CIAO DATE: 03/2013

• Rio+20 must address the scramble for resources

  Bernice Lee

  Will Rio+20 just be a side show to the global scramble for resources or will it grasp the realities of the looming crisis and form a political agenda that can succeed?

   

   

• Why stage summits in a leaderless world?

  Ian Bremmer

  Ian Bremmer is an American political scientist and founder of the Eurasia Group. He is the author of Every Nation for Itself: Winners and Losers in a G-Zero World

   

   

• Finance can lead the way to a sustainable economy

  Nick Robins

  Nick Robins is head of the HSBC Climate Change Centre of Excellence

   

   

• Graphic showing the role of satellite images in tracking environmental damage

  Eyes in the skies keeping watch on a planet under stress. Click on the PDF link to view the graphic

   

   

• China's growing awareness of the full costs of pollution

  Isabel Hilton

  China's Green shoots need nurturing, writes Isabel Hilton. Isabel Hilton is the editor of chinadialogue.net

   

   

• What will make Brits vote Green?

  Jenny Jones

  Jenny Jones is a Green Party member of the London Assembly.

• Forget the Corinthian Spirit, the Olympics are all about money

  Mihir Bose

  Gold goes to the sponsors: Mihir Bose describes how the Corinthian spirit of the Olympic Games has given way to a McDonalds-style franchise

   

   

• European elites can't stop themselves crashing their own project

  Paul Mason

  Perils of European optimism: The inability to imagine failure is reminiscent of 1914, writes Paul Mason.

• Vision and ambition are needed to bring Tottenham back to life after last years' riots

  David Lammy

  Tottenham's future is looking brighter, but the government must not stand idle.

• How to stop London burning again this summer

  Nigel Hall, Cat Tully

  To mend broken Britain we need to rediscover the Victorian trick of spreading wealth.

• Why Angela Merkel won't bail out the profligate countries of Europe

  Heribert Dieter

  Germany learnt a €2 trillion lesson after reunification which it is not going to easily forget.

• The return of tyranny to Ukraine

  Orysia Lutsevych

  Despite the gains of the Orange Revolution, the spectre of tyranny is once again hanging over Ukraine.

• US electorate in figures

  The US presidential election in November promises to be closely fought - and exceptionally raucous. Unprecedented amounts of money will be spent during the campaign, much of it on ‘attack ads'. Here are five statistics to help sort out the issues from the noise.

   

   

• Interview: Carl Bildt

  Alan Philps

  The former prime minister of Sweden, mediator in the Balkans and current foreign minister talks to Alan Philps. He advocates a Nordic cold shower for southern Europe, sees alarming levels of debt in the US, and anticipates a Russian change of heart over Syria.

• Why is Putin protecting Assad's regime?

  Talal Nizameddin

  Putin's support for the Assad regime will have long-term cost implications for Russia.

• 30 years after Sabra and Shatila, Palestinians in Lebanon still lack civil rights

  Dr. Swee Chai Ang

  Dr Swee Chai Ang, who witnessed the 1982 massacre in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, says that life has not improved for Palestinians in Lebanon.

• Democracy NGOs under attack around the world

  Nicolas Bouchet

  Western NGOs promoting democracy feel the pressure as autocrats quake.

• India is winning its soft-power battle against China

  Shashi Tharoor

  So far Bollywood has more admirers than the Terracotta Army - but for how long?

   

   

• China sends its most valuable treasures abroad

  Sally Peck

  China has turned to its history to cement its new place in the world.

• Mugabe's last throw of the dice

  Graham Boynton

  After 32 years in power, will Robert Mugabe try to fix one last election or stand down and give his party a five-year lifeline?

   

   

• From the Editor

  Alan Philps

  Send your comments to letters@theworldtoday.org

• Letters

  Send your comments to letters@theworldtoday.org

• Notebook: Evgeny Lebedev

  Evgeny Lebedev

  The newspaper publisher takes tea with a remarkable African leader and adds an online campaigning website to his print titles.

• A date with history...Watergate

  Leonard Downie Jr.

  June 17, 1972: A break-in at the Watergate building spells the beginning of the end for President Nixon. Can such a coup happen in the digital age?

   

   

• Postcard from...Buenos Aires

  Uki Goni

  After nine years of stability, Argentina's president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is off on an economic roller-coaster ride.

• Ten minutes with...Yossi Beilin

  Alan Philps

  Yossi Beilin, who served as Israeli Justice Minister and Deputy Foreign Minister, conducted the secret peace negotiations that led to the 1993 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

   

   

• Jargonbuster finds 'dashboards' in unlikely places

  Send your jargon suggestions to letters@theworldtoday.org.

• Books: Michael Williams on Anthony Shadid's 'House of Stone'

  Michael Williams

  Anthony Shadid, the prize-winning American journalist who died this year while covering the Syrian uprising, has left an evocative portrait of a disappearing Lebanese Christian community.

• Museum: Hugh Pope on Orhan Pamuk's eccentric time-capsule

  Hugh Pope

  The Turkish writer's novel, 'The Museum of Innocence', has been brought to life in a house in Istanbul.

• Books: Michela Wrong's Congo and Rwanda reading list

  Michela Wrong

  Michela Wrong, author of ‘In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz’ chooses seven books about the crisis in Africa's Great Lakes region. Michela Wrong’s ‘In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz’ tracked the rise and fall of Mobutu Sese Seko, Zaire’s kleptocrat dictator.

• 5 myths about... Green Living

  Agnes Frimston

  Thought you were doing all the right things to help the planet? Read on