With the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq on March 20, we speak with Oxford University international relations professor Neta Crawford, who says the region is still reeling from the impact of the war. “The story continues. It’s not over,” she says. Crawford is co-director of the Costs of War Project at Brown University, where her latest report pegs the cost of U.S. wars in Iraq and Syria since 2002 at nearly $2.9 trillion. Since the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003 under the false pretext of preventing Saddam Hussein from developing weapons of mass destruction, more than half a million people have been killed in Iraq and Syria. Millions more were displaced or died from indirect causes like disease. “It wasn’t quick, it wasn’t easy, and it certainly wasn’t cost-free,” says Crawford.
The UN’s International Panel on Climate Change says the world is on the brink of irrevocable damage, with global warming above 1.5 degrees Celsius now certain without drastic action. Also in the programme; a senior US figure involved in the invasion of Iraq expresses regret for his government’s poor planning. And an iconic Indian cola brand attempts a comeback.
(Picture: File image of a power station. Credit: Getty Creative)
Historical maps and the books they come from underscore the centuries-old crises of coastal settlement in Africa that have become increasingly acute through the successive periods of African history since the 1480s. From the age of the slave trade itself, to the era of so-called “legitimate” commerce, the period of colonial rule and the most recent stage of African political “independence” the continent of Africa has demonstrated to the world that humankind is in grave danger of the global changes underway in Earth’s changing climate.
The UN opened its first conference on water security in almost half a century on Wednesday with a plea to governments to better manage one of humanity’s shared resources. Co-chairwoman of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, Mariana Mazzucato tells Newshour about the scale of the problem.
Also in the programme: Judicial reforms in Israel; and the life-giving molecule found on an asteroid.
(Photo: Haider Jalil, 10, fills a water tank from a truck outside his family home in the village of Al-Bouzayyat which sits on the bank of a former canal which has dried up, in Diwaniya, Iraq. Credit: REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani/File Photo)
But the ice is thawing fast, and methane, 84 times more potent than CO2, is seeping out. If it reaches a tipping point, the release of a huge amount of that gas will cause a spike in the already dangerous heating of the atmosphere. Can we prepare for such a catastrophic event? Peter Fiekowsky thinks so. He and Peter Wadhams discuss an exciting method of enhancing the natural oxidation of methane with Iron Chloride, which is explained fully in Fiekowsky’s book, #ClimateRestoration, The Only Future that will Sustain the Human Race. Funding this life insurance for the planet is critically needed if we are to avert disaster.
For more about the Climate Restoration Safety and Governance Board: https://www.crsgb.org/
The world faces a growing tragedy of water but a sustainable and just water future is still within reach. The Global Commission on the Economics of Water is redefining the way we value and govern water for the common good. It is co-chaired by Mariana Mazzucato, Professor at University College London & Founding Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose; Ngozi Okonjo-iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization; Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research; and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister, Singapore. The Commission is convened by the Government of the Netherlands and facilitated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It was launched in May 2022 with a two-year mandate. http://www.watercommission.org
A French journalist and a US aid worker who had been kidnapped by jihadists in the Sahel have been released. French freelancer Olivier Dubois and American aid worker Jeffery Woodke emerged from a plane that landed at an airport in Niamey, the capital of Niger. Dubois, 48, had been kidnapped in Mali in 2021 while Woodke went missing in Niger in 2016.
Welcome to Transition Studies. To prosper for very much longer on the changing Earth humankind will need to move beyond its current fossil-fueled civilization toward one that is sustained on recycled materials and renewable energy. This is not a trivial shift. It will require a major transition in all aspects of our lives.
This weblog explores the transition to a sustainable future on our finite planet. It provides links to current news, key documents from government sources and non-governmental organizations, as well as video documentaries about climate change, environmental ethics and environmental justice concerns.
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