Augmented Technological Revolution and International Relations

BRETT DANIEL SHEHADEY

The Information Revolution is quickly transitioning into an Augmented Technological Revolution. The previous ways that humanity interfaces with the world are being replaced with revolutionary mobile platforms. This has profound implications for the international system over the next few decades. Both the way it will soon operate and the autonomy of advanced artificial intelligence will create new dimensions beyond strictly human interactions.

10 reasons why India has a sexual violence problem

The case of a 23-year-old medical student who died Saturday after a brutal gang rape on a bus in New Delhi has seemed to snap India to attention about its endemic sexual violence problem. Hundreds of Indians poured into the streets of New Delhi to mourn the young woman, and police announced that the six men arrested in connection with the attack had been charged with murder.

In recent years, New Delhi has earned the title of “rape capital” of India, with more than 560 cases of rape reported in the city, but violence against Indian women is widespread and has deep roots. Here’s a look at some of the reasons behind the issue that’s bringing Indians into the streets:

View Photo Gallery —The brutal assault of a 23-year-old student who was riding a bus in New Delhi brought a wave of protests. She died early Saturday.

China’s new leaders discuss fight against corruption, but some are skeptical of action

Just days after China unveiled its new top leaders, one of the seven asked to meet with the nation’s foremost experts on corruption.

Bloomberg/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES - Wang Qishan, China's vice premier, speaks at the 22nd U.S.- China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade in Chengdu China, on Nov. 21, 2011.

The experts arrived expecting to stick to the stale formula for such meetings, and they anticipated the Communist Party’s usual caution when it comes to talk of anything approaching self-criticism. So they were shocked when Wang Qishan, the top party official charged with tackling corruption, veered off-script.

Egypt ratifies Islamist-backed constitution

Egypt announced the ratification of a new Islamist-backed constitution on Tuesday, a move that many here hope will end weeks of bitter political turmoil.

The country’s high electoral commission declared the charter’s official approval at a news conference Tuesday night in Cairo. Nearly 64 percent of the 17 million Egyptians who voted in a national referendum this month approved the document.

The new constitution officially replaces the country’s 1971 charter, which was written under the military regime of Anwar Sadat and remained in place until the aftermath of the popular uprising that ousted Sadat’s successor, Hosni Mubarak, in February 2011.

Vladimir Putin holds a marathon news conference

Lock 1,200 journalists in a hall with one world leader, keep them there for four and a half hours with no breaks as that leader expounds on everything from Tuva’s railway system to whether accountants should get a national feast day, and what do you have?

Vladimir Putin’s annual news conference.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses a journalist for a question during his annual news conference in Moscow. (EPA)

Romania exit polls give center-left gov’t clear victory in parliamentary elections

Romania’s center-left government won a clear victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, according to exit polls. The result could inflame the personal rivalry between the nation’s top two officials and bring yet more political upheaval.

The prime minister’s governing alliance had about 57 percent of seats in the 452-seat legislature, according to a poll published after elections on national television TVR.

Coming in second was a center-right group, allied to President Traian Basescu, which polled over 18 percent. A populist party headed by a media tycoon won about 13 percent, according to the poll. First results are expected Monday.

Italy’s Monti to call it quits after Berlusconi withdrew support; waiting to pass budget law

Premier Mario Monti told the Italian president Saturday he plans to resign following the sudden loss of support from Silvio Berlusconi’s party, paving the way for early elections a year after the economist helped pull the country back from the brink of financial disaster.

Only hours earlier, Berlusconi announced he would run again for premier, aiming for a comeback just a year after he quit in disgrace under the pressure of financial markets as Italy teetered toward the brink of financial disaster.

China: Self-immolators and their abettors will be charged with murder

An unprecedented 91 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in the past 18 months, a sign of worsening despair over what many Tibetans see as a systematic attempt by the Chinese government to eradicate their culture.

Exiled Tibetans shout slogans during a protest rally to express solidarity with Tibetan self-immolators on Nov. 28, 2012. (Altaf Qadri — Associated Press). Click through for more photos from Tibet.

China’s response has so far been to blame the Dalai Lama and accuse immolators of “damaging the harmony and stability” in the area.

Catalonia's raging independence debate hits cold reality of likely EU expulsion

As in towns across this wealthy northeastern region, the maze-like cobblestone streets of Girona’s medieval quarter are fluttering with flags in favor of Catalonia’s independence. Here, however, there is also a smattering of flags bearing the slogan: “Catalonia, A New European State.”

It goes to the heart of a Catalan conundrum.

While the separatist dream of millions has never felt so close to becoming a reality, independence fervor is now coming up against the cold, hard facts of what breaking free would really mean. Few realize that this Spanish region famed for its trading prowess would be shut out of the European Union for years, a huge hurdle to doing business with its most important trading partners. EU officials say an independent Catalonia would face the same membership conditions of any other candidate nation.

CNBC: Greece's 'Monster' Debt Problem Haunts Europe

Euro zone finance ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday won't make a final decision on aid for Greece, despite Athens passing a new austerity budget. But one former European Central Bank (ECB) official has told CNBC that Europe must give Athens more time.

Urging Europe to extend Greece's debt maturities, former ECB board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi told CNBC that it was a critical moment for Europe to help and not hinder Greece.

In S. Africa, former ANC youth leader is a divisive figure

Julius Malema may be South Africa’s most controversial personality. The former leader of the African National Congress youth wing has called for the seizure of white-owned farms in a nation still grappling with its racial divides. He has said the country’s mines should be nationalized, making foreign investors nervous.

His most incendiary act yet may be his public rendition of an apartheid-era song that included a call to kill whites. That was enough for the ANC leadership to expel Malema earlier this year, accusing him of sowing divisions within their ranks.

Latest Public Survey: SYRIZA 23%, ND 20%, GD11.5%,….

Main opposition party, left-wing SYRIZA leads in the latest public opinion survey, followed by Samaras’ Nea Dimocratia and extreme-right Golden Dawn (Chrysi Avgi).  At the same time, the majority of respondents chose “Nobody” as “the most suitable” for  Prime Minister, something we did not see for quite some time.

The public opinion survey was conducted by Pulse for weekly magazine TO PONTIKI.

Brazilians dare to hope crackdown on corruption is real

Normally, live coverage of events in Brazil is reserved for football matches.

But in recent weeks, the law professors at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), a Brazilian educational institution, have been running live commentary on something entirely different – the Mensalão (or big monthly allowance) case in the Supreme Court.

In Turkey, a Break From the Past Plays Out in the Streets

At a reception on Monday evening at the president’s mansion to celebrate Turkey’s founding 89 years ago, something previously unheard of occurred: the country’s top military commander stood alongside the wives of the president and prime minister, even while the women wore Islamic headscarves.

In years past the military elite would never have stood beside women wearing a symbol long at the center of Turkey’s struggle over the role of religion in public life. These men were heirs to the traditions of Turkey’s secularist founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who zealously banished religion from public life. They had for years refused to attend such gatherings — in protest of the headscarf.

Could drug decriminalization save Brazil’s slums?

Brazil has been struggling with drug violence for years. The problem got so bad that the country passed a law in 2006 to distinguish between dealers and users in handing out sentences, meant to reduce the overwhelming pressure on the justice and jail systems and to better single out dealers. But since then, the number of Brazilians in prison for drug charges has more than doubled and its total prison population has grown by 37 percent, according to official statistics.

Brazilian troops patrol a shantytown in Rio de Janeiro. (CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Getty Images)

Now, a prominent Brazilian think tank called the Igrapé Institute has released a surprising list of policy proposals to address the problem. The think tank had organized a special committee called Pense Livre (“think free” in Portuguese) to rethink the country’s drug policy. Its four-point plan, translated by the folks at Riorealblog and flagged today by GlobalVoices, starts with drug decriminalization:

North Koreans See Few Gains Below Top Tier

On her weekly shopping trips to downtown Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, a 52-year-old pig farmer who gave her name as Mrs. Kim tries to ignore the dusting of prosperity that has begun to transform the city in recent years: the newly built apartment blocks, the increasing number of Mercedes-Benzes that zip along once-empty boulevards, the smartly dressed young women who conspicuously gab on their newly acquired cellphones. She has never been to the Rungna People’s Pleasure Ground, a new amusement park where children of the elite howled with delight this summer as they shot down a waterslide.

“Why would I care about the new clothing of government officials and their children when I can’t feed my family?” she asked tartly, wringing her hands as she recounted the chronic malnutrition that has sickened her two sons and taken the lives of less-well-off neighbors.

In Spain, separatist fever rises in time of crisis

It was a soccer game of Super Bowl proportions: Madrid vs. Barcelona, Spain’s two main cities clashing in a legendary rivalry. But when the crowd of nearly 100,000 Barcelona fans erupted in cheers, what they were shouting was, “Independence! Independence!”

The noisy display of Catalan nationalism, the highlight of last weekend’s 2-2 draw, dramatized for a television audience of millions the new swelling of separatist fever in the Catalonia region of Spain. Although the historic quest for Catalonian independence stretches back for centuries, it has suddenly risen again to the top of regional concerns in a very current struggle — over tax money in a time of financial crisis.