Frequently, the media highlights the determinate role of minorities in the American elections, and provides data to back up its claim. But the issue is much more complex than it appears at first glance: not all Latino, Asian, Black, and Jewish communities vote en bloc. Far from it.

• Religion matters (a lot) in the American campaign
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• The largest minority counts in the United States
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By and large the war in Afghanistan has been met with a chronic state of ambivalence by the international media after the onset of the war in Iraq. The situation grows direr every day and the author questions whether the objectives set forth by the U.S government are working or could have ever worked.

Wandering street vendors, self-employed workers, specialized workers, repairmen, small entrepreneurs, pensioners and even university professionals are faced with a paradoxical and hopeless reality in Latin America. They see that, no matter what they do, they remain mired in a life of poverty from which they cannot escape.

What lessons can be learned from the fall of Lehman Brothers? Is Lehman’s bankruptcy only a financial matter? How can an investment bank go bankrupt? What happens when it goes bankrupt? Why has Washington not intervened now if it did do so in the bankruptcies of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and Bear Stearns? Can more banks go bankrupt? Why is this crisis lasting so long? How did it all begin? What consequences can this have for the average citizen?

The United States (and a large part of the world) has not been able to offer new mentalities, revitalized methods, nor new ways of approaching the most urgent global problems. The author explains that real change, that Yes we can for the international system as well, will only be possible if Barack Obama wins the presidency of our global village in November.

• The Multipolar World of Barack Obama
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Europe’s mistake regarding Russia’s latest actions in Caucasus stems from its inability to articulate a strong position in keeping with its interests. Moscow wishes to diversify its economy and not limit itself to being a mere energy provider, and in this sense Brussels has some negotiating leverage. The author says that if the EU does not take advantage of this opportunity, Russia will end up rerouting its energy supply to Asia.

• Russia: the bear wakes up
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• Nostalgia for Russia
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Muslims are the biggest ethnic group in the Philippines, and more than half of the population of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao is poor, and the area is thus a breeding ground for civil unrest. The author wonders whether the government can (and should) negotiate with a decentralized terrorist group like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and denounces President Arroyo’s brokering of deals in secrecy. He maintains that the lives of the Muslims must be improved, since economic and social development on Mindanao is necessary to achieve peace.

The two rival parties in the United States are bracing themselves for a tooth and nail electoral campaign. On the Democratic ticket are an African American who became a Christian as an adult and a progressive Catholic who defends a woman’s right to choose, whereas a non-fervent Episcopalian and a staunch Evangelist can be found on the Republican ticket. Read on to find out who is who in the complex American political-religious scene.

A giant like Russia cannot be threatened with retaliation by its Western neighbors, above all because the energy that makes the European countries run comes in a large part from Gazprom, the most important oil company in the world. The author says that by merely understanding Moscow’s historic need to have a safety line, a stable relationship between the Russian bear and its Western neighbors can be achieved.