GLOBAL IMPACT

THE DEATH PENALTY & INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS

This broadcast segment of GLOBAL IMPACT addresses the social, economic, political, and racial dimensions of the death penalty. Over two thirds of the countries in the world have abolished the death penalty. Public support for the the death penalty is diminishing in the United States. We'll be discussing death penalty trends, the death penalty and innocence, cost of the death penalty, the death penalty and race, the death penalty and arbitrariness, the federal death penalty, the death penalty and deterrence, lethal injection, executions and medical ethics, the death penalty and mental illness, and the death penalty and foreign nationals. On this broadcast we will also be discussing the Troy Davis case in Georgia. His case illustrates so much of what is wrong about the death penalty and has become internationally known with 500,000 people signing an Amnesty International petition on his behalf. Our special guest will be Ms. Laura Moye who is the Director of Amnesty International USA's Death Penalty Abolition Campaign, based in Washington, DC. She has been an active voice for human rights and abolition of the death penalty since her days as a student activist. Ms. Moye has worked on state legislative and clemency campaigns, including a campaign for a moratorium and study of Georgia's death penalty and to stop the execution of death row prisoner Troy Davis. Also joining us for this very important broadcast is Ms. Kathryn Hamoudah who is the State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator for Atlanta and Regional DPAC for the Southern Region. She works as the Public Policy Director at the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta. She supports the efforts of the Center through media, legislative and community advocacy. Kathryn is Vice-Chair of Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, a state-wide anti-death penalty coalition. Join us for this provocative discussion on the death penalty. Should the death penalty be abolished? Is it a human rights violation?

THE STATE OF THE WORLD'S HUMAN RIGHTS

This segment of GLOBAL IMPACT addresses the state of the world's human rights as documented in the newly published Amnesty International Report 2010. It documents the state of human rights across 159 countries in 2009. It details a year in which - although important gains were made - accountability and effective justice seemed a remote ideal for many, as people's lives continued to be torn apart by repression, violence, discrimination, power plays and political stalemates. The report also celebrates real progress as it reveals how it is harder now for perpetrators of the worst crimes to feel confident that they will escape justice. Amnesty International identifies a global "justice gap" which sustains a pernicious web of repression where they have recorded torture or other ill-treatment in at least 111 countries, unfair trials in at least 55 countries, restrictions on free speech in at least 96 countries and prisoners of conscience imprisoned in at least 48 countries. Amnesty International has called on governments to ensure accountability for their own actions and fully sign up to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ensure that crimes under international law can be prosecuted anywhere in the world. Our distinguished guests for this important broadcast are Josh Rubenstein and Elise Auerbach of Amnesty International. The dialogue will also focus on the state of human rights in Iran.

CHINA EMERGES - THE BIRTH OF A NEW GLOBAL ORDER

This segment of GLOBAL IMPACT addresses China's rise as a new superpower and the decline of American hegemony. According to conservative estimates, by 2027 China will overtake the United States as the world's largest economy, and by 2050 its economy will be twice as large as that of the United States. Many international economists and national security experts see China's rise as a harbinger to the end of the western world's dominant influence in global affairs. China will seek to shape the world in its own image. In coming decades, the West will be confronted with the fact that its systems, institutions and values are no longer the only ones on offer. Our distinguished guest will be Dr. Martin Jacques, author of "WHEN CHINA RULES THE WORLD - THE END OF THE WESTERN WORLD AND THE BIRTH OF A NEW GLOBAL ORDER". Dr. Martin Jacques is a visiting senior fellow at the LSE Ideas, a Centre for the Study of International Affairs, Diplomacy and Grand Strategy, and a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics Asia Research Centre. He has recently been a visiting professor at Renmin University, Beijing, The International Centre for Chinese Studies, Aichi University, and Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, and a senior research fellow at The Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. We will be discussing his groundbreaking book and his critical perspectives on China's rise as an economic superpower.

DEADLY DELIVERY - THE MATERNAL HEALTH CARE CRISIS IN THE UNITED STATES

This segment of GLOBAL IMPACT addresses the maternal health care crisis in the United States. Our special guest will be Mr. Josh Rubenstein of Amnesty International. We will be discussing Amnesty International's newly published report concerning the maternal health crisis in the USA. The report is based on research carried out during 2008 and 2009 by Amnesty International USA. Amnesty International conducted over 100 in-depth interviews an 17 focus groups with women, their families, activists, advocates, public health experts, support workers, services providers and health workers across the United States. The total amount spent on health care in the USA is greater than in any other country in the world. Hospitalization related to pregnancy and childbirth costs some US$86 billion a year; the highest hospitalizations costs of any area of medicine. Despite this, women in the USA have a greater lifetime risk of dying of pregnancy-related complications than women in 40 other countries. African-American women are at especially high risk; they are nearly four times more likely to die of pregnancy-related complications than white women. Even for white women in the USA, however, the maternal mortality ratios are higher than for women in 24 other industrialized countries. These rates and disparities have not improved in more than 20 years. Maternal mortality ratios have actually increased from a low 6.6 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1987 to 13.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2006. While some of the increase may be due to improved data collection, the fact that mortality ratios have doubled is a cause for concern. The discussion will address maternal health and human rights, discrimination and maternal health, barriers to maternal health care services, systemic failures and accountability. Please join us for this very provocative segment of GLOBAL IMPACT.

THE ISRAELI - PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

This segment of GLOBAL IMPACT addresses the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Few moments in history have drawn such a divisive and far-reaching line in the sand as the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. More than sixty years have passed since Israel's controversial inception, and with the failure of The Oslo Accords, Camp David Summit and Arab Peace Initiatives, the peace process has come to a halt in recent years leaving many to wonder if peace will ever come to Israel. Our distinguished guest will be Mr. Michael T. Darkow, peace advocate and author of "Our Promised Land". Sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinian and Israeli people, Mr. Darkow traverses the entire length of the history from early man to present day examining the evolution of the conflict through historical and philosophical lenses. Through his exploration of the Israeli - Palestinian conflict, Mr. Darkow seeks to encourage concerned humanitarians to help bring peace to Israel. We will be discussing his new book "Our Promised Land" and his critical perspectives on how a peaceful resolution to the Israeli - Palestinian conflict can be achieved. Is sustainable peace in Israel possible? Listen in on this important broadcast to learn how.