International trade

Both Trump and Brexit can be explained by the failure of mainstream political elites to address the pain inflicted on ordinary citizens in the neoliberal ere. In the US and the UK, working class voters rightly rejected the corporate globalisation that has created so much poverty and insecurity. But the real solutions lie in relocalisation, not hatred, write Helena Norberg-Hodge and Rupert Read for the Ecologist.

Europe is not faring well on the challenges posed by the sustainable development goals. Rather than battening down the hatches and chasing economic growth at any cost, the European commission must place respect for human rights at the centre of their forthcoming plans, writes Tanya Cox, Jussi Kanner and Evert-Jan Brouwer.

In the following statement from human rights and other civil society organisations, governments are urged to place human rights at the core of international investment and trade agreements - and therefore reject any proposed agreements that do not meet this essential requirement.

私たちがどう軍事的脅威を優先しそれにどう対応するかについての深い再考が必要です。もし私たちが健全な地球、正義、平和及び民主主義を望むなら、現代の紛争の原因に対処し、協力と外交を促進し、尊厳ある健康的生活を探求するすべての人を支持する２１世紀の安全保障のアジェンダが必要であると、デビッド・コーテンは語ります。

The expansion of corporate control in agriculture is reflected in three international treaties that establish the global rights of various stakeholders to seeds, germplasm, and plant varieties. But the balance of power needs to tilt back the other way, with farmers’ rights taking precedence over agribusiness profits, whether in these treaties or in trade deals, explains Karen Hansen-Kuhn.

Read a selected archive of STWR editorials that highlight the growing debate on sharing, with a round-up of sharing-related news, articles, reports and other activities from our monthly newsletters over the years.

The arguments for rich nation's moral duty and responsibility to help the distant needy are well known, but short-term political and commercial advantages are dominating the practice of redistributing foreign aid. And the underlying problem is a lack of critical public engagement and concern, writes David Hulme in an extract from his new book, 'Should Rich Nations Help the Poor?'.

At the close of UNCTAD's 14th session, a coalition of civil society organisations call for a new development model that is inclusive and socially just, in which governments uphold their obligations to provide social services and guarantee Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.