politicalviolenceataglance
PVG contributor Oliver Kaplan is interviewed by Colombia Reports on grassroots political participation and nonviolence in the country:
“Kaplan argues that following the conclusion of any peace deal, if ‘Colombia is to achieve peace and also live up to its democratic potential,’ the most difficult part will be ‘follow through,’ ensuring the farmers who have suffered so much, have their grievances addressed and their voices heard on the national level ‘to sustain grassroots participation at the forefront.'”
As Honduras votes, the militarization of policing in the country with the world’s highest homicide rate. Relatedly, a new United Nations Development Program report (pdf) questions why Latin America was the only world region with rising homicide rates in the 2000-2010 decade; analysis here.
Talks have been held on how to improve the United Nations’ “stalled” relief work in Syria (notably, including both the US and Iran among others), but future scheduled negotiations need to strike a difficult balance between including more neighboring countries and talks too inclusive to be effective. UN-sponsored talks that will be the first to directly include the Assad government and rebels have also been scheduled for this January.
Why is the United States turning a blind eye to Morocco’s abuses in the disputed territory of Western Sahara?
Jay Ulfelder has a very interesting animated world map depicting coup attempts from 1946 to 2013. As he notes, “coup events were pretty well scattered across the world in the 1960s and 1970s, but in the past 20 years, they’ve mostly struck in Africa and Asia.”
In a question with obvious relevance to a world where climatic disasters grow more common, will Typhoon Haiyan change the priorities of the Philippine military?
