Quartz: In the future, cities may finally solve problems that have stumped the world’s biggest nations

Cities are shaping the future of global affairs.

Over the next seven days, tens of thousands of people from around the world will convene in Quito for Habitat III. Heads of state, mayors, corporate leaders, and civil society representatives will join this United Nations conference to explore ways in which cities shape the planet. Through mass urbanization and growing economic power, cities are poised to shake up the future world order.

In terms of sheer economic size, today’s top cities already belong to an elite class of global actors that includes large nation-states and leading multi-national corporations. My organization, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, has found that 42 of the largest 100 economic entities in the world are cities. This marks a significant increase over a 2010 study by the World Bank when cities accounted for 34 of the 100 largest economies. Cities—which have long been hubs of the global economy, facilitating both flows and concentrations of people, goods, resources, and wealth—are now amassing economic power at an accelerating pace. 

But when Tokyo and New York City have GDPs that rival those of Canada, Spain, and Turkey, what does that really mean for their political influence?

Like countries, cities–and networks of cities–can use economic leverage to achieve global governance goals. The beginnings of the G7, as well as other politically influential emerging market groups like the Asian Tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan), BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), and MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey), have their origins in economic ascendancy. And if many cities now have economic footprints on par with influential nation-states, it stands to reason that they will have similar opportunities to band together to encourage, limit, and channel economic activity—not just within their bounds but across continents.

The rise of cities parallels the increasing impact of the multinational corporations (MNCs) featured on our top 100 economies list. MNCs have exercised extraordinary, if sometimes controversial, influence by using their economic might to shape business-friendly trade deals, tax structures, and environmental regulations. So when Mexico City and Guangzhou have economic outputs comparable to the world’s seven largest corporations—Wal-Mart, Royal Dutch Shell, China Petroleum & Chemical, Exxon Mobil, British Petroleum, PetroChina, and Volkswagen—it’s worth examining how they too might exercise similar influence. Though cities lack the leverage provided by corporate mobility, they possess even greater credibility as politically legitimate actors representing the interests of their local populations.

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Jacobin Magazine: Lelisa’s Message

This summer, when marathon runner Feyisa Lelisa crossed the Rio finish line with his hands crossed above his head, he expressed his solidarity with a protest movement in Ethiopia’s Oromia regional state.

The marathoner’s gesture comes from a nonviolent resistance movement that has organized demonstrations across Oromia — which includes the capital city, Addis Ababa — for the eight months leading up to the Rio Olympics. It also mourns the more than eight hundred Oromo citizens murdered by government security forces. [...]

The Oromo protests began two years ago, when the Ethiopian government — led by the Tigrayan-majority Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) — unveiled its urban master plan, called the Integrated Development Plan for Ethiopian Renaissance.

The plan designated a total area of 1.1 million hectares of land — extending in a forty-to-one-hundred-kilometer radius around Addis Ababa — part of the planning region. This area included seventeen rural districts and three dozen cities in the Oromia regional state. In effect, the plan would increase Addis Ababa’s size twenty-fold.

When the plan was presented to the Oromia state for approval in February 2014, the regional government members opposed it, arguing that it violated the principle of federalism, the human rights provisions, and the transparency clause of the Ethiopian constitution. That April, students took to the streets decrying the planned displacement of Oromo farmers and residents on the affected land. Above all, the protesters demanded respect for the autonomy of the Oromia regional government in deciding local issues, including land transfers.

Government security forces responded by firing live ammunition and violently beating peaceful protesters. They killed seventy-eight, injured hundreds, and sent thousands to concentration camps in the humid Afar region. The action was so egregious that the protests garnered international attention. [...]

One measure, approved by parliament in July 2008, added to the numerous restrictions placed on the Ethiopian press. For example, it made journalists and editors potential accomplices in acts of terrorism if they published statements that the government classified as an act of sedition.

In January 2009, a civil society organizations law prohibited foreign non-governmental organizations from engaging in any human rights or governance work, rendering most independent human rights work virtually impossible and making all NGO work that the government declared illegal punishable as a criminal offense.

An antiterrorism law passed in July 2009 granted broad powers to the police and enacted harsh criminal penalties for political protests and nonviolent dissent. Together, the laws gave absolute power to the government to accuse, convict, and punish anyone by executive order. As the result, thousands of journalists, human rights advocates, and political dissidents have been sent to infamous federal prisons in the outskirts of the capital. They languish there without trials or visitation rights, at the mercy of prison guards.

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The Conversation: I’m right, you’re wrong, and here’s a link to prove it: how social media shapes public debate

Now, within minutes of any event, announcement or media appearance, we are able to get those perspectives thousands of times instantly via social media. There are constant reactions and debates, often repeating the same arguments and information.

It’s the communication equivalent of being at a football match compared to a dinner party. While meaningful exchanges between individuals are possible on social media, there’s so much noise that it’s difficult to make complex arguments or check the validity of information.

Social media is a superb medium for immediacy, reach and intensity. This makes it a great asset in situations where timeliness is important, such as breaking news. But it has serious limitations in conveying tone, nuance, context and veracity. [...]

Nonetheless, with the dedication and commitment of a few passionate supporters, small and more marginalised groups are able to create a public presence that previously would have required years to establish through community meetings, lecture tours, fundraising events and lobbying.

A group like the Free West Papua movement, established in 1965 but outlawed by the Indonesian government, has successfully used social media to generate global support. [...]

But while political organisations and the media emphasise the volume of emotive, ephemeral and instantaneous messages produced for social media, they increasingly overlook context, complexity and causation.

So, the Australian election result, for example, was a surprise, particularly the level of support for One Nation. Similarly, the UK referendum result on its membership of the European Union was a shock. The US election is covered as though the tweets of candidates are providing the policy settings for an entire administration. The outcome of a referendum in Colombia was a surprise.

These outcomes are not directly caused by social media – they’re far too complex to make that claim – but social media is a powerful contributing factor. [...]

The recent power failure in South Australia showed the best and worst aspects of social media. It allowed people to communicate useful and important information quickly in the midst of the storm, but a political debate began almost immediately, and just as quickly devolved into binary positions. A complex issue was reduced to a slanging match, and the real issues were obscured.

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Al Jazeera: Remembering Thailand's beloved King Bhumibol

Long revered by Thais as god-like, the world's longest reigning monarch - His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej - has died at 88.

King Bhumibol, also known as Rama IX of the Chakri Dynasty, served 70 years as the constitutional monarch of the Southeast Asian nation.

He has been praised as a constant force of unification in often tumultuous Thailand, addressing the needs of both urban and rural populations, as well as moderating infighting among the nation's divided political parties. [...]

He's often referred to as the "People's King" and will long be revered by those who bestowed this nickname upon him. His widespread social projects and development programmes secured him near-deity status, ensuring his legacy will persevere in a country with long-standing traditions of patriotism and loyalty to the royal family. [...]

Few monarchs in history have earned the absolute adoration of their subjects to the same extent. His portraits, simultaneously stoic and benevolent, are displayed proudly in living rooms, shops, and public spaces throughout the country. [...]

King Bhumibol was also portrayed as the "Development King". He had a diverse skill set and dedicated much of his reign to royal projects that developed infrastructure at the forefront of providing food and basic necessities for his people, by his people.

These projects were started as self-conducted experiments in the gardens of Chitralada Villa, at his majesty's personal residence, the Dusit Palace. Experiments were conducted in agriculture, forestry, and small-scale industry. Once deemed successful, projects were made available to his people and implemented all over Thailand.

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The Intercept: Hillary Clinton Acknowledges Saudi Terror Financing in Hacked Email, Hinting at Tougher Approach

Saudi Arabia and the U.S. have maintained their alliance for seven decades despite disagreements over oil prices, Israel, and, more recently, the Obama administration’s rapprochement with Iran. [...]

Clinton’s private comments differ from the public line taken by members of the Obama administration. Speaking at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York, John Brennan, the director of the CIA, recently called the Saudis “among our very best counterterrorism partners globally.” Last month, Obama, who long ago referred to Saudi Arabia as a “so-called” ally, acted to protect the Saudi government from litigation by vetoing the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which would allow 9/11 victims to sue the Saudi government for damages in U.S. federal court. Congress overturned Obama’s veto, leaving the door open for Saudi Arabia to be named as a defendant in future lawsuits.

The U.S. has its reasons for maintaining the Saudi alliance. The country produces 13 percent of the world’s oil and holds $117 billion of U.S. debt. During Obama’s two terms, Saudi Arabia has spent more than $50 billion on U.S.-made weaponry, far more than during George W. Bush’s two terms, and the U.S. has approved deals worth another $65 billion. [...]

The wording of Clinton’s 2014 email, attributing Saudi Arabia’s support for radical Sunni militants to the Saudi government itself, as opposed to a few radical outliers, may also emerge as a factor in the ongoing debate about the degree of Saudi Arabia’s support for al Qaeda in the years leading up to 9/11. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens. The question of whether the country’s connection to the plot reached official levels was opened up again this summer by the release of 28 classified pages from a 2002 congressional investigation into the 9/11 attacks. The document offers new information about the FBI’s investigation into Omar al-Bayoumi, a wealthy Saudi business student who had worked with the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority.

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Al Jazeera: Srebrenica tense as Bosnian Serb poised to become mayor

He seems poised to become mayor of a Bosnian town that was marked forever by the events of three days in July 1995, when ethnic Serb fighters massacred about 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys and dumped their bodies in mass graves.

Since Bosnia's war ended later that year, Srebrenica has always had a Bosniak mayor. But Grujicic is a Serb, and like many of his ethnic kin he insists that the massacre was not genocide and the number of its victims is overstated.

While Bosnian Serbs celebrate Grujicic's apparent victory in the October 2 local election, some Bosniaks are angered at the thought of being governed by a genocide denier and vow to do all they can to keep him from power - triggering a new crisis in a state that is still divided and dysfunctional after two decades of fractious peace.

Preliminary results on election night prompted Grujicic's supporters to gather for a victory party at this same cafe on the main street of Srebrenica, which is now a Serb majority town of about 7,000 residents. [...]

Grujicic says he will not interfere with the annual July 11 commemoration of the massacre, but also insists that it is time to focus on boosting the town's ailing economy and improving prospects for its residents.

It is a view shared by many Serbs and Bosniaks in Srebrenica and also, Grujicic says, by Dodik, who has told him that he hopes to visit the town soon.

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Bloomberg: Brexit to Erupt in French Race With Juppe Demanding Hard Line

The British officials preparing to negotiate their exit from the European Union should be paying particularly close attention as the French election campaign shifts up a gear on Thursday.

The candidates for the Republican party’s presidential nomination are preparing to set out their visions of Europe’s future on Thursday night during the first debate of the primary campaign, and the two leading contenders have very different views on how to handle Brexit. [...]

France’s main right-of-center party will choose its candidate for next year’s presidential election over two rounds on Nov. 20 and 27. Juppe maintained a comfortable lead in a Kantar Sofres poll published in Le Figaro Oct. 9 which showed he’d take the most votes in the first ballot and then beat Sarkozy by more than 10 percentage points in the runoff.

All seven candidates in the Republican race agree with Socialist President Francois Hollande that U.K. companies and London-based banks can’t have access to the EU single market without allowing freedom of movement for European workers. And both Juppe and Sarkozy insist the U.K. can’t keep the clearing houses for euro-denominated transactions and the European Banking Authority will have to shift its headquarters from London unless May drops her insistence on immigration curbs. Beyond that, the two main contenders have very different attitudes.

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The Creators Project: Here's How Scientists May Soon Be Able to "See" Your Dreams

Imagine waking up in the morning and being able to watch the dream you just had like it was the morning news. Well, according to Marvin Chun, the Richard M. Colgate Professor of Psychology at Yale University, this might actually be a reality in the not so distant  future. In Decoding The Mind, a short animated video from Future of StoryTelling, illustrator Matt Smithson animates a presentation wherein Chun describes how researchers are beginning to introduce tools and technologies to help visualize the insides of people’s minds. [...]

This sort of research could prove useful for preventative healthcare, like understanding and treating learning disabilities or dementia. Chun says this same methodology suggests, “a novel approach for reconstructing offline visual experiences, including dreams, memories, and imagination.” He finishes his talk with a very important question: faced with this new technology, “What will artist and storytellers do with this unprecedented access to the subconscious?” Ignite your imagination in the short video below:

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Politico: Belgian region set to block EU-Canada trade deal

The leadership of Belgium’s French-speaking community said on Thursday it would not give its authorization to the federal government to approve the EU-Canada trade deal, effectively threatening to capsize the entire agreement.

Unless Belgium’s federal government can devise an imaginative compromise, the country’s francophone Wallonia-Brussels assembly will have effectively torpedoed an agreement seen as a critical to the survival of the European Commission’s broader trade policy.

On Wednesday, the regional parliament of Brussels-Wallonia passed a non-binding resolution that the region’s government should not accept the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which has been negotiated over the last seven years between the EU and Canada. [...]

The Belgian veto starkly reveals the dangers of the Canadian model, as any one of the EU’s 37 national and regional assemblies would be able to veto a trade agreement between Brussels and the U.K. over issues such as migration.

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