THE UNDP HAS BEEN PUBLISHING ITS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT FOR 19 YEARS

The well-being of the human race has been one of the core values of the UN since the beginning, and the definition and measurement of that well-being has posed a problem for as long. The Human Development Index (HDI) was created by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a way to summarize development in a simple and comprehensible way. During its 19 years of existence the index has become a recognized and often cited source of ranking of countries by development.

Further reading: Human Development Reports.

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The region was once known as the Switzerland of Pakistan

The Swat valley is a strip of land in northern Pakistan located about 160 km from Islamabad. A lush, green part of the country with the Swat River running through it, the valley used to be Pakistan’s biggest tourist attraction, and was even referred to as the “Switzerland of Pakistan” due to it having the country’s only ski-slope. Today most of the once flourishing valley is occupied by the Islamists. In February the Pakistani government decided to stop the struggle to regain power in the area and allow the militants to impose shari’a law, creating a haven for the fundamentalist groups. But the Pakistani government isn’t the only ones talking with the fundamentalists. In an attempt to turn defeat into victory in neighboring Afghanistan Barack Obama has opened up for negotiations with the Taliban.

Further reading: Taliban Accepts Cease Fire (NY Times), Talking with the Taliban: Obama draws Skepticism (Time), ‘Failure not an option’ in war against terrorism says Zardari (Hindustan Times).

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The Roman Catholic Church has recently been going through a sharp turn to the right in its policies. After four decades with a more humble view on other religions and nearly thirty years with the immensely popular Pope John Paul II the Church’s relations with most parts of the world, both religious and secular, were at an all time high. Now the Church under Pope Benedict XVI is returning to a more traditionalist view and is leaving Catholicism’s relations with other religions in ruins as a result.

Further reading: By forgiving traditionalists, the Pope offends Jews (Time), Catholicism’s New Deal (Utrikesperspektiv.se), Högt pris för att ena katoliker (in Swedish) (SvD).

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Efter att ha svurit presidenteden står nu USA:s president Barack Obama inför en föga avundsvärd situation. Ett av de många problem som måste lösas är den högaktuella konflikten i Gaza och med den hela den palestinsk-israeliska konflikten. Efter en upptrappning av stridigheter och en israelisk markinvasion är nu situationen värre än på länge. Kan en förändrad amerikansk attityd och en ny huvudförhandlare lösa problemen?

Se även: Obama talade till världens muslimer (SvD), Seasoned negotiator to serve as a Mideast Envoy (NY Times)

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As Inauguration Day approaches Barack Obama is assembling his cabinet and gathering his advisors. There is pressure on the president-elect to live up to his promise to bring change to Washington. At the same time he has said that he wants a “team of rivals”, not making clear how these two requirements will match. The new administration is slowly forming, and key players have already been chosen. The new names-to-know will be Timothy Geithner, Robert Gates and Hillary Clinton.

Further reading: Hillary Clinton agrees to be Secretary of State under Barack Obama (Times Online), Obama Plans to Retain Gates at Defense Department, (NY Times), Obama picks Geithner, an Insider, for Treasury (TIME) (more…)

Earlier this month Pope Benedict XVI met with Muslim leaders in Rome for a three-day conference. The meeting was an attempt to promote mutual respect between the two religions and is supposed to have a follow-up in 2010, held in a Muslim country not yet decided. The conferences come at a time when the uproar after Benedict’s negative comments about Muslims in 2006 is starting to fade away and Muslim leaders show a will to sit down and talk things through. But as the discussions tend toward mutual respect, straying from the late Pope John Paul II’s path of unity, these discussions will probably not play any part in reforming the two religions. But they might just save a life or two.

Further reading: Pope, Muslim Scholars Meet, Urge Better Ties (TIME), Pope calls for inter-faith respect (Al Jazeera)

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On the 2^nd October, after three years of negotiations, the US Senate ratified the “United States-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Nonproliferation Enhancement Act” (called the “123 Agreement”), paving the way for civilian nuclear trade with India. This was seen as a big success, not just for India, who has been locked out from major trade for more than three decades due to their refusal to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (the NPT), but also for the Bush administration. But the deal is far from uncontroversial and many oppose it, questioning the signal it sends to other states in the possession or in pursuit of nuclear weapons. In the midst of the financial crisis in the US and terrorist attacks in India the deal went down without much notice, but the long term effects might be dire.

Further redaing: Senate Approves Indian Nuclear Deal (NY Times), China state paper lashes India-US deal (Hindustan Times),

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