Calling for sustainable democracy, sustainable prosperity, and sustainable security and peace U.S. Deputy Secretary William J. Burns brought to a close the 9th Forum for the Future in Tunis, Tunisia last week.
With the cancellation of the scheduled labor strike at the 11th hour, and without the attendance of U.S. Secretary Hillary Clinton due to illness, the 9th Forum for the Future was called to order by Dr. Rafik Abdessalem, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tunisia.
EDITORIAL NOTE: This blog post was originally published on the Huffington Post.
Surrounded by heightened security, 300 civil society and government official have arrived in Tunis, Tunisia to attend the 9th Forum for the Future. Under spectacular winter skies, the League of Women Voters is ready to open the plenary session of the civil society and private sector preparatory meeting. Participants from 25 countries are ready and eager to discuss and find solutions to the current challenges faced by the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) countries.
January 1, 2013 is the deadline for our financial future. At that time, taxes will go up for every American and steep cuts to government programs will happen across the board. This is the so-called "fiscal cliff" that needs to be avoided. While avoiding the "cliff" is important, it is much more important to use this opportunity to set our nation on a new fiscal path that ensures a brighter future for ALL Americans, not just a few.
Only a few short weeks have passed since Election Day, but it already feels like a lifetime ago. No longer are voters in swing states subjected to nonstop political ads, and the evening news is once again covering a host of national and international issues instead of just wall-to-wall coverage of the presidential campaign. But, Election Day was as much a starting line as it was an end point. Now is the time to reflect back on the 2012 election and look toward what’s to come in 2013.
People are dying because of climate change. Hurricane Sandy is just one of the killer storms made more severe and more frequent by a warming planet. Deadly heat waves, droughts and floods are also on their way. And climate change caused by carbon pollution is increasing the formation of lung damaging and asthma-attack inducing smog, which is particularly dangerous for kids and seniors.
After nine months of work in preparation for the G8 BMENA Initiative's 9th Forum for the Future,
