Going Solar in East Timor
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From the UN News Center:

A just concluded three-year pilot project has shown that solar power can be an affordable and sustainable alternative energy source for the people of Timor-Leste, according to a senior United Nations official heading up the programme. The solar project, just one of many initiatives carried out by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affair (UNDESA) in the tiny South East Asian nation, aimed to help rural communities harness the potential of this alternative energy source. Under the pilot programme, carried out in communities on Atauro Island and in Aleiu District, community members agreed to pay $1.80 per month for the use of solar lanterns. It is estimated that communities on Atauro using the lanterns have saved over $1,800, and now other communities have also expressed interest in using the lanterns.
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October 10, 2008


A U.S.-UN History Lesson in Georgia
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(The following was originally written in August 2008.)

Commentators looking to explain the recent Russo-Georgian conflict by analyzing American foreign policy have found no dearth of candidate provocations. America's support for Georgian membership in NATO, its recognition of Kosovo's independence, and its open planning to install missile defense programs in Eastern Europe all likely contributed to Russia's willingness to exert its influence in the region by force. By and large, however, these speculations have focused on the proximate causes of the past few months. The most significant American contribution to instability in Georgia, however, may actually have occurred some 15 years ago--and its story provides more resounding lessons for U.S.-UN policy than it does for U.S.-Russia relations.

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