The Last Taboo: Abolishing Library Fines

The last taboo?

The Last Taboo: Opening the Door on the Global Sanitation Crisis

The publication of each of these texts during 2008—declared the International Year of Sanitation by the United Nations General Assembly to draw attention to the 2.6 billion people without access to basic sanitation—is timely. Each seeks to provide practical information and guidance to increase the proportion of the population with access to sanitation. Maggie Black is a writer who focuses on so...

"Abolishing" the Slums

tion " of poverty. It is impossible, by waving a magic wand, to rehouse great numbers of people, and a Labour Government would find itself faced by the same practical difficulties that have hitherto hampered and, in great measure, must continue to hamper, both central and local administrations. Slum clearance is a costly process, and comparatively little can be done in that direction until home...

Japan Tests the Nuclear Taboo

This article examines whether recent changes in the security environment, including North Korea’s nuclear test of October 2006, are driving Japan to consider the acquisition of its own nuclear deterrent. It argues that a combination of three factors have thus far sustained Japan’s nuclear restraint: (1) national identity as a non-nuclear weapon state, (2) commitment to global nuclear nonprolife...

Abolishing the world's worst weapons.

if nuclear weapons are used again, health services will be unable to respond in any significant way One could be forgiven for not noticing, but there has been groundbreaking activity going on that is headed in the direction of a ban on the world’s most destructive weapons. This year, 2015, could see the start of negotiations for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons, which were first used 70 ye...