Keith Suter’s Global Insights
What on earth is going on?
Articles (4 of 27)
Archive Article: The Threat Of Biological Warfare.
January 4, 2009 | Enduring freedom and lasting security cannot be achieved without preventing biological weapons from being developed in the first place. Therefore, it is very important that more be done to stop the spread of biological weapons. The Geneva-based International Peace Bureau is the oldest and most comprehensive of the international peace federations. It was founded in 1892 and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1910. It now deals with such matters as nuclear weapons, landmines, conflict resolution and peace education. The current edition of its magazine contains a supplement on "Biological Weapons: A Global Menace". The material was written before... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 12:40 PM Comment
Archive Article: A Just And Peaceful Land. 26 Oct 01
January 4, 2009 | Are Australian politicians concentrating too much on economic matters - and not enough on social ones? The high rate of declining services in rural and regional Australia suggests this to be true. The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has issued a Statement for Social Justice Sunday entitled " a just and peaceful land.pdf: Rural and Regional Australia 2001". As with all such annual statements, this one makes good reading, particularly in putting the point of view of people who are in the rural sector. The statement emphasises the extraordinary gift that rural Australia has been to all of Australia. But... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 12:12 PM Comment
Archive Article: The State Of The World Population 2001. 4 Nov 01.
January 4, 2009 | Human activity has affected every part of the planet, no matter how remote. The planet faces some severe environmental pressures. The United Nations Population Fund has just published its annual review of the state of the world's population. This is the world's most important annual scorecard of how we are doing in terms of population and environmental change. The world's population has doubled since 1960 and now stands at about 6.1 billion. Most of the increase each day now comes from the developing countries. Most developed counties (such as Australia) have zero population growth. The UN Population Fund provides... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 12:07 PM Comment
Archive Article: Sustainable Investments. 9 Nov 01
January 4, 2009 | Australians are now following international trends and demanding greater choice and transparency in how their money is being invested - and they to want to make sure that their investments match their values. One of the biggest economic and social changes in recent Australian history has been the creation of a shareholder culture. Owning shares used to be seen as an elite activity for the "Big End" of town. Now - on a per capita basis - more Australians own shares than the citizens of any other country. Australians have caught up with, and are overtaking, the pattern overseas. Now... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 12:02 PM Comment
Archive Article: Working For Peace In Afghanistan. 16th Nov 01
January 4, 2009 | Recent events in Afghanistan mean that some progress can now be made in rebuilding the country after two decades of the civil war. Providing employment is an important way of working for peace. The Sydney-based Conflict Resolution Network has for many years campaigned on the importance of providing employment in all societies. This includes providing employment in countries that have been involved in conflicts. Therefore governments and non-governmental organizations should give greater emphasis to work for all who need it as part of their standard reconstruction programmes in their relief work. Work for all who need it is a vital... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 11:56 AM Comment
Archive Article: Are Humans Becoming An Endangered Species? 23 Nov 01
January 4, 2009 | Technology and theology, science and ethics have often been at odds. Technological change once again requires more attention by Australian churches. The National Cathedral in Washington DC is about to host an important seminar entitled "Are We Becoming an Endangered Species? Technology and Ethics in the 21st century". This is a good reminder on the need to once again pay attention to the impact that technological change is having on our lives. This was a big issue in theological circles until about a decade ago. But that interest has evaporated and we now just take it for granted. For... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 11:49 AM Comment
Archive Article: Sacred Rights. 30 Nov 01
January 4, 2009 | Religion has made a comeback in world affairs - despite the predictions from some academics a few decades ago that religion was on the way out. Indeed, there is now probably more attention to religious issues in world affairs than for many decades. It was fashionable among some sociologists, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, to predict that religion was going to fade away. They argued that humans were somehow moving to a different era, in which science would solve all the mysteries of life and consumerism would be the main focal point of interest of humankind. Their predictions were... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 11:41 AM Comment
Archive Article: George Harrison. 9 Dec 01
January 4, 2009 | The passing of George Harrison has been a major news item this past week. Here are three comments on the Beatles, not least on the pioneering role I used to talk to the Beatles in the late 1960s when they ran a shop selling their souvenirs in west London. Indeed, I even have their autographs. It was a safer world in those days. Stars mingled with the general public in a way that seems inconceivable today. It was a far cry from today's more violent society. A second comment relates to the fuss over the Beatles receiving imperial awards... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 11:36 AM Comment
Archive Article: The International Commission Of Jurists.
January 3, 2009 | A book has been launched entitled: "The International Commission of Jurists: The Pioneering Years". Its author, Lucian Weeramantry, a lawyer operating in the US, Sri Lanka and England, is a former member of staff of the International Commission of Jurists. The International Commission of Jurists was created in 1953, when the Cold War was underway. Unlike some other non-governmental organizations that were created around that era, the International Commission did not end with the end of the Cold War but has gone on to flourish as one of the world's most important human rights organizations. The International Commission's core business... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 8:06 PM Comment
Archive Article: 2002: International Year Of Ecotourism. 11 Jan 02
January 3, 2009 | The international tourist industry is having problems both because of the global recession and the fears of foreign travel due to the September 11 attacks. The Japanese foreign travel industry is down about 43 per cent. The good news is that this is the International Year of Ecotourism and so it should encourage the tourist industry. The United Nations each year designates a "year" because it focuses attention on "important" issues. Unfortunately politicians lurch from one headline to the next and so there is always a tendency to deal with "urgent" issues. The urgent drive out the important. "Ecotourism" can... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 7:32 PM Comment
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