China's ascendance as a global economic superpower obviously poses a threat to what the author calls "the culture of domination by the economically strong [West]". African countries might choose to associate with China not only because it produces more affordable goods, but because of cultural similarities and a sense of humility quite opposite from Western self-congratulation.

This year's Global Education Digest presents the latest education statistics from primary to tertiary levels in more than 200 countries. The Digest presents a wide range of comparable education indicators which can be used to assess progress towards the Education for All and Millennium Development Goals. These cross-national indicators are also useful for benchmarking the performance of a national education system to those in other countries.

A meaning of colonialism offered in the new edition of a French dictionary has stirred another debate on how France views its past. In its edition that appeared this month, the widely consulted French dictionary Le Petit Robert defines colonialism as "valuing, enhancing, exploiting the natural resources" of foreign territories.

This autumn, the Global Month of Action will see millions of people in over a hundred countries unite again under the banner of the white band, as they stand up against poverty and renew the call for trade justice, debt cancellation and more and better aid. The Month begins on 14 September, as the IMF and World Bank meet in Singapore, and culminates on 17 October, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, in a Global White Band Day.

The Transition Generation summit will bring together students and young professionals from across the world. The workshops will examine unique responsibilities of the "transition generation" and the opportunities for young leaders to fulfill these responsibilities through innovative global leadership and social entrepreneurship.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Report for 2006 urges countries of the South to implement more autonomous policies, and to further strengthen the global partnership for development to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In proposing discussion of proactive industrial policies and government support for some economic sectors, "we are not recommending any anti-trade stands," said UNCTAD officials.

Internet Governance is not a simple subject. Although it deals with a major symbol of the DIGITAL world, it cannot be handled with a digital - binary logic of true/false and good/bad. Instead, the subject’s many subtleties and shades of meaning and perception require an ANALOG approach, covering a continuum of options and compromises.

Aimed at policy-makers, this paper tackles the issue of Dutch Disease - that is, the theory that aid flows will lead to an appreciation of the real exchange rate which can slow the growth of a country's exports- and that aid increases might thereby harm a country's long-term growth prospects.

Major changes are taking place in agriculture because of what is being called the "bioeconomy." The rapidly growing bioeconomy is producing fuel, energy and products from agricultural crops, grasses, and forest materials. While there is the potential for positive outcomes such as higher farm crop prices, less export dumping, and less dependence on polluting fossil fuels, there are also concerns about negative impacts on food security and natural ecosystems.

Multi-ethnicity is subject to a heavily contested debate. Its importance for society is huge: first, because it developed considerably in the Western countries in only a few decades; second, because its emergence involves - beyond an increased ability for cross-cultural communication - the transformation of crucial ancestral dimensions, such as culture, biology, family relationships, and relation to ancestors, as well as concepts of sexuality and death, and belonging to a nation or community.

Yet, as it turns out, to generalize about entire groups of people based upon one's personal (and by definition limited) experiences with persons from those groups, is illegitimate on several levels.

In recent years, the US, Europe and other industrialised powers have been stepping up their efforts to sign bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) and bilateral investment treaties (BITs). This increased attention to bilateral deals goes hand in hand with the deadlock in global trade talks at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

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On May 25, one of us spent several minutes laughing on the phone with a friend of ours, an environmental journalist. We were looking at the homepage of the Independent website - a newspaper that has made huge efforts to present itself as a radical campaigning force for action on climate change.

Forest-dependent poor people often struggle to uphold their claims to resources in the face of discriminatory legal frameworks and powerful private forestry companies. Are efforts to enhance governance in the forest sector helping to support poor people in claiming their legal rights, or working to further marginalise their interests?

While new drugs and vaccines are needed to treat diseases of poverty, not enough is being invested in developing these products because of the lack of a demand or market for them. Advance price or purchase commitments potentially offer a solution, yet a number of structure and design issues first need to be resolved.

Markets for pharmaceutical products are adjusting to major changes in international trade, intellectual property protection and drug registration requirements. Can the strengthening of intellectual property protection and registration standards improve access to medicines in developing countries?

From the newsletter: Iranian colleagues was explaining why he had just shaved away his beard. Another colleague, from India, agreed that he was considering doing the same thing or at least having a “clean” shave. This was not a fashion driven conversation. It was fear: fear of being singled out, of being picked on; fear of being pulled aside in a queue; fear of being forced to leave a plane.

The Association for Rural Advancement (AFRA) is pleased to announce the launch of it’s new website: Your comments and feedback will be welcome.

One particular risk internally displaced persons and refugees face is the loss of property left behind and the inabilility to recover it. In fact, destruction of property has become an instrument of warfare or even ethnic cleansing in many civil wars, and resistance to return often takes the form of refusal to evict persons who have taken over their houses or apartments, or to refuse compensation for destroyed property.