Charles van der Haegen's List: Geopolitics and Institutional change

"The real reason Russia and Syria are being targeted right now.

Contrary to popular belief, the conduct of nations on the international stage is almost never driven by moral considerations, but rather by a shadowy cocktail of money and geopolitics. As such, when you see the mouthpieces of the ruling class begin to demonize a foreign country, the first question in your mind should always be "what is actually at stake here?"

For some time now Russia, China, Iran, and Syria have been in the cross hairs. Once you understand why, the events unfolding in the world right now will make much more sense.

The U.S. dollar is a unique currency. In fact its current design and its relationship to geopolitics is unlike any other in history. Though it has been the world reserve currency since 194 this is not what makes it unique. Many currencies have held the reserve status off and on over the centuries, but what makes the dollar unique is the fact that since the early 1970s it has been, with a few notable exceptions, the only "

"ERBIL, Iraq — When Islamic militants rampaged through the Iraqi city of Mosul last week, robbing banks of hundreds of millions of dollars, opening the gates of prisons and burning army vehicles, some residents greeted them as if they were liberators and threw rocks at retreating Iraqi soldiers."

"A US Department of Defense (DoD) research programme is funding universities to model the dynamics, risks and tipping points for large-scale civil unrest across the world, under the supervision of various US military agencies. The multi-million dollar programme is designed to develop immediate and long-term "warfighter-relevant insights" for senior officials and decision makers in "the defense policy community," and to inform policy implemented by "combatant commands." "

"Published on Apr 10, 2014

Sen. Bernie Sanders discusses oligarchy in a Senate floor speech."

"Published on Apr 4, 2014

Seven years ago, Internet activist Aaron Swartz convinced Lawrence Lessig to take up the fight for political reform. A year after Swartz's tragic death, Lessig continues his campaign to free US politics from the stranglehold of corruption. In this fiery, deeply personal talk, he calls for all citizens to engage, and a offers a heartfelt reminder to never give up hope.

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"Get Intersectional! (Or, Why Your Movement Can't Go It Alone)
"Intersectionality" has evolved from a theory of how oppression works to a notion of how people can fight it. "

"Le Centre d’études et de recherches internationales (CÉRIUM) a pour mission de favoriser le développement des connaissances sur les questions internationales. Cette mission s’accomplit à travers des activités de recherche, de formation et de rayonnement.
Recherche

Le CÉRIUM constitue une équipe multidisciplinaire de chercheurs de haut niveau qui sont spécialisés dans l’étude des questions internationales. Cette équipe regroupe à la fois des unités de recherche (centres, chaires et instituts affiliés - voir dans le menu sur la colonne de gauche) et des chercheurs individuels. Les travaux de recherche réalisés au sein du CÉRIUM s’adressent aux universitaires et à tous les milieux intéressés par l’évolution des relations internationales contemporaines. Ils sont diffusés à travers des publications scientifiques, des publications de nature générale, des conférences et des séminaires.

Depuis sa création, le CÉRIUM a établi des liens avec de nombreux partenaires issus du milieu universitaire, des ONG, des gouvernements et des institutions internationales, que ce soit pour l’organisation d’événements scientifiques ou la réalisation de projets de recherche. Les activités de recherche du CÉRIUM sont financées par des fonds internes et des fonds provenant d’organismes subventionnaires extérieurs."

"Globally, people are using about 25% more natural resources than the planet can replace. In the UK, we're consuming three times our fair share of the planet's natural resources. We face an 'ecological overshoot' that will have severe consequences for both people and nature unless we humans change the way we live.

Although advances in technology have helped people to produce things more efficiently, the benefits have been swamped by ever-higher levels of consumption by affluent Western economies and the growing middle classes in the developing world.

Some 70% of humanity's global footprint arises from carbon emissions; other pressures are linked to commodities such as crops, meat, fish and wood, and the freshwater we take from rivers and lakes.

WWF is seeking a One Planet Future where both people and nature thrive within their fair share of what's available. We are developing a range of One Planet sustainability initiatives to support this goal, helping to bring sustainability and equity to production, trade and consumption.

With an established track record in supporting the development of sustainable lifestyles, WWF is well placed to provide leadership in helping to reduce the UK's footprint and supporting other countries to do the same."

Pirate Party NL, Rick Falkvinge

"The Secret Sharer
Is Thomas Drake an enemy of the state?
by Jane Mayer May 23, 2011
Drake, a former senior executive at the National Security Agency, faces some of the gravest charges that can be brought against an American citizen. Photograph by Martin Schoeller.

Drake, a former senior executive at the National Security Agency, faces some of the gravest charges that can be brought against an American citizen. Photograph by Martin Schoeller.

On June 13th, a fifty-four-year-old former government employee named Thomas Drake is scheduled to appear in a courtroom in Baltimore, where he will face some of the gravest charges that can be brought against an American citizen. A former senior executive at the National Security Agency, the government’s electronic-espionage service, he is accused, in essence, of being an enemy of the state. According to a ten-count indictment delivered against him in April, 2010, Drake violated the Espionage Act—the 1917 statute that was used to convict Aldrich Ames, the C.I.A. officer who, in the eighties and nineties, sold U.S. intelligence to the K.G.B., enabling the Kremlin to assassinate informants. In 2007, the indictment says, Drake willfully retained top-secret defense documents that he had sworn an oath to protect, sneaking them out of the intelligence agency’s headquarters, at Fort Meade, Maryland, and taking them home, for the purpose of “unauthorized disclosure.” The aim of this scheme, the indictment says, was to leak government secrets to an unnamed newspaper reporter, who is identifiable as Siobhan Gorman, of the Baltimore Sun. Gorman wrote a prize-winning series of articles for the Sun about financial waste, bureaucratic dysfunction, and dubious legal practices in N.S.A. counterterrorism programs. Drake is also charged with obstructing justice and lying to federal law-enforcement agents. If he is convicted on all counts, he could receive a prison term of thirty-five years."