BRIC
BRIC
Fair Observer provides analysis of important issues, events and trends in the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.
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360° Analysis / brazil / Middle Class / Social Welfare / Finance & Economics / BRIC / Global Change / AmericasBrazil, while quickly becoming an emerging economic power, is still struggling to improve the socioeconomic problems brought on from the legacy of its autocratic past. This is the third of four parts. Read part one here. Is the Nordic System the Answer? Finland and the Scandinavian nations — Sweden, Norway and Denmark — take a markedly different approach to advancing their national social and economic well-being. While basking in the Brazilian tradition that prides itself on the ouster of the Portuguese colonizers, I was surprised to see that nationals of Finland and the Scandinavia report a high degree of trust in their peers and government. Unlike South America’s...
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360° Analysis / China / China Telecom / Internet freedom / ITU / Politics / Russia / United States / WCIT-12 / Europe / BRIC / Arts & Culture / AsiaBy Min JiangWith the world powers seemingly divided into two opposing blocs at the World Conference on International Telecommunications, Min Jiang looks at the conflict between “Internet freedom” and “Internet sovereignty” models. “The conference was not about Internet control or Internet governance,” said Hamadoun Touré, the head of the Internet Telecommunications Union (ITU), at the closing session of the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12) on December 14, 2012 in Dubai. But of course, Mr. Touré was simply denying the obvious. Internet control is precisely what WCIT-12 was about and the ideological divisions between the...
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360° Analysis / International Women of Courage Award / Novaya Gazeta / Politics / State Department / United States / Yelena Milashina / Europe / BRIC / Arts & CultureYelena Milashina, who covered some of Russia’s most controversial subjects for Novaya Gazeta, is awarded the International Women of Courage Award. A top Russian investigative journalist who has covered extrajudicial kidnappings in the North Caucasus and the killings of fellow journalists will be awarded a prestigious human rights prize by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at a ceremony in Washington on Friday, International Women's Day. Yelena Milashina, a reporter for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, will be one of 10 recipients of the secretary's International Women of Courage Award, which...
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360° Analysis / brazil / Middle Class / Social Welfare / Finance & Economics / BRIC / Global Change / AmericasBrazil, while quickly becoming an emerging economic power, is still struggling to improve the socioeconomic problems brought on from the legacy of its autocratic past. This is the second of four parts. Read part one here. It’s the Politics, Stupid. Brazil’s intense class stratification results from her legacy of colonialism, the slave trade and autocratic rule under the auspices of a wealthy elite that controlled most of the nation’s resources. An environment of autocratic rule discouraged the impoverished from voicing their distress in meaningful ways or through public dissent. Brazil, while its dirty wars were not as dirty as some of its neighbors, still had...
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360° Analysis / Hugo Chavez / Politics / Putin / Russia / Europe / BRIC / AmericasFollowing the death of Hugo Chavez, what is next for Venezuela’s relationship with Russia? Signaling an eagerness to maintain cozy ties with Venezuela, President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called for even stronger relations and praised the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as “a close friend of Russia.” But analysts warned that Russia’s energy and arms contracts with the Latin American country might be up in the air, and, adding a whiff of conspiracy, Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov hinted that Chavez’s death had been caused by his enemies, presumably the U.S. Chavez died Wednesday at a Caracas hospital of complications from cancer. Vice President...
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360° Analysis / brazil / Middle Class / Social Welfare / Finance & Economics / BRIC / Global Change / AmericasBrazil, while quickly becoming an emerging economic power, is still struggling to improve the socioeconomic problems brought on from the legacy of its autocratic past. This is the first of four parts. Brazil is widely known for her beautiful, multicultural heritage, and offers a variety of practically anything one can imagine. She is famous for her ethnic cuisine, her varieties of music, her parades and her rich dances. She is also admired for her landscape, her breathtaking beaches and especially for her gracious and hospitable people. She is a country that is rich in natural resources and has a variety of emergent industries (oil, agriculture, timber, and manufacturing) which are helping...
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360° Analysis / China / Diaoyu / Diaoyu Protection Societies / Fire-control radar / Japan / military / Nationalism / Noda Yoshihiko / Pinnacled Pavilions / Politics / Senkaku / Sino-Japanese / Xi Jinping / BRIC / Global Security / AsiaBy Wilson ChewOfficial belligerence conceals the varied sources of militant Chinese nationalism over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands The Japanese name for the Diaoyu Islands is Senkaku, or "Pinnacled Pavilions," which sounds far more fitting for a sitcom setting than for an international flashpoint. Yet flashpoints they are – a cluster of uninhabited islets and rocks jutting from the East China Sea, over which China and Japan are once again drifting towards war. This latest round of confrontations, which began in 2012 and has since become a steady stream of saber rattling on both sides, poses potentially disastrous consequences for the region. With Chinese and Japanese military assets...
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China / Chomsky / Freud / Japan / Laos / North Korea / Politics / United States / Europe / Focus Article / BRIC / Arts & Culture / Middle East / Americas / Africa / Asia / OceaniaFair Observer's five best articles of February. By February, the new year loses its newness and 2013 is no exception. While all of us have settled into 2013, the world continues to be as eventful as ever. Italy has had yet another election. Kerry is off on his first foreign trip as Secretary of State. Karzai is asking the US to curtail its role, and the conflict in Syria shows no signs of resolution. The world economy is wobbly with the Eurozone in deepest distress. At Fair Observer, we try our best to make sense of the world and please find our best articles for February below. As always, we want to know what you think and please email us at info@fairobserver.com to tell us how we can...
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360° Analysis / Bangladesh / India / Laws / New Delhi / Politics / Rape / Woman's health / BRIC / Arts & Culture / AsiaLaws on rape do not usually refer to the “moral character” of the victim, presumably because it is generally not relevant to the crime. Moreover, the phrase itself is an anachronism, besides being vague and hard to pin down. But it is time that rape laws did refer to a woman's moral character – specifically to prohibit references to it in court during prosecution of cases involving rape. On February 2, 2013, the Indian government passed an Ordinance tightening rape-related laws – hopefully, a first step towards their comprehensive reform. A key measure has been the amendment of the Indian Evidence Act (1972) to disallow evidence, or cross examination, on the...