Communication. Community. Commerce. These words share ancient Latin linguistic roots, and they all indicate some sort of coming together. War has been described variously as a breakdown of one or all of them.  The mainstream media typically portray the Middle East as a desert of war, but scattered ...

It is a rallying call for many around the world. People of all ages, races, creeds, and economic backgrounds have all joined together and marched on its behalf, sat in on its behalf, fasted and feasted on its behalf. Many have devoted, dedicated or consecrated their lives to it. Some have lost their...

There are places in the Atacama Desert where no rain has fallen since such records have existed. Stretching from Peru, across southwestern Bolivia and into Chile, the Atacama Desert is an atmospheric phenomenon, as dry air circulates down from the upper atmosphere after dumping its moisture over the...

Cote d’Ivoire’s ongoing civil war broke out suddenly in 2002, surprising people inside and outside the world’s number one source of raw cocoa. The country had been a model of stability, especially given its estimated 70 different ethnic groups making up 18.9 million people, accordi...

Good economic news is hard to find nowadays. When the president of one major U.S. business organization addressed his staff, he remarked that he stayed up till early in the morning trying to think of a bright side to all the gloom of recent months. It came to him, finally: “At least we can exp...

There is likely no topic in international development that generates a level of excitement appropriate to its essential importance. Property rights and rule of law are a hard causes to sell, especially when compared to saving the children. Nevermind the fact that they’d ultimately contribute t...