The World Today

August & September 2011: August/September 2011

A member of the British Transport Police on guard at Euston Station in London.

Author Martin Amis famously stated that the real danger of international terrorism lies, not in what it inflicts, but what it provokes. Ten years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the time has come to reassess the British government’s reaction to Islamic terrorism.

Articles

An Afghan boy plays with his kite on a rooftop in Kabul.

Jason Burke argues that the threat posed by al Qaeda ten years on from 9/11 has weakened with regards to its senior leadership, its network of affiliates and its broader ideology.

A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent works in a checked-bag screening area at O'Hare International Airport (ORD) in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

The 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States led to increased levels of airport security. Two linguistic experts discuss the language used in framing the debate in the media.

A heart surgeon performs open-heart surgery at the Children's Hospital, Los Angeles.

The time has arrived. The world’s leading killers are finally getting attention on the global stage. In September 2011, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly will take on immense challenges such as heart disease and cancer.

Meat consumption is increasing exponentially worldwide. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that consumption rose from 191 kilo-calories per person per day in 1990 to 219 in 2007 (FAO 2011). To meet continued rises in demand for meat, production is expected to rise from 218 million tons in 1997 to 376 by 2030 (WHO 2003).

Defence analyst Paul Beaver argues that the time is now right to re-focus on the Arctic and the implications of climate change there on Britain’s wider security interests.

A child trafficker bought this girl from her parents and sold her to Thailand, where she was forced to sell flowers on Bangkok's streets.

All countries – whether as the origin, transit or destination location for victims of trafficking – are somehow affected by this affront to humanity, yet it remains one of the world’s greatest ‘hidden’ crimes. There has, however, been a growing movement determined to shed light onto the darkest elements of this illegal activity.

Also in this issue

An Egyptian vendor sells bread during a demonstration in Cairo's Tahrir square.

In trying to understand the complex causes of this year’s wave of unrest across the Arab world, people sometimes ask whether the real drivers were economic, rather than political. After all, food prices have been rising sharply: in January this year, when protests kicked off in Egypt, the World Bank’s composite food price index was 29 percent higher than it was in January 2010.

A Palestinian girl walks in the rubble of a house in Gaza City.

On June 26, 2011, against a shifting regional landscape, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation announced its decision to seek recognition of statehood at the United Nations (UN) along the 1967 borders, with the right of return for refugees. Whether a historical moment of transformative change or simply another act on the sometimes farcical stage of Palestinian leadership, the effects of this announcement will reach far beyond September, when the General Assembly is due to consider the request.

Egyptian women light candles during a protest in Cairo.

As protests have swept across the Arab world in recent months, women have been on the front lines of change. Yet even as women have participated and exulted in the fall of authoritarian regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, there is anxiety among more secular segments of society that greater democracy in these countries could actually erode women’s rights.