English

Three years after the toppling of Moammar Gadhafi, the military chiefs of seven Arab countries are expected to meet in Cairo next week to discuss whether they should intervene in Libya, which is split between two governments, controlled by rival militias and home now to a blossoming Islamic State affiliate.

A group of Armed Forces officers from Central America and the Dominican Republic recently participated in a practical workshop directed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on defending the human rights of civilian populations during military operations against organized crime.

With the economy sinking into recession, inflation exceeding the central bank’s targets and infighting in the ruling coalition of President Dilma Rousseff on the increase.Add a corruption scandal at Petrobras, the state-controlled oil company, and an adverse external environment — the Chinese economy slowing and the US Federal Reserve expected to raise interest rates — and Latin America’s largest economy is facing difficulties.

While it is true that a strong Afghan military can be an effective guard against the Taliban, it is not necessary that it should be developed at the expense of “democracy.” Afghanistan’s democracy, the seeds of which were unfortunately and actually sown under the shadows of B-52 bombers, is plagued with many problems of high magnitude.