Wednesday-Night

The Atlantic: Israel and Palestine ; Wednesday-Night.com Israel news ; NYT archives Israel & Gaza ; J Street PAC - the first and only federal Political Action Committee established to explicitly promote meaningful American leadership to end the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab conflicts peacefully and diplomatically.
At the risk of being called anti-Semites and other epithets, we […]

(BBC) Afghanistan country profile
NYT Topics Afghanistan
Al Jazeera Afghanistan elections 2009
(RCI)The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, is describing Afghanistan as the world’s hardest place for children. UNICEF’s South Asia regional director, Daniel Toole, cites high child mortality rates, poor nutrition and rampant sexual abuse. More than one Afghan child in four dies before their […]

Global voices Iranian elections 2009 ; NYT Topics Iran; The Economist Iran archives & country briefing
(Chatham House) Preliminary Analysis of the Voting Figures in Iran’s 2009 Presidential Election
Tehran’s Take: Understanding Iran’s US Policy (Foreign Affairs July/August 2009)

Timeline: Aftermath of the Iranian Elections -The fallout from the Iranian elections has been the most sustained challenge […]

China rebuffs requests to float the yuan
Responding to pressure from the U.S. and elsewhere, Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said that his country would risk harming its own export businesses if it were to let the yuan float on international currency markets. Zhong suggested the U.S. look internally for solutions […]

Europa Gateway to the European Union; EU Observer ; Special: European Union ;
What to Read on the European Union
Q&A: The Lisbon Treaty
The Lisbon Treaty could finally come into effect in 2009, eight years after European leaders launched a process to make the EU “more democratic, more transparent and more efficient”. Like the European constitution […]

See also Wednesday-night.com on Burma
Myanmar takes steps toward economic liberalization
Analysts believe that Myanmar’s junta authority appears to be taking steps to decentralize authority, including introducing a new constitution and relieving market restrictions. Though the upcoming elections are unlikely to be fair, junta officials have issued permits for private hospitals and schools, […]

Beyond Copenhagen - Why Less May Be More in Global Climate Talks
(Foreign Affairs) For many climate-change experts, the Copenhagen summit was something of a failure. In order to make real progress on pressing climate issues, policymakers must give up on a binding deal and begin to look outside the UN process.
‘Arrogance’ undid climate talks
(BBC) The […]

Chatham House Briefing Paper - Cleo Paskal: How climate change is pushing the boundaries of security and foreign policy ; More of Cleo’s publications ; Global Warring website;  International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Climate Change and Security ; The Regional Impacts of Climate Change ; Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
Warming increases the risk […]

Please see the Invitation
Carl Beigie OWN, our friend, the genesis of Wednesday Night and its guiding spirit through the first two decades, died on Thursday, 4 March.
Given the many years when Carl shared with us his views on assorted budgets - sometimes from wherever he had been ‘locked-up’, we cannot overlook the coincidence of his […]

Africa development indicators 2008-2009 ; Kenya ; SciDevNet Sub-Saharan Africa
23 August 2007
Is Western aid making a difference in Africa?
(CSM) Two US economists [Ayub Rioba and Jeffrey Sachs] debate the value of antipoverty efforts.
“Is this really how to save Africa?” asks Tanzanian columnist Ayub Rioba, a day after Bill Clinton has left Africa. “We appreciate […]