solemnity of Jumuah prayer, and an even bigger mistake to be made by the ‘Commander of the Faithful’ who claims part of the legitimacy of his rule from his religious status,” wrote Moroccan blogger Zineb Belmkaddem at the time.

“Hope for a more democratic Morocco is fading, as the makhzen (the ruling group around the king) went back to relying on its old ways, reassured by the ‘success’ of its systematic crackdown that is responsible for disorganizing groups of protestors through repression and propaganda. Slowly dismantling the February 20th protest movement over the past years, the regime seems to have learned nothing and has chosen to walk backwards to its dysfunctional comfort zone,” Mr. Belmkaddem added.

Speaking to Freemuse after having served a four month prison sentence, Al Haqed voiced widespread distrust of the government, including law enforcement and the judiciary, as he discussed the pending appeal against his conviction. “I don’t expect very much from the Moroccan judiciary. The Moroccan judge is not independent. The king is the highest authority in the Moroccan judicial process. There are no laws that guarantee that the judge will truly look into a case,” Al Haqed said.

Al Haqed’s music like the chanting of pro-Islamic State slogans reflects growing popular discontent and an increased willingness to challenge the government whom many see as having backed down on its promises for true political and economic reform.

Speaking to The New York Times earlier this year, activist Maouanne Morabit warned that “a major part of the political class refused to discuss in public real issues concerning the ills of our society, namely the role of the monarchy, respect for human rights, the distribution of wealth, and the separation of powers… The kingdom discredited the left, trade unions, civil society and now the Islamists. It will soon face a direct confrontation with the people, and it will no longer have any safety valves.”

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Over 140 million of Brazilians, who have a right to vote, will choose country’s new president on Sunday.

There are 11 candidates, hoping to take this post, however experts argue that only three of them have real chances to win the election. It is expected that the final decision would only be made after the presidential run-off. According to Brazilian laws, the second run is held when none of the candidates manages to get more than 50 percent of votes in the first run.

Brazil’s current President Dilma Rousseff, who represents the Worker’s Party, is said to be the main candidate. According to most recent surveys, over 40 percent of citizens plan to support Rousseff in first-round election.

Marina Silva and Aécio Neves are expected to contend for the second place, with Silva having support of 21.4 percent of voters according to the poll, and Neves getting 24 percent at the moment.

If none of the candidates gains an outright majority, the runoff will take place on October 26.

According to the MDA poll, Rousseff might get as many as 46 percent of votes in the runoff, while Neves could get 40 percent.

Rousseff’s Workers’ Party has held the presidency since the 2002 election of her predecessor and mentor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

If Dilma Rousseff wins the election, she promised to deal with unemployment, continue state involvement in the economy and provide further assistance to the lower classes with dedicated financial support programs.

On Sunday, voters will cast ballots via special electronic machines, which will enable to know the results within hours of poll closing at 5 p.m. local time (22:00 GMT) in the country’s far west. Voting is mandatory for Brazilians aged 18 to 70, and optional for those as young as 16 or over 70. Over 530,000 voting devices are dispatched to reach all regions of the large country.

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Campaigning officially got under way Saturday for Tunisian parliamentary elections seen as a milestone in efforts to establish a democratic foothold in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.

Hailed as a rare success story following the uprisings that swept much of the region in 2011, the North African nation hopes the vote will be a highlight of a sometimes troubled transition.

Tunisia has grappled with social unrest over the feeble economy, violence blamed on Islamists, and attacks by militant groups including Al-Qaeda loyalists.

The October 26 parliamentary polls will be the second since the revolution four years ago that swept away longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Stalwarts of the deposed regime as well as members of the once-outlawed Ennahda moderate Islamist party are among those standing for office.

In 2011, Ennahda won the largest share of seats in the National Assembly, which was due to be replaced by a permanent parliament the following year.

But the process was delayed by political crises which culminated with the assassination last year of two opposition lawmakers by suspected Islamist militants.

Under an agreement finally reached to break the deadlock, parliament ratified a new constitution in January and Ennahda handed power to an interim government of independents.

About 5.2 million people are eligible to vote with 13,000 candidates vying for a seat in the 217-strong National Assembly.

The polls will be followed by an election in November giving Tunisians the opportunity to directly elect their president for the first time in the post-Ben Ali era.

The parliamentary race got off to a slow start because of the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival, but the candidates have pledged to focus on crippling poverty and unemployment.

Social discontent in Tunisia often leads to violence, especially in the impoverished centre of the country, where a street vendor set himself on fire nearly four years ago in a desperate act of protest that launched the first Arab Spring uprising.

Last month the World Bank called for sweeping reforms in Tunisia, warning that bureaucracy, a lack of competition and a banking system in ruins had ossified the economy.

Official figures show that 31.4 of university graduates are unemployed.

Ennahda, which clinched 37 percent of the vote three years ago, is aiming to do even better this time.

“We have confidence in our people, who gave us a high percentage last time,” its leader Rached Ghannouchi said last month.

The party will not field a presidential candidate, but will back a “consensus” hopeful in the November 23 polls to help “pull Tunisia out of catastrophe and impasse,” said Ghannouchi.

The upcoming vote is seen as a landmark in the West, where many countries and institutions consider Tunisia as the last hope for democracy to take root in an Arab Spring nation.

“It is extremely important… for the Tunisians themselves but also for the European Union and the entire region,” said European parliament member Annemie Neyts-Uytterbroeck, who will head the EU’s observer mission during the polls.

Allegations of vote-buying have fanned political tensions.

“I visited a village in the region of Monastir where people have told me they had been offered 50 dinars (23 euros, $29) for the vote,” said leftist politician Hamma Hammami.

Election officials said they were investigating an allegation concerning voter sponsorship lists submitted by some presidential candidates.

Original article

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By Bhartendu Kumar Singh

Economic relations have propelled Sino – Indian ties in recent times and have also facilitated the management of political conflict and rivalry. In this context, the announcement by President Xi Jinping during his New Delhi’s visit that China would invest $ 20 billion in next five years has added another dimension to the bilateral commitment of taking economic relations to a new height.

Will the Chinese investments help the bilateral peace process? Has there been a gap in Chinese declarations and actual investments elsewhere in the world?

China’s Investments elsewhere

There is no ubiquity about economic relations being in sync with political relations. Contemporary international relations have variable trends. On the one hand, China’s economic relations with Taiwan have led to a ‘compatible political relations’; that with Japan has not had any collateral impact on political relations. In fact, Sino – Japanese political relations are at worst. Many Southeast Asian countries that followed the Japanese lead and poured FDI into China did not get political dividends.

China’s own FDI policy in African countries has come in for criticism wherein it has been dubbed as ‘neo-colonial or extractive’ economy interested in minerals and oil. China has done little to use its FDI in the up gradation of local infrastructure and economy. Chinese attempts in past to purchase critical assets in US under the garb of FDI were thwarted by Congress in the name of economic security.

Chinese Investments in India

Past Chinese investments into India have suffered on two counts. First, China never placed FDI as part of its overall political economic strategy towards India. In the last decade, China has invested less than $ 400 million into India and is 31st among all investing countries. China found other South Asian countries more attractive since they yielded political dividends through good relations and strategic outreach or for that matter African countries where there has been a lucrative market to exploit. Second, the logic of economic nationalism and security prevented India from laying down a red carpet for Chinese investments and were subjected to various regulatory mechanisms.

The Chinese in turn, have turned themselves as a manufacturing backyard supplying cheap retail products into India and adding to Sino – Indian trade deficit and rivalry.

While these factors remain insitu, the proposed Chinese FDI is also questionable for many reasons. First, the declared amount would be invested over a period of five years; so the actual investment is quite spread out and inconsequential to meet India’s FDI demand. Second, there has always been a gap in Chinese declarations and actual investments elsewhere in the world and the trend is likely to continue here also.

While China has the capacity to pump in more than it has declared, much also depends upon the political camaraderie and a bad swing in relations could affect the actual FDI flow. In fact, it could also be argued that the Chinese FDI declaration was actually a one upmanship game to match the Japanese FDI declaration during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Tokyo. Third, China may not be a willing partner into critical technology since it would like to perpetuate India’s dependence in such areas for foreseeable future and could even have a sabotage policy through short term capital inflows and withdrawal strategy.

Will the Chinese FDI augment Sino-Indian Peace Process?

The miniscule and debatable Chinese FDI could, nevertheless, augment Sino – Indian peace process. First, it could contribute, albeit marginally, to reduction of trade deficit of a staggering $ 37 billion. India does have many Greenfield projects in which China can invest and reap rich dividends. Second, it will open up many areas (like railways) for functional cooperation. As the Chinese recognition of Sikkim as part of India proves, economic interaction does moderate political stand sometimes. In this context, the agreement between the two countries on ‘the five – year economic and trade development plan’ is an important step.

Third, when the Chinese come with their money and showcase China-made industrial parks or bullet trains or invest in other non-rival areas, there will be positive things to talk about China, irrespective of localised irritants like Chinese incursions across LAC. Fourth, FDI enjoys certain benefits over trade patterns since it is a long term game where the liberty to withdraw or alter the trade pattern at will is not available. Both China and India would take concrete steps to make this FDI assuring and sustainable on ground. Political overtures is, therefore, the sin qua non for successful implementation of Chinese FDI. Fifth, since China also happens to be India’s neighbour, its investments across the Himalayas would induce a ‘new sense of regionalism’ and promote openness between the two sides.

The immediate challenge, therefore, before the policy makers in India is to work on the positive factors and implement the road map for facilitating Chinese investments. Imagine a bullet train running from Chennai to Benguluru produced by Chinese technology and funds! The goodwill created from such ventures would only perpetuate the ‘relative but uncertain peace’ between China and India.

Note: Views are personal.

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By Arka Biswas

The talk on India’s participation at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) has initiated a discourse on the future of the Group, with particular reference to the Group’s relationship with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Those opposing India’s entry to the global nuclear export control regime argue that letting India join the NSG would mean a decoupling of the NPT and the NSG membership. It is also said that by including a non-NPT state, the NSG would undermine the legitimacy of the NPT. These arguments essentially stem from the belief that the NSG was established to support and complement the NPT in its goal of nuclear non-proliferation.

India, on this front, is not considered by some nations and global nuclear experts as like-minded as it continues to remain outside the NPT. There are two important factors, however, which require careful examination before any judgement is made on either the like-mindedness of India or India’s participation at the NSG. The first aspect to be examined is that of a direct proportionality which is assumed to exist between NPT-membership and like-mindedness of a country on nuclear non-proliferation. The second factor which needs to be studied is the relationship between the NSG and the NPT memberships.

The necessity of like-mindedness is understandably critical considering that the NSG functions on consensus and including countries which do not adhere to the common principles and norms of non-proliferation could diminish the efficiency of the Group significantly. But there appears to be an assumption made in this argument (against India’s participation) that NPT-membership and like-mindedness on nuclear non-proliferation are directly proportional to each other. History, however, proves that the NSG has, in fact, faced situations when some of its participating governments (PGs), that were also party to the NPT, did not show the like-mindedness which is expected to be demonstrated. For instance, for over 13 years after the NSG meeting of 1977 in London, the NSG PGs did not meet to discuss the proposal of creating the requirement of full-scope safeguards at the recipient state a condition for export of nuclear materials, equipment and technologies that were covered in the NSG’s trigger list. Though the Guidelines as established in 1977 were not violated by any of its PGs and the Group also expanded with 12 new countries joining the Group in that period, due to commercial interests of some of the PGs, as argued by Ambassador Tadeusz Strulak, Chairman of the NSG in 1992, the PGs did not meet. This absence of like-mindedness also resulted in the absence of expansion and upgradation of the NSG trigger list (of sensitive nuclear and related materials, equipments and technologies) which allowed some NPT nations, in particular Iraq, to acquire dual-use equipment to run a clandestine nuclear programme. It was only at the end of the Gulf War, that the NSG PGs agreed to meet and discuss the expansion of the trigger list to include nuclear related dual-use items.

Another and a more recent example is that of China and its export of two additional nuclear reactors to Pakistan at Chashma-3 and -4. China claimed that the export of the reactors is grandfathered by an agreement made between China and Pakistan in the early 1990s, much before 2004 when China joined the Group. But the fact remains that China did not disclose its plans of exporting new reactors to the NSG PGs in 2004 which it was required to notify. On the contrary, it had assured the NSG that it will not export any other reactors than Chashma -1 and -2. China’s decision to export reactors, without acquiring formal exemption for Pakistan is a clear violation of the NSG Guidelines and it threatens the credibility and the legitimacy of the Group.

These two examples illustrate the argument that NPT membership does not necessarily reflect the like-mindedness of a country on nuclear non-proliferation. The cases of Iraq (in the early 1990s), Iran and North Korea further consolidate the validity of this argument. While being signatories to the NPT, they have either run clandestine nuclear programme or have left the Treaty and developed and tested weaponised nuclear devices. Though the reasons could vary, such instances showcase that NPT membership alone cannot determine the path a nation takes in so far as nuclear proliferation is concerned.

Meanwhile, examination of the NSG’s history actually reveals that the Group, in the past, has gone beyond the NPT by including nations which were not signatories to the latter. France, for instance, joined the NPT in 1992, but it has been at the NSG since 1977. In 1974, SGN, a French company, had signed a contract with the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) to construct a reprocessing facility which could have enabled Pakistan in producing between 100 kg and 200 kg of weapons-grade plutonium. However, soon after joining the NSG, France terminated the contract with the PAEC and also abandoned its other plans of nuclear and related exports to countries who were then seeking latent nuclear capabilities.

NSG’s relationship with NPT is critical as the former’s decision to include states that are not like-minded would not just damage its own efficiency but could also jeopardise the legitimacy of the latter. Yet, considering that NPT-membership has failed to serve as an accurate indicator of the like-mindedness of a nation on nuclear non-proliferation, the NSG would benefit by broadening its understanding of like-mindedness on nuclear non-proliferation and going beyond the NPT to include nations that can contribute to the true spirit of non-proliferation. If NSG includes a non-NPT signatory in the near future, it will definitely not be the first time.

(The writer is a Junior Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, Delhi)

Courtesy: southasianvoices.org/

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