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Imbalance: The call for the United Nations Security Council reform is not just as an adjustment of seats and vetoes.  Photo: United Nations

The case for the reform of the UN

The two proposals reveal that reform debates are marked by a deeper theoretical divergence over whether global legitimacy hinges on balancing power or modernising institutions.

Sham sovereignty: The United States and its allies do not practise democracy as a principle; they wield it as an instrument of control, especially in Africa.  Photo: Evan Parker/Navy

US role in Africa delivers fake democracies

The lesson is clear: democracy in Washington’s playbook is not a universal value but a lever, invoked when nations resist economic control, claim authority over their own…

Forward looking: Alibaba Group aims to have its global data centres
running entirely on clean energy by 2030. Photo: Alibaba Group

The Global South’s new AI architects

The rise of Chinese AI is not just a story of national success; it is a story of how China is capturing the “means of development” for the entire world. By providing efficient,…

Triad of evil: President Donald Trump, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Secretary of State Marco Rubio monitor
US military operations in Venezuela. Photo by Molly Rile

Empire by another name

Under international law, regime change, coercive economic measures and military intervention are unlawful unless authorised by the UN Security Council

In custody: Nicolás Maduro posing with DEA Agents following his capture by the United States.

Venezuela is the US message to China

Nonetheless, the US president has unashamedly admitted that this operation in Venezuela is all about oil

Global condemnation: Protestors at an anti-US march outside the American embassy in Pretoria. Photo: Supplied

Venezuela invasion: it’s about oil

The South African Communist Party joined a protest march to the US embassy in Pretoria, accusing Washington of state terrorism

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy

ANC denounces US actions against Venezuela as SACP plans a march against Washington

The two parties condemned the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife as a violation of international law

American academic Ali Mazrui said that the US, Secretary of State Marco Rubio in particular, should be saying ‘what is good for the world is good for my country’.

Could Ali Mazrui’s nuclear pragmatism inspire practical policies?

The Kenyan American political scientist argued that the Global South acquiring nuclear weapons would lead to universal nuclear disarmament

Luis Arce, Bolivia’s president, speaks during a press conference at La Casa del Pueblo in La Paz, Bolivia, on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Marcelo Perez del Carpio/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Divisions threaten Bolivia’s MAS and its legacy of left-wing transformation

This is the first instalment in a series of articles on lessons for the left, and focuses on the case of Bolivia

Recent and past successes of the Workers’ Party in Brazil shows that self-emancipation of the oppressed is possible. (Photo by Pedro Vilela/Getty Images)

Lula’s return to power should inspire the left

Recent and past successes of the Workers’ Party in Brazil shows that self-emancipation of the oppressed is possible

Chilean President-elect Gabriel Boric speaks during the closing ceremony of the National Business Meeting (ENADE) in Santiago, on January 13, 2022. – Boric is to take office on March 11, 2022. (Photo by JAVIER TORRES / AFP)

Boric’s win paves the way for a bright, new world for women in Chile

The new movement in Chile has significant potential to continue its already ground-breaking march to a new world for all Chileans, and women in particular

Graphic: John McCann

Dear Cyril, sign the Copyright Amendment Bill

Reasonable time has now passed for you to act, say the signatories of this open letter to the president and Cabinet ministers

World Economic Forum report ranks South Africa among the countries with the worst record of upward social mobility — with poor education, health and unfair or low wages being the key factors.
(Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko)

Shake up institutions controlling the economy to dislodge inequality

The state uses policies and regulations to drive socioeconomic change, but market bias dominates

The theme of a modern-day Robin Hood has resonated with international audiences who are increasingly cynical and angry about banks and the entire economic order they represent.

Marie Antoinette rules in Colombia as the masses protest against inequality

Citizens have taken to the streets as the country’s transition away from a 70-year civil war gives them opportunity to find their voices

There were clashes between people against the Evo Morales government and those in favour in Bolivia. (Manuel Claure/Reuters)

Bolivia’s Morales resigns after losing backing of security forces

As chanting Bolivians kept up demonstrations in the street, the 60-year-old called new elections, but this was not enough to calm the uproar

Fact-checking organisations should not simply focus on tackling false information, but also on identifying sources of reliable information and pointing their readers to them. (Reuters)

Fact-checking is no silver bullet but it does help fight disinformation

Beyond identifying and correcting important misinformation, fact-checkers must engage with politicians and the media

Nubank is a financial technology company created in 2013, whose founders, including 37-year-old Colombian David Vélez — wanted to “break from the system’s inertia”. (Paulo Whitaker/Reuters)

Latin America is spawning tech ‘unicorns’

Since the dot.com boom years, tech companies have sprung up all over Asia, the US and Europe but Latin America remained a relative backwater

‘Harmless’ joker: Jimmy Morales

Racism rears its ugly face in Latin American pop culture

The frontrunner in Guatemala’s presidential election was until recently best known as a comedian who performed in blackface.

FARC accused of kidnapping Colombian general

FARC, Latin America’s largest rebel group, is accused of kidnapping an army general over the weekend resulting in the suspension of peace talks.

Landslide: Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa’s supporters cheer at a rally ahead of his re-election on February 17. Photo: Rodrigo Buendia/AFP

Latin America dances to a new beat

Countries in the Latin America region have confounded sceptics with their rapid growth and social progress