Sunday, September 20^th, the University of Virginia hosted a lecture by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.  I was lucky enough to be in the audience, sitting on several feet away from the legendary man.

Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, Yunus is world renowned for his founding of the Grameen Bank, a micro-lending system which has subsequently lifted millions of people out of poverty.   His compassion and humility, however, are what warrant him to be held in such high esteem.  “Doing little made people so happy, why not do more?” Yunus remarked modestly in response to the rapid growth of his fame.   He has since expanded his micro-lending model and spearheaded new projects.

Like most micro-finance systems, the Grameen Bank has been critiqued for not reaching the poorest of the poor.  In response to this accusation, Yunus designed a program which would provide beggars specifically with loans.  Currently there are around 12 000 beggars in the program and over 16 000 former beggars have risen from the extremest poverty and no longer have the need to beg.

Yunus’ current goals are set at establishing social businesses.  In social business there is non-loss, non-dividend and, unlike with charities, money is recycled.  Yunus shared about his joint venture with the Danone, a French yogurt company.  Danone has agreed to add vitamins to the yogurt it produces and sell the yogurt for cheap (essentially making no additional profit from this deal).  Those children who consume this vitamin loaded yogurt just twice a week should have their health restored within a year.

“All humans are born entrepreneurs” was Yunus’ primary claim throughout his speech.  As he encourages his borrowers, he encouraged those in the audience to change their mentality and to create their own projects and social businesses.

Perhaps the most inspiring point of Yunus’ lecture was probed by a question from an audience member and is a bit ironic.  When asked what part of his education was the most beneficial in helping design the Grameen Bank, Yunus responded “not knowing anything about banking.”  Essentially, it was the not having  information or, more importantly, the not having pre-conceived ideas of how the bank should run that allowed Yunus to develop such a successful micro-lending system.  “I just did the opposite of conventional banks.”

Today, we tend to think that we must have great education and specialization to make a mark in the world.  Yunus epitomizes how faulty that assumption is; each person can make a difference.

Click here to watch Yunus’ full address.

Afghanistan isn’t just America’s war – a total of 15 countries have military and/or reconstruction personnel in the country.  America isn’t the only one debating the  strategy and timeline in Afghanistan either -  popular support for the war has decreased in countries such as Italy and Germany as well.  Here’s a look at the current coaltion forces in Afghanistan from teh BBC:

Image originally posted Mon Sept 21 2009 at  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8266072.stm

Guest Post by Amanda Young with commentary from Laura Kavanaugh

Earlier this week, comments made by General McChrystal concerning the strategy in Afghanistan were leaked to the press. He called for a new strategy because he believes the current one will lead to mission failure (a strong statement that has raised concerns). The military has already begun to relocated troops from the sparsely populated mountainous regions that are difficult to cities. This move is in hopes that we can begin to rebuild cities, protect the Afghan people, and help strengthen the government.

After eight years in Afghanistan a mission focused on civilian protection, reconstruction, and strengthening the Afghan government that will lay the groundwork for a responsible exit sounds like the right plan, but the General believes more resources are needed for this strategy to succeed.  In this case “resources” means American soldiers. Many people speculate that the general will ask President Obama for more troops to be sent to Afghanistan today, even though President Obama made it clear during his interview on Meet the Press that, “Until I’m satisfied that we’ve got the right strategy I’m not gonna be sending some young man or woman over there- beyond what we already have”. President Obama’s decision has become even more difficult now that current polls show that the majority of Americans no longer support the war.

Afghanistan has witnessed 30 years of war and America and its allies have an important responsibility to establish security and support the reconstruction of the country’s infrastructure and rule of law systems.  Many agree on this goal, but disagree on the correct strategy – will a troop surge further reconstruction efforts or fuel discontentment in the region and among Americans impatient to bring our troops home?  Are we repeating mistakes made in Iraq by burdening the military with reconstruction missions typically carried out by civilian specialists? How can we increase the capacity of USAID (still w/o an administrator) and the State Dept quickly to ensure that the military’s efforts are appropriately supported?

To learn more about General McChrystal’s recommended strategy and President Obama’s interview with Meet the Press click here:

General McChrystal: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8266072.stm
President Obama: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32935603/ns/meet_the_press//

Post by John Deans, It’s Getting Hot In Here

Pittsburgh, United States — Greenpeace activists rappelled off of a Pittsburgh bridge (Wednesday) with a massive banner displaying our message to G20 leaders gathering for tomorrow’s summit. The banner takes the form of stylized “road sign” that warns of the political maneuvering and delay that have put a international climate treaty in jeopardy as the world enters the final stretch on the road to Copenhagen.

“It is imperative that developed world leaders do not fail again in Pittsburgh. They must put money on the table to support developing countries” said Damon Moglen, Greenpeace USA’s global warming campaign director. “It is also critical for G20 leaders agree to kick-start economic recovery through clean energy investment. Both of these elements are vital to achieve a good deal in Copenhagen and avert catastrophic climate change.”

Previously this week, AID was invited to a discussion with Feministing.com blogger Ann Friedman, who provided some fundamental information on how to utilize blogging as a tool for advocacy. For anyone who is interested in guest posting on our blog, or starting your own social justice or advocacy blog, don’t be daunted! Though some of it may seem a bit self-evident, here are some basic ideas and tips Ann had for creating an interesting and relevant blog to engage supporters and advocates:

-Keep track of your “internet diet” (using tools like Google Bookmarks or Delicious) to see what pages you frequent. This can give you great fodder for a blog post or two!

-Set up Google Alerts for certain items or issues you are interested in. Then follow links from these items to other related pages. As Ann said, sometimes “going in the weeds” can lead to a great new perspective or idea on a blog post.

-Rely on other people/news sources for some of your information (if they are credible!). It’s okay to use big block quotes from others to set-up the background to an issue. You don’t have to be the expert this way, and it gives you more space to include more of your own (or your organization’s) opinion.

-Reiteration is important. Sometimes when you look back over old posts you may find that many of the posts have very similar titles or similar themes. No problem. You shouldn’t expect that people check your blog every day (or even every few days), so reiterating some information from an earlier post is acceptable, and even necessary at times.

-Tone is important. You don’t always have to have a strong analysis or opinion of everything you write about. A quicker post is not a bad thing and keeps your blog up to the minute.

-Twitter can be a great medium for increasing blog readership. Within each “tweet” or feed you can provide a tinyURL and share the information with your followers.

Types of Blog Posts:
-Video blogging can be really useful. It gives the reader/viewer a more personal sense of who the people behind the blog are. Furthermore, posting the video blog to YouTube and then linking it to your page can help increase traffic

-Action alerts:
-Reader-provided action alerts (promote information provided to you by a reader)
-Blogger-generated action alerts
(It’s great to provide lots of links in these pages for your readers to easily engage in the action alert!)

-First-person post: these are usually anecdotal pieces (like our Rachel’s piece on returning from the Middle East). These often generate a lot of comments because people are more comfortable relating to personal experiencing than they are to political news/opinions on which they may not have authority

-Aggregating posts: these are frequently just a list format, like a weekly round-up of interesting links/articles for their readers to peruse (Feministing.com provides this weekly to readers).

-Undercover issues: these are things that don’t usually make the mainstream news, but are pertinent to the organization. They can be interesting as well as useful, because the post may one of the first things to pop up in a search-engine regarding the issue.

-(Reaction to) Breaking news/All over the news posts: there is no reason to give background on these issues, but instead these posts can be good for making a strong point or opinion

All of the above to say, don’t be intimidated by blogging! There are a lot of ways to go about utilizing this unique advocacy tool, and we would love for more of you to become involved as guest-bloggers, or to begin your own blogs. As recent news events have shown (in Iran particularly), new media is one of the most accessible and successful advocacy tools out there! Happy Blogging!

As Iranians around the world head to the polls for a hotly contested presidential election, I thought I would post some of the most interesting stories and analysis I have seen…

The New York Times thinks that regardless of who wins this election, the democratic energy that has been rocking the country will leave its mark on the political process.  “If [Ahmadinejahd] wins a second term, many here are now asking what will become of the “green wave” — the name given to the vast crowds of people who have filled the streets in recent weeks dressed in the signature color of the Moussavi campaign, demanding change.”

There is expected to be record high voter turnout.  This could be extremely important, given the fact that Ahmadinejahd has strong support in the rural areas and Mousavi has mobilized urban voters.  The election could boil down to which demographic group shows up to the polls.

Foreign Policy has a photoessay covering the recent campaigning.  I find it interesting that so many of the photos feature women.  I wonder if this is representative of the campaigners: are women actually the majority of the crowd?  Or is this just because foreign journalists are fascinated by the idea that veiled women are politically active?

Global Voices Online has some great election coverage, including a piece on Iranian bloggers’ reactions to the televised debate between Ahamadinejahd and Mousavi.

Finally, and most importantly, Foreign Policy is already reporting that more than 70% of eligible Iranian’s voted and that some are already declaring Mousavi the winner.  We’ll have to wait to for the officical results, but what some have been calling the “Green Revolution” may have prevailed.

As many as 100 of indigenous protestors were killed early Friday morning in the northern Peruvian province of Bagua, as 600 Peruvian riot police were ordered to disrupt a peaceful road blockade launched in April as a part of a national protest against a new series of laws that would allow an unprecedented wave of logging, oil drilling, mining and mono-crop agriculture in the Amazonian jungle.

Police fired live ammunition and teargas into the crowd armed with indigenous spears.  Peruvian authorities report 22 police were killed and 2 missing, while the indigenous community says at least 40 people, including 2 children were killed.  If you think the numbers don’t add up, you’re right.  Police have been accused of burning indigenous bodies, throwing them in the river and removing wounded from the hospital in order to hide the real number of casualties.

A state of emergency has been declared in the region, a military curfew imposed, and police continue to patrol Amazonian towns.

I am reminded of an interview I had last month with rebel rocker and peace activist, Michael Franti. “Now is the time when we need to stand up and yell fire,” Franti said.  “If ever there was a time that we need to say something is happening, let’s deal with it, it’s now.”

For 56 days, nearly 2,500 indigenous people have blocked roads, waterways and oil pipelines in opposition to new laws being fast tracked by Peruvian president Alan Garcia to facilitate the implementation of the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect February 1st of this year.  The Peruvian congress refuses to repeal laws, positioning the indigenous as against free trade and development.

Garcia, a free trade advocate, has defended police actions, stating that the nation’s 40,000 indigenous do not have the right to deny 28 million Peruvians the benefit of Amazonian resources.  Garcia has further been quoted as saying that anyone who attempted to impede access to the Amazon would lead Peru into “irrationality and a backward primitive state.”

Never mind the fact that indigenous rights to ancestral land are protected by UN International Labor Organization Convention 169, under which governments are required to take “coordinated and systematic action” to protect the rights of these peoples and to guarantee respect for their integrity.

In Peru, the total opposite is taking place, as indigenous peoples are literally and forcefully being removed from the path of corporate capitalism, so that private investment firms can go about their business without the troublesome task of consulting the communities who’s livelihoods depend on those resources.  Protestors are being portrayed in the national media as savage police killers, terrorists, and a nuisance to national development.

In essence, Alan Garcia and government of Peru are using the US FTA, which then presidential hopeful Barack Obama once held up as a model free trade agreement, to undermine indigenous rights.  Indigenous leader Alberto Pizango of the Peruvian Jungle Inter-Ethnic Development Association (AIDESP) has accused the government of indigenous genocide.  Pizango and other leaders are facing potential arrest on charges of rebellion.

YELL FIRE!

The Confederation of the Eagle and the Condor from Abya Yala North (North America) issued a statement of solidarity against the genocide on Monday:

“We demand accountability from the US Government, President Barack Obama and the US society as a whole for the issue of complicity with the ongoing genocide occurring throughout the Amazon Basin of Abya Yala South […]

We demand an immediate moratorium on all trade agreements hemispherically between the US and the government states of the OAS, until a comprehensive review and report on these compacts be undertaken by the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples […]

Any such trade agreements among the states that do not integrate the recognition, respect and protection for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as referenced by the UN Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples is hereby proclaimed illegitimate in our hemisphere of Abya Yala […]

The paradigm of social economic development driven by capitalist expropriation and exploitation of Indigenous lands and labor has come to an end.  It has died, with the blood of the jungle of the Peruvian Amazon the death certificate has been delivered to the world.  A new, yet ancient, global ecological-economic framework is emerging at great cost, but also with great promise to effectively address the global climate crisis.  The recognition of the rights of Indigenous Peoples is the first step […]

Now is the time for the realization of Integrity, integrating justice and dignity along with all of our fellow ‘Americans’ of this continent Abya Yala in a new world hemispheric policy of Self Determination and Reciprocity with Respect for the Rights of the Nations of the Indigenous Peoples at a continental level […]

The time has come to not only change but TRANSFORM our collective continental society of the Americas, breaking the chains of centuries of European-American racism and colonization, expropriation and exploitation […]

In pursuit of peace, and in solidarity with our relatives of the Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon of Peru, we deliver this message of conscience and call to justice.”

This week, Peruvian officials will meet with US Trade Representative Ron Kirk in Washington for discussions on the FTA implementation.  Now is the time to send a strong message to our government that we stand with the indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon and reject the killing and destruction, which current U.S. free trade policies promote worldwide.

YELL FIRE!

What you can do:

1. The Quixote Center is circulating a letter to President Obama asking him to denounce the violence and call on USTR Ron Kirk to respect ILO Convention 169 and ensure that the US-Peru FTA conforms with these laws.
   
2. If you live in the Washington, D.C. area, Witness for Peace is organizing a protest at Peruvian Embassy, 1700 Massachusetts Avenue NW today, Thursday, June 11, at 3:30pm.  For more information, please call 202-403-1752.
3. Inform yourself about US trade policies and fair trade alternatives.  A list of resources with regard to this conflict appear at the end of this post.
4. Raise the issue on your campus and with your Congressional representatives.  Americans for Informed Democracy’s Global Development program is supporting students interested to launch trade-related campaigns in the Fall semester.  You can take up indigenous rights, labor rights, environmental protection, access to medicines, or your campus’ support for fair trade alternatives.  Contact Sarah@aidemocracy.org for more information.

Resources:

Democracy NOW:  http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/8/peruvian_police_accused_of_massacring_indigenous

Latin American Press:  http://www.lapress.org/articles.asp?art=5871

On the ground investigation from Amazon Watch: http://www.amazonwatch.org/

Webpage for the Peruvian Jungle Inter-Ethnic Development Association (AIDESEP):  http://www.aidesep.org.pe/index.php?id=5

An in-depth report from NACLA:  https://nacla.org/node/5879

Blog thoughts from Ben Powless, a Mohawk from Six Nations in Ontario, studying Human Rights, Indigenous and Environmental Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa:  http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/ben-powless/2009/06/peru-battle-lines-drawn-over-amazon

New York Times article, posted by Bilaterals.org:
http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=15312

2007 Press release from Oxfam America, expressing concern over the US-Peru FTA’s potential to deepen poverty:
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublications/press_releases/archive2007/trade-deal-with-peru-fails-to-measure-up-for-development

This week, Vladimir Putin was generous enough to provide me with a wealth of blog fodder in an interview with Japanese media (linked below).

Putin addressed two issues of major concern to U.S. foreign policy (before going on to suggest that he might have to become president again): the North Korean nuclear standoff and the European Missile defense shield.

North Korean Nuclear Standoff

Recently, North Korea conducted another missile test, launching a “satellite” into space via ballistic missile (with the quotes questioning both the existence of the satellite and the intent of it should it exist).  The nation, which has abandoned the six-party talks regarding its nuclear ambitions, is now planning yet another test (according to South Korea).

These tests violate UN mandates that bar North Korea from ballistic missile activity, and as such have received rebuke from the international community.  In response, Pyongyang threatens more missile tests, unless the UN will apologize for their rebuke of the initial missile test.  Round and round we go…

Putin has weighed in on the issue, declaring that everyone needs to calm down and return to the table so that we can work it out.  Coincidentally, this rosy position is shared with the U.S. administration.

The international community is right to try to bring North Korea back to the table.  Just as no one seems to consider the alternative, which would bring about a difference of opinion between the U.S., Russia, and China on necessary responses, it is also a slight blow to the legitimacy of the UN when its members continue to allow UN resolutions to be ignored.

The U.S. and the rest of the UN parties take a slightly harder-line approach, and intend to impose further sanctions on North Korea if it continues to stay away from the negotiating table while flouting international regulations.

European Missile Defense Shield

At the same time, Putin has presented the Obama administration with an “out” regarding the missile shield in Poland: make a new deal on nuclear proliferation, and we will allow the shield.

This, of course, makes sense for Russia, as it benefits from having the U.S. limit nuclear defense spending because Russia could not keep up.

But such a plan is also consistent with the ethos of the Obama administration, where a nuclear arms deal is seen as a positive step toward Russian reconciliation and long-term stability.

It seems that this change in policy could be a great opportunity for the administration, and do a lot to bring about the positive change in the temperament and attitude in foreign relations that Obama has pledged to provide in the long run.

*****

If you are interested in the entire interview, it is available here:

Hello Everyone!  It’s good to be back in the game.  I have been largely severed from the internet world from several weeks as I traveled across Europe and Northern Africa.  I have returned to London, but am still in limbo as I prepare to return to the states.  Still, I wanted to make sure this week’s edition of the BRIC Roundup got to press! Of course, much has occurred in the past weeks in these nations.

The overarching story of the BRIC nations in the past weeks has been one of steadily increasing importance in international affairs as the economic crisis is re-leveling to some degree the playing field.  The G20 conference here in London a few weeks ago emphasized this point as it agreed to flood money into the IMF and reorient policy around the World Bank.

These organs are set up with the express aim of preventing crises throughout the world by monitoring dangerous economic policies in all countries; and these aims will be furthered by Brazil’s suggestion that developing countries gain more control over the fund.  It is a measure of the growing influence of Brazil in particular that it is paying into the fund to help other countries and able to take a larger role in demanding policy innovation.

Meanwhile China is making the first moves to bring its strategic asset fund, derived from its foreign reserves, out of its short hibernation.  China is hoping, of course, that the financial crisis is bottoming out, and its returns will therefore be great at current investment prices.  While this strategy is risky, it underscores the country’s relative economic power to be able to spend at all, and reinforces the international clout that China holds that such expenditures have a significant worrying effect on some Western policymakers.

Of course, the BRIC Roundup is not the only one to notice the emerging importance of countries such as Brazil.  For example, Israel’s El Al Airlines has begun direct flights this week to Brazil, strengthening Brazil’s international cache, at the same time that the International Olympic Committee has sent positive messages considering Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympic Games.

In a more foreboding sense, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted this week that Iran and China have made "quite disturbing" gains in Latin America, and President Ahmadinejad is planning ot visit Brazil just this week.  The U.S. might do well to encourage these emerging countries to become stronger allies.

Thus, the overarching story of the BRIC countries in the past week weeks has indeed been such a resurgence of growth–in stature, importance, and influence—despite the tough economic times.  Do you have any thoughts concerning how the U.S. should respond to the changing international scene?  Besides involvement with the G20 summit in London, the U.S. has seemed relatively muted in the past few weeks regarding international affairs, as the emphasis has been placed squarely on domestic matters.  Should more be done, or is the current focus on domestic affairs correct?  Sound off in the comments!

As we await the official adoption and written release of the Declaration of the IV People’s Summit of the Americas later today, here are a few additional thoughts and resources from colleagues at the Alliance for Responsible Trade, Grassroots International, and Professor Imary Reyes-Santos of the University of Oregon, who are also in attendance at the People’s Summit here in Trinidad.

http://art-us.org/blog/3

http://www.grassrootsonline.org/news/blog/report-peoples-summit-americas

http://caribe-america.blogspot.com/