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Geopolitics Ideas

Military Muscle Makes A Comeback In Latin America

From Venezuela to Brazil, Latin American armed forces are returning to front-line roles in response to political crises and fighting organized crime. But will they threaten democracy again?

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Geopolitics Ideas

In Venezuela, Washington Returns To Its Imperialist Ways

The United States is meddling in the region again in line with big-money interests and the imperialist tradition set off in the late 19th century.

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Eyes on the U.S. Ideas Trump And The World

U.S. Midterms: A First Umbrella After The Trump Tsunami

America’s midterm elections saw Democrats recapture the House, but lose ground in the Senate. A nation as divided as ever, though with new checks on Trump.

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Ideas

Could A Colombia-Style Peace Process Work In Mexico?

New President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is calling for a paradigm shift in Mexico’s war on hyper-violent drug cartels. Colombia’s peace deal with the FARC may serve as a model.

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Economy Geopolitics

China, Latin America And The Benefits Of Traditional Farming

Ancestral agricultural practices can provide a sustainable and creative way to boost rural economies in Latin America. And China could help.

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Economy

Sourcing That Mango: Blockchain Brings Transparency To Food Supplies

The information storage technology can safeguard entire transaction histories and allow firms and consumers to see where food ingredients came from — and fast.

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In The News

Trade Wars Revisited: Will Latin America Bet On China?

Rising tariffs between the U.S. and China may boost trade between China and Latin American states, but ultimately this could harm their economies if all China wants is energy and commodities.

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In The News

‘Rich Brats’ And Me: The Struggles Of Chinese Studying Abroad

BEIJING — It’s that time of a year again when an ever growing number of Chinese students are leaving to study abroad. These young people attract a lot of attention, often envied by their peers around them. Labeled as the “Fu-er-dai”, meaning “the second-generation rich brats,” some live a “luxurious and decadent life” overseas, while […]

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LGBTQ Plus Society

In Northern Colombia, LGBT Rights Meet Indigenous Prejudice

‘Alternative’ sexuality is despised in the traditionalist, native or Afro-Caribbean communities of northern Colombia. The choices for gays and lesbians tend to be harsh: face down your family and neighbors, or leave.

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In The News

A Russian Guide For Surviving U.S. Midterm Elections

A view from Russia on the topic of Russian-American relations: time to keep a low profile.

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In The News

Venezuela, Any Tricks Left For Halting Hyperinflation?

Hyperinflation comes from ignoring some basic economic rules. That is unlikely to change any time soon under the Maduro government.

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Ideas

Hardline Revisited, Welcome To Iván Duque’s Colombia

BOGOTÁ — The peace accords signed two years ago with the demobilized FARC guerillas continue to divide Colombians politically, as do questions over how the country should go about ending the conflict with ELN rebels, solve the problem of drug production, and terminate the illegal businesses that have fueled so much barbarism over the years. […]

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Geopolitics Ideas

Historic Abortion Vote Puts All Eyes On Argentina

-Analysis- Months of impassioned public debate, colorful protests and determined counter-demonstrations are coming to a head today in Argentina, where the Senate is set for an historic vote on whether or not to legalize abortion. The high-drama session comes nearly two months after the country’s lower house opted narrowly — following a marathon, 22-hour debate […]

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In The News

We Once Cheered Ortega: Revisiting History In Nicaragua

None should be more dismayed by Daniel Ortega’s despotic slide than those who hailed his revolution as a triumph of democratic socialism, some 40 years ago.

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Green Or Gone

Latin America Joins Global Race To Score ‘Zero Waste’

Activists in Colombia are working with public and private entities, offline and online, to reduce and recycle every ounce of solid waste produced.

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Geopolitics Society

Why World Cup As Marketing Tool Scores Best In Latin America

Proportionally, the World Cup has more followers in the Latin American marketplace than any other region. It’s a unique opportunity to tap into pure emotion of potential consumers.

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In The News OneShot

Watch: OneShot — D-Day, Into The Jaws Of Death

On June 6, 1944, WWII Allied Forces launched a combined naval, air and land assault on Nazi-occupied France. To commemorate the 74th anniversary of the D-Day landings, OneShot chose this iconic shot by U.S. Coast Guard photographer Robert F. Sargent. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/embed/P4wfLGV0nwA expand=1] OneShot — Into The Jaws Of Death (© Robert F. Sargent) OneShot is a new digital format to tell the story of a single photograph in an immersive one-minute video. Follow OneShot: [rebelmouse-image 27068863 original_size=”320×320″ expand=1][rebelmouse-image 27068864 original_size=”174×174″ expand=1][rebelmouse-image 27068865 original_size=”128×128″ expand=1][rebelmouse-image 27068866 original_size=”227×227″ expand=1][rebelmouse-image 27068867 original_size=”256×256″ expand=1]

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In The News

The Mercantilist: Why Trump Economics Are Stuck In 17th Century

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump often seems as though he’s stuck in the “80s. But maybe the better comparison is to the 1680s, not the Reagan era. Consider his announcement Thursday of new tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from the European Union, Canada and Mexico. These countries not only supply about half of our imports of these metals; they are also among our closest allies. Astonishingly, the White House claims that alienating these important military allies is necessary “to protect America’s national security.” These trade policies, and the supposed rationale behind them, bear an uncanny resemblance to classical mercantilism. […]

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Economy Geopolitics

Why The Asian Economy Can’t Escape Trump’s Bad Choices

TOKYO — Since Japan“s fiscal year starts in April each year, it is in May that the country’s major corporations announce their financial statements for 2017. Most top Japanese companies have had notably great results. The net profits of Toyota and Mitsubishi, for example, hit new all-time highs for their three and ten-year results respectively. […]

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Geopolitics Ideas

Latin American Elections, A Mirror Of Global Unrest In 2018

Governments in several Latin American states are facing angry voters who may remove them from power, but perhaps of greater concern is the spreading wrath against all politicians, everywhere.

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Economy Ideas

Venezuela Is A Pariah State And Must Be Treated As Such

After last week’s sham election, the international community — starting with the nations of Latin America — need to isolate Maduro and encourage peaceful, democratic regime change.

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In The News

Brunch: America’s Response To Sunday Mass

Why do Americans brunch so hard? ‘I don’t know,’ says one young woman from Baltimore. ‘I’m too drunk to think about it.’

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Eyes on the U.S. Society

Why Americans Still Haven’t Mastered The Work-Life Balance

-Analysis- WASHINGTON — Americans love to contemplate – and legislatively promote, to whatever degree possible – the virtue of hard work. Here in the United States, we already work more hours per year than our English- speaking counterparts in Britain, Canada and Australia – not to mention those enviable denizens of European social democracies, who enjoy the kind of leisure time only our highest-paid workers can afford. So perhaps it’s not surprising that several new pro-work policy ideas are enjoying attention on the left and the right. On the right, work requirements for Medicaid, food stamps and housing assistance represent […]

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Eyes on the U.S. Ideas

Opioids And Unemployment: America’s Real Recipe For Despair

The U.S. may boast the world’s largest economy on one hand and a deeply problematic president on the other. But under the surface, things are bleak.

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In The News

So Many Mouths To Feed: Argentina’s Golden Opportunity

The nations of South America’s MERCOSUR trade bloc are well positioned to cash in on increasing global demand for food. But they’d also do well to start planning a common approach.

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In The News

Los Angeles Celebrates Latin American And Latinx Art

The Getty Center launches a festival of Latin American art that also considers its influence on American culture and identity. In the age of Donald J. Trump, this has become doubly significant.

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In The News

The Meaning Of Black And White Mortality Rates In America

WASHINGTON — For the past year and a half, Princeton economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton have been ringing the alarm about rising mortality among middle-aged white Americans. The pair have attracted a bit of controversy for pointing out these facts. Recently, Pacific Standard’s Malcolm Harris suggested that their research, and the way it was presented, put too much emphasis on white mortality – when black mortality has always been worse. “American white privilege is still very much in effect, and no statistical tomfoolery can change that,” he wrote. Sam Fulwood III, a fellow at the left-leaning Center for American […]

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In The News

“Trump Triumphs” – Next American President On NYT Front Page

After a long day at the voting booths, Americans, and the world, watched and waited to see who the next American president would be. In the final, and to many, shocking, twist to this historical and polarizing campaign, Donald J. Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States. Trump, the billionaire businessman turned […]

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Eyes on the U.S. Trump And The World

Yes Folks, Donald Trump Is Getting The Keys To The White House

What Trump has done is nothing short of cataclysmic.

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Eyes on the U.S. Trump And The World

Trump Or Clinton? Arab-Americans’ Surprising Ambivalence

The navy blue Porsche, casual clothes and sparkling eyes of Fady Chamoun scream: “American Dream.” He came from Lebanon in 1972 to study engineering at the University of Michigan and stayed after the outbreak of civil war in 1975 in his homeland. He wouldn’t trade the life he’s built in Cleveland for anything. Over the […]

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Society

Why China’s Middle Class Is Suddenly Being Squeezed

BEIJING — Chinese people watching American television series are exposed to an enviable image of an average middle class American family. Bound for a leafy neighborhood in the suburbs, a Chevrolet leaves the bustling city and rolls into the driveway of a wooden home on a quiet street. Two or three kids are playing on […]

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Eyes on the U.S. Ideas

Clinton To Counter Trump’s Gloom-And-Doom Message

-OpEd- The Democratic National Convention will feature plenty of well-earned criticism of Donald Trump’s isolationist, revisionist, immoral and self-contradicting foreign policy agenda. But if Hillary Clinton wants to win the argument, she must also convince voters that the world is not in the catastrophic state that Trump would have them believe. Foreign policy was always going to be a big part of the 2016 presidential election, as far as the Clinton campaign was concerned. Its candidate spent four years as secretary of state and is running on her record of service. What the Clinton team did not anticipate is that […]

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Society

How U.S. “Diploma Mills” Are Duping Chinese Students

Trump University isn’t the only questionable American higher education institution. Other self-proclaimed universities are virtual scams, and China is a prime customer.

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Eyes on the U.S. Trump And The World

Clinton Makes History. My Generation, With No Sense of History, Doesn’t Care

A millennial explains why her peers aren’t excited about the likely first female major-party nominee for U.S. president

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blog

Why So Many Chinese Students Are Getting Axed From U.S. Schools

The case of Hanxiang Ni, a University of Iowa student who was expelled last month for posting a photo of himself holding a gun and threatening to kill his professors, has turned new attention to the growing number of Chinese students enrolled in — and kicked out of — U.S. academic institutions. Attendance is up, […]

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blog

Same Scene, Different Place And Time

My grandson, who’s just got back from his honeymoon in Brazil, tells me he could have taken a very similar picture there, today. From the cotton candy to the still ubiquitous VW Beetle and Camper, it looks like 1989 Mexico City and 2014 Rio de Janeiro have a lot in common.

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blog

Seriously Texan

In France, from the early 1980s until rather recently, you basically couldn’t turn on your TV without stumbling onto an episode of the American series Dallas. And though I have never actually watched the show, when I went to Beaumont, Texas, it all looked vaguely familiar.

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Geopolitics

In Moscow Airport, Hunting For Edward Snowden

MOSCOW – Honestly? Stanislav opens his eyes wide. “I swear!” he exclaims, “I gave him water, a glass of water to be precise. He often passes by to go to the smoking area by gate 31.” That is where the flights for Italy depart. We station ourselves by the smoking area for almost an hour, […]

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Eyes on the U.S.

Mobility Nation – On The Unfinished American Experiment

How the always changing ‘work-in-progress’ that is the United States of America looks to a European, where the past still holds everything in place.

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Society

Tijuana Sunset: Shifting Sands, Rising Walls At US-Mexico Border

TIJUANA – There is a party going on across the wall. You can hear the sounds of families and friends, and good fun. Adriana walks towards the fence and explains that further away, some kids are flying kites. But the wind is blowing in the opposite direction. From where we stand, we won’t be able […]

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