The protection of civilians is one of the most important tenets of international humanitarian law. In recent years, we have heard various rationalizations justifying the killing of civilians, whether accidental or intentional. These rationalizations need to be repudiated forcefully by the international community. The protection of civilians is what separates war from massacre. Massacres serve no political purpose.
The financial media is buzzing about a relatively new phenomenon in tax policy: inversion. The practice is relatively simple. US corporations find a smaller company in a non-US country with a more favorable corporate tax policy (Ireland is one such country, due to the policy of austerity imposed on it after the Great Recession of 2008-09). It “relocates” its head office to that country (not really–it is simply a sham head office) and therefore avoids paying the US corporate tax rate. It is a great way to lower the taxes paid, but, from a political point of view, it raises a critical question: do corporations have a national identity? If not, then should such corporations benefit from the infrastructural (transportation, education, communications) benefits of national policies? Or should they somehow be forced to pay for using the infrastructure paid for by the taxpayers?
With the world’s attention focused on the Gaza Strip and Ukraine, we have lost sight of the ongoing violence in Syria. In the last two days, over 700 Syrians have been killed as government forces loyal to President Assad have been fighting the rebels of the Islamic State for control of an important gas field near the city of Homs. The takeover of Syrian oil and gas fields has been an important source of revenue for the Islamic State, allowing it to buy weapons and the cooperation of corrupt officials. Thus, the fighting has been fierce.
World Politics News 
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