World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

Growing wealth inequality is probably the greatest threat to the stability of the human community right now.  Branko Milanovic, one of the lead economists at the World Bank, has found “that the top 8% of global earners are drawing 50% of all of this planet’s income.”  The inequality has been getting worse throughout the modern period, and seems to be an active and necessary part of the economic system created over the last 500 years.  For a visual representation of the problem, you can watch the following video.

A new coronavirus has been circulating and it has medical experts concerned.  The cases have been centered around Saudi Arabia, and it is especially deadly.  It has killed 27 of 49 infected patients.  The number of infected people remains very small, but the virus has a death rate considerably higher than the SARS virus in November 2002 (8000 infected people and a fatality rate of 10%).  It does not appear to be spread by casual contact, but doctors are concerned because so little is known about how the disease is transmitted.   As of now it has been designated as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

The African Union has accused the International Criminal Court of choosing to prosecute only cases against African leaders.  Indeed, of the eight cases before the ICC, all eight are in African countries.  There are atrocities committed in every part of the world, so the accusation is accurate.  But the accusation may be based on racial attitudes or it could be based on the relative weakness of the national courts in Africa.  The statute of the ICC demands that accused individuals be tried in national courts, and the jurisdiction of the ICC only kicks in if the national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute crimes against humanity.  Indeed, the African Union has asked that the ICC charges currently pending against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatte  be transferred back to Kenyan courts.  The ICC needs to address this issue if it is to achieve a high degree of legitimacy.