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Posted: 10th May 2024
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Costa Rica is the only full-fledged and totally independent country to be entirely demilitarized. Its military was abolished in 1948, with the keys to the armory handed to the Department of Education. Socially, Costa Rica is a success story. Although 94th in the world for GDP, it is in the top 10 on various measurements of health and well-being. Citizens enjoy high standards of living that include universal access to healthcare, education, and pensions. In addition, the country practices sustainable resource management, such as reforestation and the development of solar and wind power, and it expects to be carbon neutral by 2050. Hunting is illegal. 25% of the landmass is parks and reserves. The government supports universal health care, especially maternal and child health. Costa Rica even has a Blue Zone, an area where people live extraordinarily long, healthy lives. To some extent, Costa Rica is simply lucky: it was largely inaccessible, and it had virtually no precious minerals, therefore it was mostly spared the ravages of predatory colonialism. The Costa Rican people made very good social decisions, ranging from an avowed commitment to social democracy at the national level, to local land distribution to develop stable middle class farmers. But Costa Rica’s neighbors have not enjoyed nearly as much peace and prosperity. It is unlikely that Costa Rica’s demilitarization and its remarkable social success are coincidental; clearly, something special is going on. Through good luck, good leadership, and good decisions, Costa Rica has become arguably the sanest and most progressive country on earth.
This book examines how and why Costa Rica is safe and independent without any military at all, and what the rest of us can learn from its success.
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Fifteen-year-old Ari Ara is returning to the riverlands to take up her duties as royal heir. Nervous and excited, she leaps into the heart-pounding tests that will prove she’s worthy of the throne. But hidden dangers lurk beneath the rituals of the Ordeal of Queens. Ancestor spirits haunt her. Nightmares plague her. Not everyone wants a follower of the Way Between as the next ruler. Surrounded by warriors and war culture, Ari Ara’s commitment to peace threatens her chances of wearing the crown. A hard choice lies before her: will she stay true to what she believes? Or will she stay silent so that she can become queen?
What is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)? What role is played by its members and partners? Does the largest military alliance ever to exist serve the cause of peace or the causes of weapons sales and war mongering? Published to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the alliance, this sharp, concise account examines NATO’s origins, structure, and its goals at a time of mounting global tension.
Suzanne Hassan Hammad in October.
With a foreword by Richard A. Falk, this book is a deeply personal study, in which Hammad illuminates a deep agenda of place, meaning, and resistance in territorial struggles through the telling of a less-heard story of how women, men, and young people understand their world and their lives in the occupied Palestinian West Bank landscape. Taking a case study of a contested and divided Palestinian village situated in the heart of the Occupied Palestinian Territories and known for its sustained, non-violent protest against the Separation Wall that cuts through its lived spaces, Hammad examines how villagers live, experience, interpret, and attempt to resist infringements on their property and person.
Thank you!
In solidarity!
Peace in Palestine!
Peace in Ukraine!
Peace in the world!