The Global Pulse Journal Blog

[This article was originally posted on Open Forum, a blog supported by the community of Health and Human Rights: An International Journal]

On December 22, New Zealand and Belgium became the 25^th and 26^th nations to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM). The convention needs only four more ratifications to achieve the 30-state minimum to enter into force. Once in force, it will enact a ban on the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of most cluster munitions, which include bombs, missiles, or rockets that open midair to scatter tens to thousands of small submunitions over a wide area. The CCM also requires that states destroy their stockpiles in eight years, clear contaminated land within ten years, and provide victim assistance. Read the rest of this entry →

This month’s issue of Academic Medicine includes a series of essays addressing the question, “How should academic medicine contribute to peace-building efforts around the world?” This timely question is especially compelling in the United States, as national discourse continues about troop levels in Afghanistan, military strategy in Iraq, and whether and how the US should help stop the genocide in Darfur. Read the rest of this entry →