The first public hint that something was amiss within the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) bloc came last week from Belize's foreign minister, Wilfred Elrington, when his country hosted the 18th meeting of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Council of Ministers, the second highest body within the 15-member regional grouping.

There is no 'Jasmine Revolution' in China, but the Chinese government might be creating the seeds for one through its elevation of social stability above the rule of law, some experts say.

What many hoped would be an across-the-board humanitarian intervention by a multi-lateral UN force to protect civilian lives in Libya has ended up becoming a military operation run by a "coalition of the willing", some of whose constituents are blamed for causing numerous civilian deaths in military operations elsewhere, writes Mandeep S.Tiwana, Policy Manager at CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation

An unusual feature of the global financial crisis is that for developing countries (DCs) the financial band seems to have picked up the pace of the music. While many advanced economies (AEs) continue to encounter debt deflation, financial stringency and risks of insolvency, the financial problem for most DCs is asset inflation, credit expansion and currency appreciations, writes lmaz Akyüz, Chief economist of the South Centre in Geneva.

One could be forgiven for thinking that democracy is busting out all over Burma. After all, the military junta that runs the country is making a big show of handing over power to Parliament, and declaring a victory for General Than Shwe’s much-touted ‘roadmap to democracy’, write Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize 1997 and Tin Tin Nyo, General Secretary of the Women’s League of Burma.

The Libyan rebels deserve the help of all democrats. Colonel Gaddafi is indefensible. The international coalition that is attacking him lacks credibility. A democracy is not built with foreign bombs. The contradictions implicit in these four statements give rise to a certain uneasiness about Operation Odyssey Dawn, especially to people on the left, writes Ignacio Ramonet, director of Le Monde diplomatique en espanol

Two months since the ouster of longstanding president Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's new transitional government is turning its attention to unpopular Mubarak-era foreign policies - with the ongoing Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip top of the list.

Anger at Egypt’s privatisation programme, involving the transfer of billions of dollars worth of public assets to private hands, aided the Egyptian revolution that elbowed the Western-backed Hosni Mubarak out of office in February, a top army general said.

'IBSA what?' is the question you most often get in Geneva when enquiring about the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) dialogue forum, established in 2003 between these three multicultural democracies and emerging markets 'to contribute to the construction of a new international architecture'.

Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, has accepted a 'road map' for a ceasefire with rebels, according to a delegation of African leaders.