South Africa – The Drift Towards Civil War

South Africa's murder rate in 2013 was 23 times higher than in France (wikipedia). As if this was not enough the country suffers badly from high rates for rape, car hijacking, kidnapping or farm attacks. But crime is not the only curse, corruption and misgovernment hold back the country on its way to flourish.

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The Maoist Naxalite Movement – Fighters for the Poor or Terrorists?

Naxals

Little is known in the West about India’s bloody clashes with its Maoist movement. But for years, India is facing an insurgery of the so called Naxalite fighters. Only on May 29th 17 people were brutally killed in an ambush in the central eastern state of Chhattisgarh and more than 20 others injured. Incidents like this are not seldom at …

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The Tuareg – A People Without an Own Country

Tuareg and Timbuktu

The Tuareg are mainly a nomadic or semi-nomadic people. Their natural habitat is the arid and semi arid area of the Sahara and sub-Sahara zone and stretches through Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Algeria and Libya. The right to self-determination is the main principle of international law and thus every people should be free to choose their own country. Unfortunately …

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Turan – A United Turkic Nation?

Turkic-Turan

When talking about “Turks” one normally refers to the inhabitants of Turkey. A reference which seems quite natural for a country called Turkey. But the modern state of Turkey is not very old. It was established only in 1923 as the successor state of the Ottoman Empire. During the period of the Ottoman Sultanate, the inhabitants of this political unit …

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The Rohingya People of Birma – Lost on the Brink

Lately more and more happy news are being heard from Myanmar (Burma), since the country is slowly developing from military dictatorship to a civil society. With Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma has its own heroine in the struggle for the freedom of Burma. But freedom does not seem to be destined for all. In the extreme …

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The Last Day of Freedom

Columbus Taking Possession of the New World

Every year on October 12th America commemorates the arrival of Christopher Columbus. This arrival, usually referred to as discovery of America, was the starting point of the seizure of the whole continent by the Europeans. As a result, the lands were settled and developed in the course of history. Until today different major nations originated in the Americas, including the …

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Memmorial to Srebrenica

Srebrenica Memmorial

In may 2011 Ratko Mladic was arrested. As the main culprit he is accused of the massacre of Srebrenica. Under his command 8,000 Muslim men and boys aged 12 to 77 years were brutally murdered. This was the sad climax of the “ethnic cleansing” of Bosnia by the Serbs. This is also a symbol and a fact that minorities in …

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Where Stands Pakistan in the War Against Terror?

Pakistan Army Cobra Helicopter

Until the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan  in 1979, hardly anyone knew neither Afghanistan nor Pakistan. Through the struggle against the Soviet Union the West became increasingly aware of this region of the world. The mujahideen, the heroes of the Hindu Kush, which drove the Communists out of the country, have caused great admiration all over the world. The West feared …

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Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in the War on Terror

Obama receiving Nobel Prize

The first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Swiss Jean Henry Dunant, founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in 1901. The ICRC was always committed to defuse conflicts by negotiation if possible with all involved parties of the conflict. 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize. Through this award he became a synonym …

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Political Participation of the Amazon Indians of Peru

Eduardo Nayap Kinin

The Amazon basin lies not only in Brazil  (different than perhaps thought) but it spreads over several countries including Peru. After the English Wikipedia about 60% of the area of Peru belongs to this geographical region (equivalent to the area of Italy and Spain together!). On April 14th in 2011 Eduardo Nayap Kinin has been elected as the first indigenous from the Amazon …

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Europe’s Fear of China

Made in China

Since the internet bubble burst in 2000 and brought the world’s stock markets to collapse neither Europe nor the U.S. could really stabilize their economic situation. The stock market rebounded shortly only to crash unnoticed again soon after. The most recent major event was the subprime mortgage crisis. As a result of this, virtually all national banks of the western countries …

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High Suicide Rate of Alaska’s Indigenous People

Graveyard Alaska

According to an online report of BAZ the suicide rate of the Alaska Natives, which represent 18% of Alaska’s population, is at 42 cases per 100,000 persons. The overall suicide rate of Alaska is stated to be at 17 cases per 100,000. According to Wikipedia, the highest national suicide rate is that of Belarus with 35. Thus a suicide rate of …

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