Read all posts from ‘Global Issues’

  Russia’s steady growth in GDP and its 5% unemployment rate could make countries like Greece and Spain green with envy. The Russian economy surged ahead from the mid-2000s, seemingly immune to the shocks of the 2008 economic crisis. Foreign corporations kept pumping money into a country whose high levels […]

Abstract: Every time I hear the word “austerity” very concrete memories come to mind. I think of Nicaragua during the Sandinista Revolution of the 80’s, when the government took severe austerity measures in order to tackle the strict economic embargo that the US imposed on the Central American country. These […]

Egypt’s revolution –glorious, as it may be – has ruined our chances for healthy relationships, in my honest opinion. Let me tell you why. During, and in the aftermath of the 25 January revolution which called for bread, freedom and social justice, and demanded the ouster of three-decade dictator Hosni […]

Fearing for the future, weeping for the past If civil-society struggles persist, the DRC will continue to fall short of its vast economic potential. Philip Gourevitch, author and journalist, once wrote: “Oh Congo, what a wreck. It hurts to look and listen. It hurts to turn away.” In three sentences […]

In 2010, the Boc government implemented austerity measures in Romania’s public sector, introducing 25% cuts in salaries and 15% cuts in pensions. Mrs. B. is one of many who was cut to the quick by this move. A high school teacher with over 10 years’ of experience, Mrs. B was […]