Introduction. The world of security and peace research in a 40-year perspective — SIPRI Yearbook 2006: "Notions of danger and security have also become more complex over the past 40 years, shifting away—in particular—from any sense that armaments are the core of the problem. A wider spectrum of trans-state, intra-state and personal violence has taken the place of state-to-state conflict, and the salience of ‘human security’ threats such as epidemic disease and natural disasters has grown. Non-state actors of all kinds have gained in power, as security menaces but potentially also as contributors to solutions. Different levels of security response, from sub-national through national and regional to global, need to be integrated and correctly
applied."

Introduction. The world of security and peace research in a 40-year perspective — SIPRI Yearbook 2006: "In its 40 years of existence, SIPRI has witnessed a shift from the clear-cut bipolar confrontation of the cold war to a much more complicated strategic environment. No simple formula such as North–South or West–West confrontation, a new US ‘empire’, or the identification of human categories like terrorism or Islam as ‘the’ enemy can be either intellectually or morally satisfying. "

Conflict: "The nature of conflict is changing, non-state actors, terrorism and fragmentation of violence have become recurring themes in the past years. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has released it’s 2006 year book outlining conflict situations across the globe.

Whilst the number of conflicts has abated from 31 in 1991 to an ‘official’ figure of 17 in 2005, the global environment of instability has intensified, leaving a much more disjointed picture of global security. "

KurzweilAI.net
The Universe had no unique beginning, instead, the countless "alternative worlds" of string theory may actually have existed, said Stephen Hawking of the University of Cambridge and Thomas Hertog of the European Laboratory for Particle Physics at CERN in Geneva.

Foreign Affairs - Book Review - The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times - Odd Arne Westad: "The Cold War began and ended in Europe, but some of its most severe effects were felt in the Third World. Despite the fact that both the United States and the Soviet Union could claim impressive anticolonial credentials, they viewed the upheavals set in motion by decolonization as an extension of their confrontation. The consequent interventions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America tended to extend and accentuate local quarrels, with dismal consequences for all. In the end, it was Moscow's blundering into Afghanistan that hastened the collapse of the Soviet system."

Foreign Affairs - Book Review - Before the Next Attack: Preserving Civil Liberties in an Age of Terrorism - Bruce Ackerman: "Terrorist attacks on democracies have awful but predictable effects: they trigger public panic and lead politicians to pass restrictive laws with the promise of greater security. In this brilliant study, a Yale legal scholar outlines proposals aimed to prevent the abuses of presidential power that could all too easily result from a future attack."

Humans have to learn their social skills from scratch, taking in new
information and evolving their behaviors accordingly as they mature.
Robots, on the other hand, are equipped with ready-to-go programmed
skills. This may be a mistake, according to researchers at the
Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technology in Italy.
SOURCES:
Institute for Cognitive Sciences and Technologies,
http://www.istc.cnr.it

Political Affairs Magazine - The Brave New World Of Genetics: "The brave new world of genetically designed future may still be some distance away, but the threat of its insidious arrival through selective abortion and consequent reducing heterogeneity of the gene pool still remains. The heart of this is the belief that all human characteristics are genetically determined –– from disease to obesity. If we press the right buttons and take out these genes, the human population would be better off: this is the new eugenics program. It is time that society wakes up to what is on offer and takes a reasoned stand on this. With large parts of today’s scientific community getting co-opted into this new genetic wisdom and with billions of dollars in profits from their patents, the scientific community cannot be the sole arbiter of such decisions. "

First Molecular Proof That Some Aspects of Aging Are Out of Our Control: "There’s no argument that eating well, exercising wisely, and avoiding high risk behaviors can increase one’s chances for a longer, healthier old age. But it’s also obvious that in many ways the aging process is out of our control; that despite our best efforts (in concert with a genetic make-up that makes us more or less susceptible to certain diseases) our cells and tissues ultimately degenerate and eventually die. "

PINR - Economic Brief: Fallout from Energy Trends: "ecent economic forecasts point to the emergence of new energy players on the global scene. Russia, though never fading completely from the world scene, is coming back with a new marketing brand as an energy supplier. Venezuela is catching world attention by its open defiance of the United States. The Central Asian states of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, and the Caspian littoral republic of Azerbaijan, have become key to energy diversity long sought by the West. Iran, too, can openly threaten the West and affect world energy and futures markets by using energy as a geopolitical weapon. In and of itself, these trends are nothing new -- OPEC used oil as a successful geopolitical tool in the 1970s, profoundly affecting the global economy. Today's major investment trends and calculations point to the accumulation of vast capital earned from oil sales in states that lack the developed, diversified economies of countries dependent on oil. "

ISN Publishing House: Global Responses to Global Threats: Sustainable Security for the 21st Century: "The authors argue that international terrorism is a relatively minor threat when compared to other more serious global trends. The report offers an overview of four factors identified as the root causes of conflict and insecurity: climate change, competition over resources, marginalization of the majority world and global militarization. The authors propose a new approach to global security that does not attempt to unilaterally control threats through the use of force, but rather aims to cooperatively resolve the root causes of those threats."

Gmail - Eldis Conflict and Security Reporter
This article presents a new approach for assessing the impact of environment on domestic armed conflict by using geo-referenced data and small geographical units of analysis. It addresses some of the most important factors assumed to be influenced by global warming: land degradation, freshwater scarcity, and population density and change. The preliminary results indicate that the relationships between local level demographic/environmental factors and conflict are not uniform.

Foreign Affairs - India and the Balance of Power - C. Raja Mohan: "After more than a half century of false starts and unrealized potential, India is now emerging as the swing state in the global balance of power. In the coming years, it will have an opportunity to shape outcomes on the most critical issues of the twenty-first century: the construction of Asian stability, the political modernization of the greater Middle East, and the management of globalization."

Foreign Affairs - India and the Balance of Power - C. Raja Mohan: "India is on the verge of becoming a great power and the swing state in the international system. As a large, multiethnic, economically powerful, non-Western democracy, it will play a key role in the great struggles of the coming years. Washington has recognized the potential of a U.S.-Indian alliance, but translating that potential into reality will require engaging India on its own terms."

Report Details Failure of U.S. Prison System -- (The Seattle Times -- June 8, 2006)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003046811_prison08.html
Americans spend $60 billion a year to imprison 2.2 million people - exceeding any other nation - but receive a dismal return on the investment, according to a report to be released today by a commission urging greater public scrutiny of what goes on behind bars. The report says legislators passing get-tough laws have packed the nation's jails and prisons to overflowing with convicts, most poor and uneducated, but have done little to help them emerge as better citizens upon release.

Make Oil from Just about Anything: "Any carbon-based waste, from turkey guts to used tires, can, by adding sufficient heat and pressure, be turned into oil through a process called thermo-depolymerization, This is very similar to how nature produces oil, but with this technology, the process is expedited by millions of years to achieve the same byproduct. Proponents of this technology claim that a ton of turkey waste can cough up about 600 pounds of petroleum."

Remove the Salt: "According to the United Nations, water supply shortages will affect billions of people by the middle of this century. Desalination, basically removing the salt and minerals out of seawater, is one way to provide potable water in parts of the world where supplies are limited. The problem with this technology is that it is expensive and uses a lot of energy. Scientists are working toward better processes where inexpensive fuels can heat and evaporate the water before running it through membranes with microscopic pores to increase efficiency."

Top 10 Emerging Environmental Technologies: "Wasteful energy policies, overuse of resources, water supply shortages, global climate change, and deforestation are just some of the issues experts say need to be addressed for humans to achieve sustainable living on this planet. By the year 2025, an additional 2.9 billion people will strain tightening water supplies, and the world's energy needs will go up 60 percent by 2030, according to the United Nations. LiveScience looks at 10 technologies—some old, some new, some a bit offbeat—that might help make the future a little brighter. "

Our urban world: "Cities in the 21st century face unprecedented challenges. The pressing shortfalls in urban water, sanitation and waste-management services and the deteriorating quality of air and water in city environments are experienced in a context of deepening income inequities. If no serious action is taken, the urban slum population is expected to hit 1.4 billion by 2020. In part, global interest in cities peaks when this projected state of the world confronts us, whereby, in just 14 years, one of every three city dwellers will live in impoverished, overcrowded and insecure conditions."

Our urban world: "We are at a pivotal point, about to cross the 50-per-cent threshold to an urbanized planet. This is our first urban century. The global urban population will increase by two billion, reaching close to five billion in 2030. This means that every year, the world's urban population will increase by about 70 million, equivalent to seven new megacities. Many of our global cities have grown to unthinkable size, and are reaching the 20-million and 30-million population range."

World Trends Research - Major Trends Shaping Global Context: "The modernization, urbanization and globalization of China, India and other Asian nations will be the most dynamic and convulsive events of the coming decades. Billions of people will have their personal and collective lives transformed to a greater degree, in a shorter space of time, than has been experienced by any people ever before. "

Chindia at a Crossroads - BusinessWeek Online - MSNBC.com: "The economic ascendancy of India and China is naturally one of the most widely discussed trends in today's globalized world. The countries' advantages are formidable: huge surpluses in working-age populations; cost competitiveness; efficiencies in manufacturing and services; and huge markets increasingly integral to the business strategies of multinational companies, all make them structural drivers for global productivity and disinflation.

The two economies will be the dominant growth stories for the next 30 years. By 2015, India's gross domestic product will reach the $2 trillion mark while China's will surpass $6 trillion, driven by the powerful combination of favorable demographics, structural reforms, and globalization. There is little doubt that the importance of the two countries is only likely to rise."

War on terrorism 'self-defeating,' warns UK think-tank - Irna: "International terrorism is actually a relatively minor threat when compared to other more serious global trends, and that current responses to those trends are likely to increase, rather than decrease, the risks of further terrorist attacks, ORG warned.

Instead its four alternative root causes of conflict were likely to lead to 'substantial global and regional instability, and large- scale loss of life, of a magnitude unmatched by other potential threats.'
The report highlighted that the current responses to security threats were characterised as a 'control paradigm' - an attempt to maintain the status quo through military means and control insecurity without addressing the root causes."

War on terrorism 'self-defeating,' warns UK think-tank - Irna: "The British government's obsession with the 'war on terror' is counterproductive and distracting politicians from more fundamental threats to global security, a leading independent UK think-tank warned Monday.

The Oxford Research Group (ORG) said that the most likely causes of future conflict are climate change, competition for natural resources, social and economic marginalisation and militarization."

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR): "China now provides a major source of leverage against the United States for some Latin American and Caribbean countries. As in many other parts of the developing world, China is redrawing geopolitical alliances in ways that help propel China's rise as a global superpower. "

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR): "hina's forays into Latin America are part of its grand strategy to acquire 'comprehensive national power' to become a 'global great power that is second to none.' Aiming to secure access to the continent's vast natural resources and markets, China is forging deep economic, political and military ties with most of the Latin American and Caribbean countries. "

Humans May Have Limiting Effect on the Origin of (New) Species -- (New York Times -- May 23, 2006)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/23/science/23evol.html?ei=5090&en=3e85a7278996c9b3&ex=13060368
00&adxnnl=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1148821250-2xEErTAP1rZq7x8hLvu6cA
Humans can threaten species with extinction in many ways, including overfishing, pollution and deforestation. Now a pair of studies points to a new danger to the world's biodiversity: humans may be blocking new species from evolving.

A Zero Energy Home in Oklahoma -- (ZDNet -- May 15, 2006)
http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=239
According to Professional Builder, the first zero energy home costing less than $200,000 has been built in Oklahoma. This house produces as much energy as it consumes in a year and combines "renewable energy technologies with advanced energy-efficient construction." This environmentally friendly house is just a prototype and not available for sale.

Monkeys Use Sentences -- (National Geographic -- May 17, 2006)
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/monkey-sentence.html
Putty-nosed monkeys put two different alarm calls together to create urgent warnings, according to observations recently made of the West African primates. These monkey "sentences" appear to be evidence of what is widely considered to be a uniquely human ability: stringing words together to convey a message, or syntax.

Dolphins Have Their Own Names -- (BBC -- May 8, 2006)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/4750471.stm
Dolphins communicate like humans by calling each other by "name", scientists in Fife have found. The mammals are able to recognize themselves and other members of the same species as individuals with separate identities, using whistles. St Andrews University researchers studying in Florida discovered bottlenose dolphins used names rather than sound to identify each other.

POLITICAL ACTIVISTS AND THE INTERNET

War coverage and antiwar movements have changed dramatically in the
Information Age. Big media and big government are no longer the sole
purveyors of facts and analysis of events, thanks to an assortment of
Internet-enabled communications media.

The Internet can unite groups and individuals into global networks,
through which information (and disinformation) spreads
instantaneously, then mobilize them into action. Peace campaigns, for
instance, have seen a dramatic increase among a growing variety of
groups--pacifists, socialists, anarchists, feminists, religious
groups, and so on, says University of Leicester geographer Jenny
Pickerill.

The "information environment" of war and peace will only become more
complicated as new technologies put instant global communication in
the hands of more individuals and groups, says Pickerill, who is
leading a research team to study the impacts of information
technologies on activism.

SOURCE: University of Leicester, http://www.le.ac.uk/

Dedefensa.org: "Ours is also the first culture that aims to include rather than exclude. The films most despised by the intellectual elite--those that feature extreme violence and to-the-victors-the-spoils sex--are our most popular cultural weapon, bought or bootlegged nearly everywhere. American action films, often in dreadful copies, are available from the Upper Amazon to Mandalay. They are even more popular than our music, because they are easier to understand. The action films of a Stallone or Schwarzenegger or Chuck Norris rely on visual narratives that do not require dialog for a basic understanding. "

Dedefensa.org: "Our cultural empire has the addicted--men and women everywhere--clamoring for more. And they pay for the privilege of their disillusionment."

Dedefensa.org: "Contemporary American culture is the most powerful in history, and the most destructive of competitor cultures."

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR): "The devaluation of the dollar against the world's major commodities is being driven by the exceptional growth in the world's supply of dollars during the past two years. Growth in the world's supply of dollars has come from two primary sources: rising international oil prices and the very large and growing U.S. trade deficit.
"

KurzweilAI.net
Until we do the blatantly positive things such as eliminate widespread diseases, feed the starving, house the homeless, disenfranchise dictators, stop torture, stop inhumane treatment of less intelligent species, and other do-good things that are treated today like platitudes, we will not get rid of violently disaffected groups.

KurzweilAI.net
However, in this case the acceleration rate by its nature puts these technologies in a class of their own, because the evidence suggests they are running ahead of our capacities to contain or balance them. Moreover, the number of violently disaffected groups in our society who could use them is substantial.

KurzweilAI.net
Instead, as the discussions run increasingly in circles, they suggest that we as a species might be comparable to 'apes designing humans'.

The ape-like ancestors of Homo sapiens had no idea they were contributing DNA to a more intelligent species. Nor could they hope to comprehend it. Likewise, can we Homo sapiens expect to comprehend what we are contributing to a super-intelligent species that follows us?

KurzweilAI.net
In the 21st century, despite tremendous progress, we still do amazingly stupid things. We prepare poorly for known threats including hurricanes and tsunamis. We go to war over outdated energy sources such as oil, and some of us increasingly overfeed ourselves while hundreds of millions of people ironically starve. We often value conspicuous consumption over saving impoverished human lives, as low income victims of AIDS or malaria know too well.

KurzweilAI.net
When technologically superior Europeans arrived in North and South America, the indigenous populations didn't have much time to contemplate such implications because in a just few years, most who came in contact with Europeans were dead from disease. Many who died never laid eyes on a European, as death spread so quickly ahead of the conquerors through unknowing victims.

Europeans at first had no idea that their own immunity to disease would give them such an advantage, but when they realized it, they did everything to use it as a weapon. They did the same with technologies that they consciously invented and knew were superior.

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR): "In Russia, this new generation wins international computer and IT competitions and takes one of the leading roles in the new high-tech economy. In China, according to a recent story in U.S. News and World Report, hundreds of millions of 'Chuppies' -- Chinese young urban professionals -- are having a huge effect on global consumption and trade practices. In India, this young, English-speaking population has forged one of the most powerful high-tech economies in the world. In the United States, this new generation has helped build the Internet and today's high-tech industry, while living with the prevalence of democratic, capitalist, market-oriented ideals over command-economies and closed political regimes."

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR): "The younger generation has much in common with other youth around the world now in their early 20s. In North America, Western and Eastern Europe, in China, India and other countries of Southeast Asia, this new generation has begun to mature in the age of the Internet, wider access and familiarity with high-technology exemplified by computer and personal electronics, the spread of democratic principles and values, general familiarity with the market economy and its global presence and greater educational choices."

Technology's Future: A Look at the Dark Side - New York Times: "It is already documented in animal research that some man-made nanoparticles can move easily into the brain and deep into the lungs. 'But we don't know how to find these things in the body or how to measure them in the air,' said John M. Balbus, a nanotechnology expert at Environmental Defense, an advocacy group that has argued that investment in safety research should be more than doubled and restrictions be imposed on the use of some nanoproducts. 'There's a lot of basic gaps in information.'"

Technology's Future: A Look at the Dark Side - New York Times: "Nanotechnology is often described as dealing in dimensions tens of thousands of times smaller than the width of a single hair. But what really matters is that by operating at the nanoscale, researchers can create new materials and extract novel behaviors from familiar ones because they are working with small numbers of molecules, the building blocks of all biology and chemistry.

After watching how alarmed activists stopped the nuclear industry in its tracks and slowed the introduction of biotechnology, many nanotechnology advocates propose engaging the public and investing heavily in toxicology research."

Technology's Future: A Look at the Dark Side - New York Times: "Still, with resource consumption and environmental destruction rising at unsustainable rates, plenty of people view the future with alarm. That spotlights technologies like nuclear power, genetic engineering and nanotechnology, which are often cited as crucial to heading off economic and environmental disaster.

The catch is that any technology powerful enough to improve life radically is also capable of abuse and prone to serious, unanticipated side effects. It's a great time to be a Hollywood screenwriter, but rough on policy makers and business strategists. Mix new technologies with the wide variations in how organizations and individuals behave, and you often have 'a recipe for explosion,' said Edward Tenner, author of 'Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences.'"

Foreign Affairs - A Bitter Prize - Tom Segev: "Since 1967, more and more Israelis have come to understand the risks of occupation, which is why most Israelis supported the dramatic event that Gorenberg uses to close his book: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's August 2005 pullout from Gaza. But Gorenberg, noncommittal to the end, carefully avoids judging the wisdom of Sharon's move. 'It may be recorded as the act that revived peace efforts,' he writes, 'or as the intermezzo before a new battle over the torn land.'"

Foreign Affairs - A Bitter Prize - Tom Segev: "Although the Zionist movement had long advocated settlement, it had always done so with one major caveat: capturing more territory would mean serious demographic dangers. Accordingly, the movement had adopted a basic strategy known as 'maximum land, minimum Arabs,' and most of its thinkers had favored maintaining a solid Jewish majority in Jewish-controlled land over ruling vast areas populated by Arabs."

Foreign Affairs - A Bitter Prize - Tom Segev: "Still, Gorenberg is right to emphasize Labor's significant role. The truth is that all Israeli governments encouraged the settlements, as did most Israelis. After all, in every post-1967 election, Israelis were offered a selection of anti-settlement parties, but they never voted them into office. "

Foreign Affairs - A Bitter Prize - Tom Segev: "Understanding the settlers, in fact, does not require a generational thesis. Many of them were religious and were driven by messianic nationalism. Indeed, as Gorenberg explains, the triumph of 1967 had the effect of turning messianism into a mainstream belief among some religious Israelis, particularly young ones. "

Foreign Affairs - A Bitter Prize - Tom Segev: "The idea of settling these lands came from deep within Zionism. The notion of shiva (return) is firmly rooted in Jewish and Zionist tradition. According to the Zionist vision, the state of Israel was born when the Jews returned from exile to the land of their biblical forebears, and many Israelis felt they had an unchallengeable right to the land -- all of it. The settlement ethos had been the cornerstone of Zionism ever since the first pioneers came to live in the area."