Global North

A World Where Our Grandchildren Have To Go To A Museum To See What A Gun Looked Like

November 1, 2024 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Strategize! Global North, Global South, Peace, Violence

In 1919, Winston Churchill wrote, ‘I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes’. Churchill, grappling at the time with the Kurdish rebellion in northern Iraq as Britain’s secretary of state for war and air, argued that such use of gas ‘would spread a lively terror and yet would leave no serious permanent effects on most of those affected’. Gas warfare had first been employed by France in August 1914 (during World War I) using tear gas, followed by Germany with the use of chlorine in April 1915 and phosgene (which enters the lungs and causes suffocation) in December 1915.

The Premises Of The Diplomatic Mission Shall Be Inviolable

April 12, 2024 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Educate! Diplomacy, Embassies, Global North, Global South, International Law, Vienna Convention, Wars and Militarism

We live in dishonest times, where certainties have crumbled, and malevolence stalks the landscape. There is Gaza, of course. Gaza above all else is on our minds. Over 33,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since 7 October, with more than 7,000 people missing (5,000 of them children). The Israeli government has brutally disregarded the global public opinion mounted against them. Billions of people are outraged by the stark fact of their violence and yet we are unable to force a ceasefire from an army that has decided to raze an entire people.

The Remarkable Decline In The Global North’s Leadership

March 5, 2024 Vijay Prashad, People's Dispatch. Resist! Aaron Bushnell, Gaza, Global North, Israel, Joe Biden, Palestine, Palestine Solidarity, United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)

A group of young people in Paris are enjoying a drink in a café on an unseasonably warm evening. The conversation drifts into politics, but—as one young woman says—“Let’s not talk about France.” The others nod their assent. They focus on the US presidential election, a slight bit of Gallic arrogance at play as they mock the near certainty that the main candidates will be President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Biden is 81 years old and Trump is 77. A Special Counsel in the United States has called Biden an “elderly man with a poor memory,” hardly the words required to inspire confidence in the president.

The Center Of Gravity Is Tilting To The South

January 24, 2024 Mikaela Nhondo Erskog, Popular Resistance. Educate! Global Economy, Global North, Global South, Militarization, NATO

When the countries of the Global North, led by the United States, demanded that the countries of the Global South adopt the North Atlantic Treaty Organization position on the war in Ukraine (namely to isolate Russia), they refused, accusing the West of double standards. Numerous leaders have since pointed to the Global North’s weakening credibility, signaling a new mood in the Global South. These changes are shaped, on the one hand, by the Global North’s loss of economic power alongside its increasing militarization and, on the other, by the Global South’s growing political demand for sovereignty and economic development.

Will The Weather Eventually Provoke Radical Action On Climate?

January 18, 2023 Paul Rogers, Resilience. Educate! climate crisis, Direct Action, Extreme weather, Global North

With two world summits on the global environment at the end of last year – COP27 and COP15 – there should have been the prospect of an immediate impact on the looming disaster of climate breakdown. In reality, results were limited at best. COP27 on climate change did agree to a ‘loss and damage’ fund that acknowledged the role of long-term emitters in the industrial world and the need for them to aid countries across the Global South. Funding was proposed for accelerating the transition to renewable energy while responding to the impact of current and future climate disasters. What was lacking was any firm timescale and, even more importantly, COP27 did not secure an across-the-board commitment in the Global North to rapid decarbonisation.

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