Martes, 7 de marzo de 2023 (Continuación)

People gather at a demonstration against the Israeli government's controversial justice reform bill outside the Knesset on March 2. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)

MundoOriente Próximo

Yariv Levin, Israel’s justice minister, was recently railing against the country’s Supreme Court on TV. Referring to rulings that overturned draconian laws against asylum seekers who entered Israel, Levin said the decisions were made “in the name of some overreaching progressive thinking” — and here he dismissively waved his hand. “That’s the mind-set on the court”.

Levin, a Likud party member, and Simcha Rothman of the far-right Religious Zionism party are the point men in the Netanyahu government’s legislative offensive to render the courts powerless. Their program, which has triggered major protests for months and drawn sharp criticism worldwide, would drastically reduce judicial oversight of laws, as well as allow the Knesset to override court decisions to overturn a law.…  Seguir leyendo »

Military vehicles capable of carrying hypersonic ballistic missiles are seen during a military parade in Beijing in 2019. (Ng Han Guan/AP)

EuropaInternacionalOrden Mundial,

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent decision to suspend Russia’s participation in the New START pact on nuclear weapons could be a blessing. If it prompts the United States to acknowledge that the bipolar world of U.S.-Russia nuclear arms agreements is a thing of the past, and that China must now be reckoned with as a third major nuclear power, then Putin will have done the United States a favor.

His intent, of course, was to try to intimidate the United States and its allies aiding Ukraine against Russia’s aggressions. Putin was playing another of his nuclear cards, just as he had with implicit threats to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine or to escalate the ongoing conventional war.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión EuropeaDefensa y Seguridad

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s working visit to Washington last Friday came almost exactly one year after a landmark speech promising a U-turn in German foreign defense policy, given just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine. The speech spoke of a Zeitenwende — a pivotal moment in time — and the word has since become shorthand for German foreign policy thinking under Scholz.

But one year into its Zeitenwende, Berlin is struggling to turn bold promises into reality. Scholz had committed to spending more than 2 percent of Germany’s gross domestic product on defense and to supporting Ukraine with heavy weapons.…  Seguir leyendo »

How Commerce Can Save the Climate

InternacionalEconomía,

Crisis looms for the planet. In November 2022, world leaders met in Egypt at the UN’s annual forum on climate change, known as the Conference of the Parties. Much like the previous 26 rounds of negotiations, COP27 did little to solve the world’s environmental emergency. The summit marked another failure to secure meaningful commitments. It is now virtually certain that countries will fail to reach the long-standing goal of limiting average planetary warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. A UN Environment Program report from October 2022 projected that current climate pledges will result in planetary warming of approximately 2.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the twenty-first century.…  Seguir leyendo »

The aftermath of a Russian military strike, Donetsk region, Ukraine, February 2023. Yevhen Titov / Reuters

Europa, , ,

On September 21, 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his large-scale mobilization of fighting-age men, it was seen as a dramatic move toward total war. No longer could the Kremlin downplay the war in Ukraine as a mere “special operation” in which ordinary Russians had little involvement. Fearful of what was to come, hundreds of thousands of young men fled the country as rumors circulated that the security services were going to close the borders to prevent more people from leaving—and take drastic measures to pressure those who had left to return and fight. Many also assumed that Putin’s order would be followed by a second, even broader draft, and that all of Russian society would soon be put on a continual war footing.…  Seguir leyendo »

Tank crew members in Augustdorf, Germany, February 2023. Benjamin Westhoff / Reuters

EuropaUnión EuropeaDefensa y Seguridad

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, it seemed like a transformational moment for European security. Surely now Europe would finally get its act together on defense. But, as the war enters its second year, such a transformation has not materialized. The fault for the ongoing stasis lies with many parties—European states, NATO, the European Union and even the United States—all of whom have defaulted to the comfortable practices of the past in the hope of preserving an untenable status quo.

This is not to say that Europe has not been altered by the war. European publics and their leaders have rallied in support of Ukraine and maintained their support despite skyrocketing energy prices and high inflation.…  Seguir leyendo »

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, January 2023. Ronaldo Schemidt / Pool / Reuters

MundoOriente Próximo

These are trying times for the U.S.-Israeli relationship, which the U.S. government often defines as ironclad. Benjamin Netanyahu has returned to power as Israel’s prime minister in a governing coalition that is the country’s most right-wing and religious in history. He is facing off against Joe Biden: a Democratic U.S. president who, although a true friend of Israel, remembers Netanyahu’s fraught relations with former U.S. President Barack Obama. At home, Netanyahu is legalizing outposts and building in settlements in the West Bank and undermining Israel’s independent judiciary, actions that the Biden administration has strongly criticized. Internationally, Netanyahu has hesitated to clearly support Ukraine in its fight against Russia, much to the consternation of U.S.…  Seguir leyendo »

Why Inclusion Matters for Myanmar’s Resistance

MundoAsia,

“You’ve messed with the wrong generation”.

In the days after Myanmar’s military staged a coup in February 2021, sparking mass protests across the country, this became a regular refrain for those opposing the military takeover, appearing on banners, placards and social media posts. Younger people – Generation Z and millennials – were the main driving force behind popular opposition to the power grab, not only on the streets but also within the Civil Disobedience Movement and online. They orchestrated boycotts of military-linked goods, launched fundraising drives for anti-coup activities, and organized “social punishment” campaigns aimed at pressuring individuals to cut ties with the regime.…  Seguir leyendo »

There’s a Menace Hanging Over Brazil

MundoAmérica  

It reads like science fiction. In 93 pages, the text sketches out a strange future. In 2027, there’s a new pandemic, caused by the “Xvirus”. A year later, war breaks out between the United States and both China and Russia over bauxite deposits in Guyana. By the year 2035, Brazilians openly admit their innate conservatism and embrace a future where the word “Indigenous” barely exists.

Yet these predictions are not from some work of fiction. Instead, they come from a strange policy document published last year by a group of institutes run by retired Brazilian military personnel. Titled “Nation Project: Brazil in 2035”, the report proposes a grand national strategy on issues like geopolitics, science, technology, education and health.…  Seguir leyendo »

‘Tú puedes hacerlo, mi amor’: un trayecto peligroso en busca de una vida mejor

MundoAmérica, ,

En una fría noche de finales de febrero, un grupo de migrantes venezolanos se mantenían muy juntos para darse calor. Estábamos cerca de un vertedero de basura en medio de la nada, a unas horas de Ciudad de México. El grupo esperaba a la Bestia, el tren de carga que muchos migrantes montan desde el sur de México hasta la frontera con Estados Unidos.

Cuando el tren apareció, todos corrieron para subirse en su lomo; las familias tenían la preferencia y subían a los vagones que tienen una plataforma de metal donde es posible aferrarse con más seguridad. Yo subí al techo de otro vagón con dos panas que había conocido un par de horas antes y que se hacían llamar Oriente y el Niche.…  Seguir leyendo »

EspañaSanidad y Salud Pública

El covid-19 mató a miles de personas, en un doloroso y desgarrador misterio de soledad donde el único consuelo fueron los médicos, enfermeros y auxiliares. Inolvidable la imagen de un médico dando la mano a una anciana, a quien intentaba paliar el tormento físico y espiritual de morir sin una mirada de despedida a sus hijos. La pandemia fue una prueba espiritual para España, descubriendo nuestra hedonista sociedad que la muerte no es una calabaza iluminada de la que reírse por Halloween, sino una tragedia que sólo el amor puede vencer. Drama que colapsó la red sanitaria pero que también mostró la heroica entrega de los médicos y demás personal sanitario a los contagiados.…  Seguir leyendo »