Author: The Editorial Team

Development — an ongoing process of making upward changes — in economic, social and other aspects is crucial for every country. Definitely, every country is developing in many aspects including economic and social aspects. In development, planned efforts, financial and human resources and decision-making are some vital aspects. But for making development plans and decisions, a unitarian and centralized approach is often used instead of a pluralistic approach, which indicates shared decision-making from the planning to the execution of development activities by reflecting differing views and the legitimate interests of everyone. Consequently, the prospect of development in economic, social and…

The violation of minority rights — both the individual and collective rights of minorities — is a global problem. Though minority rights are crucial for the economic, social, political and other sorts of wellbeing of minorities, national/ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, the rights of minorities, which take a variety of forms including the right to participate effectively in social, economic, cultural, religious and public life, are violated in many countries in the world. Notably, minority rights, which are based on the recognition that minorities are in a vulnerable situation in comparison to the majority population, do not constitute privileges but…

Education is important for everyone across the world. For this, education is given emphasis in every country. Consequently, access to education and the literacy rate have notably increased — along with a remarkable increase in the number of persons with higher education — across the world in recent decades. But millions of boys and girls are deprived of education and quality education, which indicates an education that focuses on the social, emotional, mental, physical and cognitive development of each student regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status or location, across the world. Most of those who are deprived of education…

Conflicts are frequent in the world, although there are preventional and mitigational efforts. In addition to international conflicts including the Ukraine war, there are civil wars in several Middle East and African countries including Syria, Yemen and the Central African Republic. Armed conflicts led to millions of deaths, millions of displacements and many other negative consequences, not only to the warring parties but also to others, in the last several decades. Along with armed conflicts, there are repression and marginalization of one group by another or one person by another in political, economic, social, religious and cultural terms. Globally, many…

Prison conditions have been criticized in many countries for decades. Definitely, prison conditions have notably improved in recent decades across the world. While prisoners were regularly caged and chained often in places like cellars and closets and there was a lack of treatment and other facilities earlier, they can now stay unchained in prisons and are treated in a better way and given treatment facilities — along with many other improved facilities — in many countries. But prison conditions are still not up to the mark in many developed, developing and less developing countries. According to several sources, prisons in…

Saudi Arabia and Iran are going to restore diplomatic relations. According to several sources including the BBC, the two countries will reopen embassies within two months and re-establish trade and security relations. Such a decision made by the representatives of the two countries in Beijing — mediated by Chinese officials —came as a surprise at least a bit since it came after seven years of severing their ties in a bitter row over the Saudi’s execution of a prominent Shia Muslim cleric leading to demonstrators’ storming in its embassy in Tehran. The renewed diplomatic relations of the geopolitical competitors in…

The Ukraine war that started with the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year has been going on for more than one year leading to the death of thousands and negative economic and other impacts in Russia, Ukraine and many other countries around the world. But no remarkable efforts have yet been made to end the war in which the west got involved with military aid and financial and other support to Ukraine to fight Russians from the beginning, though the prospects for ending the war were visible several times. In the latest effort to end the war, China has made…

The opposition leaders and activists of Bangladesh have been repressed and harassed by the BAL (Bangladesh Awami League)-led government for years. According to available newspapers, opposition political parties in Bangladesh — a south Asian country — were halted from their political demonstrations many times in the last decade, even if they can participate in rallies more in recent months. The government represses opposition leaders and activists in many areas of the country, especially before any major political rallies and elections, probably for thwarting the demonstrations of opposition and securing electoral wins. Though opposition parties get more freedom recently, it remains…

Social globalization — the integration of societies of the world through sharing of ideas and information between and among countries — is important and inevitable in the present world. Social globalization definitely enables people in remote areas of the world to communicate with each other, contributes to world views in which people are more tolerant of one another, changes lifestyles and consumption patterns worldwide, creates vibrant cultural diversity, improves the quality of life and brings many other positive outcomes. Different mediums including television, the internet and social media play important roles in social globalization across the world. While it is…

The armed violence in South Sudan has increased in recent months. According to several sources including the BBC, violence occurred several times in the last few months. The recent violence in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state —amid an escalation in clashes between armed groups since August last year —has killed hundreds of civilians, displaced more than 20,000 and led to the destruction of properties and livelihoods. The conflict started in December 2013 as a political dispute within the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Army and reflects a power struggle between Salva Kiir and Riek Machar. The violence is widespread, reaching almost…