The civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia ended 10 years ago but these West African nations continue to struggle, partly because the wars created an economy based on warfare. Young men and boys recruited into militia movements during wartime turned to other violent jobs – in diamond mines, on rubber plantations and in other unregulated industries – after the wars ended. (more…)
University of Michigan visiting professor Stephen Bloom discusses how the Iowa Caucuses can change a presidential candidate’s campaign. – Written by Jared Wadley *Source: University of Michigan
*Human rights trials for ex-dictators speed healing*
If dictators who torture, kill, or otherwise abuse their citizens’ human rights are overthrown, should they be brought to trial?
On one hand, convicting and punishing an ex-dictator and his minions would strike a welcome blow for justice in countries where it has been denied. (more…)
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Over the past decade, attacks and plots by homegrown terrorists in the United States have increased, the work of extremists from across the political spectrum – roughly 40 percent of it by so-called ‘lone wolf,’ non-aligned actors – says an analysis by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) based at the University of Maryland.
The statistics underscore the threat addressed in a White House plan released Thursday: Strategic Implementation Plan for Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States – a blueprint for “building community resilience against violent extremism.” (more…)
More Asian Pacific Americans hold public office in the United States than at any other time in U.S. history, a sign of the community’s growing engagement with the political process, according to a newly released political almanac published by UCLA’s Asian American Studies Center.
The 14th edition of the National Asian Pacific American Political Almanac, first published in 1976, contains information on all 3,000 current elected and appointed officials. It also analyzes political trends and makes electoral projections of the nation’s 17 million Asian Pacific Americans. (more…)
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Nearly two-thirds of Israeli Jews, 64 percent, favor establishing a nuclear free zone in the Middle East – even when it was spelled out that this would mean both Israel and Iran would have to forego nuclear weapons – finds a new University of Maryland poll. The research is a joint project of the Anwar Sadat Chair at the University of Maryland and the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA). (more…)
*Tony Blair visits U of T Multi-faith Centre*
Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, founder of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, applauded the efforts of the foundation’s six Canadian Faiths Act Fellows to help eradicate malaria and address other pressing community issues.
Blair recently took part in a discussion at the Multi-faith Centre on U of T’s St. George Campus where he talked about the impact of faith communities on global health outcomes alongside expert U of T academics, faith leaders and his foundation’s Faiths Act Fellows (See photos of Blair’s visit). Faiths Act is the foundation’s multi-faith social action program comprising 34 fellows across the world taking action together against preventable disease and extreme poverty. (more…)
*Michelle Obama: If Malia or Sasha Joined the Military, “I Would Be Proud.”*
In an exclusive interview with Yahoo! Shine (https://shine.yahoo.com), the leading women’s lifestyle website with more than 30 million visitors per month, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden discuss the importance of supporting military families and how the First Lady would feel is her daughters enlisted. As a military mom herself, Dr. Jill Biden also discusses ways we can support returning Veterans. (more…)
