Toma nota.../Take note...

United Nations, Sept.20.– Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset will stress the importance of a renewed international commitment to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in strengthening global security at the UN General Assembly High-level Week 2025. 

During the week, Secretary General Berset will contribute to several high-level discussions, including the Meeting to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the 4th World Conference on Women. 

by Toyin Falola

When many people speak about democracy in Africa, the common themes are about corrupt politicians, state capture, election battles, party conflicts, and poor governance. But beneath the facades, there are many questions still: why does democracy, a system widely embraced in theory, so frequently disintegrate in reality on the continent? Western-form democracy did not arrive in Africa as a natural political development. It was instituted under colonialism and maintained at independence through constitutional imports from Britain, France, Portugal, and Belgium. Intended to replicate the European-style parliamentary or presidential forms, but were implemented in fragmented societies, fragile economies, and states formed primarily for exploitation rather than governance.

In the 1960s, many African leaders embraced multiparty democracy: Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah, Nigeria’s Nnamdi Azikiwe, and Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere all had democratic credentials. However, within a decade, coups, one-party states, and military regimes had largely discredited the early optimism. Democracy’s failure to take hold was not due to the idea being rejected; indeed, surveys by Afrobarometer in 2024 continue to show that Africans remain committed to democracy as an idea. However, the question has been one of how to make democracy work in African contexts where inherited institutions and political realities were out of balance.

As Claude Ake argues in Democracy and Development in Africa, there was the façade of democracy, but its essence never took hold. Elections, constitutions, and term limits all exist on paper, but too often as a charade. Political elites use such avenues to reinforce their leadership rather than empowering citizens. This disconnect manifests itself in the existence of institutions that are European- or American-in-style but not anchored in African social realities. 

When China occupied Tibet in 1950 to "liberate" Tibet from its "economic backwardness" of feudal and religious traditions, the effects were devastating. Tibetans were dispatched to labour camps, monks and nuns were executed or imprisoned, thousands of monasteries and temples were destroyed, and communist propaganda was forced upon the Tibetan people. An estimated 130.000 Tibetans are living in India today. The vast majority travels to India through Nepal (where some 14,000 Tibetans are exiled), but a few go through Myanmar (Burma) or straight through India's northeastern parts. Travel is undertaken mostly by foot, and in groups of 5-15 persons because of safety issues.

China’s broken promises to Tibetans cloud the TAR’s 60th Anniversary

September 9, 2025, marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of an entity labeled as “Tibet Autonomous Region” (TAR), a province-level administrative division in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that encompasses roughly half of Tibet. While Chinese state media is striking a predictably upbeat tone on the anniversary, the reality is that Tibetans have little to celebrate.

“For our brothers and sisters in Tibet, the last sixty years have lurched from one calamity to another,” said International Campaign for Tibet President Tencho Gyatso. “Instead of forcing Tibetans to put on a performance of staged gratitude, China must change course and put the interests of the Tibetan people ahead of their own compulsive need for power and control.”

The Last Safe Haven You Haven’t Considered: Uruguay

by Doug Casey

We’ve traveled the world — over 130 countries between us. We’ve studied the laws, walked the streets, spoken with the locals, and tested the systems.

When it came to choosing a base for our own Plan B, the answer was clear: Uruguay.

Why?

• Political neutrality — it stays out of other nations’ quarrels.
• Solid property rights, low taxes, and no foreign exchange controls.
• A culture that values privacy and personal freedom.
• Residency that doesn’t require full-time presence.
• Safe streets, reliable infrastructure, and quality healthcare.

Plan B: Uruguay gives you the full picture. It opens the doors to trustworthy lawyers, bankers, and real estate professionals. This is about more than protecting your wealth. It’s about securing your independence. You’ll see real opportunities, from bolt-hole apartments to productive farmland.