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A Bottom-Up Approach to Combating Climate Change, One Neighbor at a Time

Robert A. Friedman Robert Friedman's Editorial Column
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Empowering Citizen Activism“This [sustainability] consciousness will not be attained simply because the arguments for change are good or because the alternatives are unpleasant…The central lesson of realistic policy-making is that most individuals and organizations change when it is in their interest to change, either because they derive some benefit from changing or because they incur sanctions when they do not…”

These words were spoken by William Ruckelshaus, who served as the first head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Although climate change had just begun to creep into the public consciousness in the late 1980s when Ruckelshaus made these remarks, his comments reveal an important truth which presciently resonates in today’s global warming debate: governments can lead the country towards a more sustainable interaction between people and their environment but civil society is essential in realizing this profound change.

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Interview with Poonam Bir Kasturi of the Daily Dump

Interview conducted by Mahanth Joishy, South Asia Editor Latest
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The Daily Dump is a growing recycling business started by Poonam Bir Kasturi in Bangalore, India in 2006. In just four years, the Daily Dump has helped enable over 4,500 customers in Bangalore to compost household waste in terra cotta pots that are sold by the Daily Dump. For most of these customers it was probably their first foray into large-scale recycling, as 25-30 kilograms of organic waste each month reduces to 3 kilograms of compost, which can then be used as fertilizer. Poonam and her staff of about 10 call this method “agri-composting” which is a specifically urban solution. The company’s focus has now expanded to include city schools as customers, adding a critical educational aspect to the business.

The Daily Dump is a unique endeavor for several reasons. The company offers a woman-owned business model for other entrepreneurs interested in improving the environment and using ethical commercial practices. In addition, the Daily Dump has helped launch other “clones” who use the same or very similar pot design and composting methods. There are no patents, no royalties, no copyrights, trademarks, or intellectual property lawsuits, and the company does not profit off of the clones. Moreover, Kasturi and her team actively assist the fast followers by sharing technical specifications and advice at no cost. At this time there are 15 clones in India, one of which was established in Bangalore itself, and others in Chile, Brazil, and Florida.

Foreign Policy Digest is pleased to have conducted an interview with Ms. Kasturi on August 3rd 2010 as a follow-up to the interview with Marco Steinberg of the Helsinki Design Lab, which completed an extensive academic study of the Daily Dump. We would like to thank PR Collaborative for facilitating this interview, excerpted below.

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Children in Focus: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict's Toll on Youth

Robert A. Friedman, FPD Managing Editor Robert Friedman's Editorial Column
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Robert A. Friedman is Managing Editor of Foreign Policy Digest.When I last visited Israel over ten years ago, I was struck by the sense of hope and optimism that surged through the region’s youngest generation As an Ambassador for Tolerance, I interacted with both Israeli and Palestinian high school youth and examined relations between Jews and non-Jews as well as between members of Israel’s various social strata. The kids I spoke with exhibited a resiliency that was inspiring, talked openly about confronting stereotypes, and were excited about the prospects for future peace.

But, after ten years of conflict, there are signs that public opinion among Israeli and Palestinian youngsters is changing. The seemingly despondent and intractable nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict appears to be permeating the ranks of the future leaders of the region. An enthusiasm for peace may be giving way to hardened positions, increased nationalism, and widespread distrust. This trend is troubling not least because today’s high school seniors will be tomorrow’s generals and prime ministers. All of this paints a dreary picture for a region that has been plagued by violence and bloodshed for far too long.

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A Burgeoning Movement on the International Stage: The Growing Threat of Cyber-Security

Robert Friedman, FPD Managing Editor Robert Friedman's Editorial Column
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Robert Friedman, FPD Managing EditorLeon Panetta, the venerable Washington hand and current Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, was asked recently on “Meet the Press” if he could identify a national security threat to which the United States needed to pay more attention. Considering that the country is in the midst of two wars, a global economic crisis and faces lingering threats from Al Qaeda and the spread of weapons of mass destruction, his answer might seem surprising: cyber-security.

Cyber-security encompasses everything from protecting critical infrastructure like the electrical grid, banking platforms and the water supply, to securing top-secret information and computer technology at places like the Pentagon and the National Security Agency. Cyber-security threats impact both the public and private sectors. For instance, on the heels of Apple’s new iPad release, the Federal Communication Commission’s top security official noted that a security breach of AT&T's network exposed the personal data of 114,000 users. The threat is global in nature and can spread anonymously from country-to-country, re-routed many times before reaching its final destination. Anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can become a potential victim of a cyber-attack that can emerge silently and seamlessly from anywhere in the world. 

Although the traditional view of a cyber-threat takes the form of a nefarious computer hacker wreaking havoc on unassuming Internet user or stealing an individual’s online personal information, cyber attacks are also increasingly becoming a way for hostile foreign states to attack other countries as the technology gets more sophisticated. Indeed, Richard Clarke, who served as George W. Bush’s adviser on cyber security and cyber terrorism for two years notes in his new book entitled, “Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It” that the threat could lead to a “full-scale cyber war” with the “potential to change the world military balance and thereby fundamentally alter political and economic relations.”

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FPD interview with Sebastian Junger

Interview by Bronwen de Sena, Administrative Editor Video Interviews
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Foreign Policy Digest Administrative Editor Bronwen de Sena interviews author and journalist Sebastian Junger about his experience as director of "Restrepo", a new critically-acclaimed documentary about the war in Afghanistan. The documentary offers a firsthand account of the daily lives of a single platoon engaging in a dangerous 15-month tour of duty in a deadly outpost in Korengal Valley, at the heart of the Afghanistan's ongoing conflict.

 

 

 

 
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