World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

As we have finished our class discussions on the problems of nuclear proliferation, it seems appropriate to appreciate the significance of nuclear weapons to the conduct of world politics.   Between 1945 and 1998 there have been 2053 nuclear explosions on the planet.  Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto visually represents these explosions in a stunningly scary video:

Several hundred people walked out of the UN Climate Conference meeting in Warsaw, Poland.  It is not clear from the reports I have read whether those that walked out were delegates or observers of the climate conference. There is little question, however, that the level of frustration at this meeting is exceptionally high.  Several countries have publicly admitted that they have missed their emission targets for greenhouse gases and the discussion on compensation demanded by the poorer countries has received virtually no official attention.  The lack of progress in the round of negotiations is palpable.

And yet another threat to worry about.