NI 517 - January, 2019

Trade in Turmoil

A note from the editor

Trade in the era of Trump and Brexit

There was a time when trade was a slow-moving tanker of a topic – what we, at New Internationalist, would call a ‘solid development issue’.

Not in these times of Brexit turmoil and a Trumpian trade war with China. As we go to press, there is little certainty about how events will pan out over the next couple of hours – let alone months.

The themes, and language, being used in relation to these trade-related crises are extreme and indicative. ‘Betrayal’, ‘rape’, ‘theft’, ‘cliff-edge’, ‘crash-out’, ‘blood on the streets’, ‘economic decline’, ‘disaster’, ‘a great unravelling’, ‘war’...

For this month’s Big Story, I delve into the thicket of global trade – interviewing and consulting experts and campaigners from around the world. My aim is not just to make sense of what’s going on, but also to dig into what’s missing from the blow-by-blow reporting in the media; to examine the underlying causes of the current crises; the important impacts of the free-trade system that just aren’t being discussed; and the implications for citizens in countries that aren’t powerful players on the world stage. And, in true New Internationalist fashion, this issue does not stop at reporting what is – but goes the extra mile to envisage how things could be with a 14-point plan on what a better, fairer, more sustainable trading system might look like.

Elsewhere in this edition, our Cartoon History takes us to Haiti and the story of liberation leader Toussaint Louverture, and to India, where our columnist reports on how the #MeToo movement is frightening Indian men.

Vanessa Baird for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org

The big story

Illustration: Steve Munday

NI 517 - January, 2019

Trade in Turmoil

A note from the editor

Trade in the era of Trump and Brexit

The big story

The global free trade system is being battered like never before. Can any good come of it, asks Vanessa Baird in the first of an eight-article exploration?

The Big Story

Enter the ‘new protectionism’ – and Trump’s trade wars.

The beast that won’t lie down and die – the ISDS ‘investor protection’ racket is still with us, in all but name.

Lobbyists, chlorinated chicken and tricksy business in the fog of Brexit.

China is making promises, but keeping them may be hard...

In talks about trade, something vital is omitted: the environment.

How the Global South is affected by the current trade turmoil – and old patterns of power.

Vanessa Baird concludes with 14 ways – at least – towards a better global trade.

International and local action resources and reading suggestions on Trade.

Revolt to Revolution - Art and Story by ILYA and Yohann Koshy.

Working on a documentary in the Andaman Sea prompted questions for Julian Sayarer about the way indigenous and nomadic peoples are represented in the West.

A new app that helps Aboriginal people in Australia record police abuse is the latest intervention in a growing movement that uses filmed evidence to demand accountability. Ian Lloyd Neubauer reports.

In a world buffeted by populist tides, Japan has avoided turbulence. Are there lessons to be learned? asks political scientist Tina Burrett.

Opinion

Nilanjana Bhowmick reacts to the 'unease' expressed by Indian men in today's #MeToo era.

Nanjala Nyabola questions Cameroon's never-ending presidential terms.

Mark Engler reflects on the life of Pete Seeger - an American musician, patriot and dissident.

Currents

Carlotta Dotto reports on the trials and tribulations of Asia's largest African migrant population.

Richard Swift profiles the extreme far-right ex-army officer due to become Brazil's president in the new year.

Joe Nerssessian reports on a new 'revolutionary majority' stirring up change in Armenia's parliament.

A new Fanon-inspired social movement is building inter-generational accountability, writes Denise Sow.

Tibet's fraught political identity is being played out through emojis. Husna Rizvi reports.

Look to the sky and you can see all sorts of radical lessons, writes Tom Whyman .

Peter Yeung reports on the politics of street food in Bangkok - an informal industry currently under threat from the forces of gentrification.

Amanda Sperber assesses the long-term consequences of Somalia's worst suicide attack.

Kids on strike; Plenty more fish; A fascist flop.

Regulars

Praise, blame and all points in between? Give us your feedback.

A pocket of the city, vibrant with blossoms, is the site where destiny is always taking shape, observes Parsa Sanjana Sajid.

A Dutch church is holding non-stop services to prevent the deportation of an Armenian refugee family.

Whistle while you work.

Not him.

Right to privacy by Elena Ospina (Colombia).

Politics and orgasms.

Hazel Healy sketches out a radical scenario.

Matteo Salvini, Italy’s ‘refugee drowner-in-chief’, is put under the spotlight.

Matt Norman reviews the Latin American island nation.

From religious leaders who take on political roles to the daily influence of faith on political values, Dawn Foster and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown – two practising believers – find themselves on opposite sides of the debate.

Cartoon by P J Polyp.

Danny Chivers reports on the key environmental struggles to keep track of in the coming year.

Highlighting the work of artists and photographers from the Majority World.

Cartoon by Marc Roberts.

For her work to get justice for survivors of rape by security forces and the police, Soni Sori received the 2018 Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk. She talks to Dilnaz Boga about why the state wants to erase Adivasi identity.

Climate change denial by Kate Evans.

Should I accept inherited property?

Film, Book & Music Reviews

Can We Feed the World Without Destroying It?; Deviation; Tentacle; Voices of the Windrush Generation.

Burning; Green Book.