Save the Children has issued its report on the state of the world’s mothers. Its report highlights the survival rates of babies on their first day. Sadly, the Democratic Republic of Congo ranks last with the highest death rate; Finland ranks first. The United States came in last among the advanced industrialized countries, coming in at 30th in the world. The report is a wonderful source of information on the well-being of mothers in the world.
The New Yorker has an excellent piece on the decision making process in the Obama Administration on the question of whether to intervene in Syria. The article lays out all the different pressures to intervene and not to intervene. I recommend the article for its ability to parse out the different options available to the US, although if one is looking for a clear-cut course of action, the essay will disappoint. It does have an interesting interpretation of how President Assad will retreat when he senses that the civil war is lost.
The World Trade Organization has announced that Roberto Azevedo will be its next leader. Azevedo is from Brazil and has been instrumental in pushing cases against the US and China on issues not typically linked to trade. The head of the WTO is chosen by consensus, and, although the US stayed quite quiet about the selection process, it seemed as if the US favored a candidate from Mexico who had been part of the negotiating team that crafted NAFTA. The WTO is not doing well because of the failed Doha trading negotiations that dragged on for nearly ten years. We’ll see if Azevedo can revive the institution’s fortunes.
World Politics News 
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