Profit from saving the planet

I had always looked at carbon credits with a lot of contempt because it provides no incentive for big corporations to pollute. But I have to admit that I have never closely looked at the whole mechanism and how does it work in a developing region like ours. I attended a presentation today which revealed to me that most of the Indian Cement companies have gotten rid of old polluting equipment and gotten new less polluting plant and machinery. This has allowed most of these companies to earn revenue by selling carbon credits. Actually some of the cement companies are earning more revenue by selling carbon credits than by selling cement (which, by the way, is in high demand in the region). We, in Pakistan, shall look at this in more detail and advise our industrialists who have old polluting plants. Could be a very nice DAWN article.

The Pentagon's New Map: War and peace in 21st century

I think this Thomas Barnett's book is a must read for all the futurist especially ones like me living in the third world countries, to which this "strategic thinker" refers to as the gap. The Gap is an area that starts from Pakistan( where I currently live) in the east and goes all the way to Columbia and Venezuela in South America, including all the middle east, Turkey and Africa in between. The crux of the whole book is that the Gap is disconnected from the Globalization and all the terrorists operating in the GAP are enemies of connectedness to globalization. This is why Pentagon is shifting their military capabilities and bases towards the countries in the GAP, under Thomas Barnett's guidance and advice. He also supports his arguments by showing that most of the conflicts, especially involving Pentagon, in the last ten or so years after the collapse of USSR have been in the GAP. He also suggests repeatedly that the world would be better off and progress if United States created a lot of bases like in Germany and Japan, in the book suggests that U.S bases were the major factor in the success of Post war Japan and Germany.
I, however, do disagree with Thomas on several points in the book. For example, the new rule sets that he consistently refer to, is another way of saying that international laws should not be applied to what America does in the third world countries because America is a force for the greatest good in the world OR that Pre-emption in the third world is the only way. Besides The GAP is not so hopelessly disconnected as painted in the book. The book also assumes that for another 25 - 50 years no near-competitor country like India or China would rise to challenge Regional or Global American hegemony. It might be so, that U.S spends a little more that all the other countries combined on their defence budget and has the greatest military industrial complex, but merely 15 years ago USSR was their and its successor Russia has been planning its comeback since then. China, Japan and India are other competitors not to forget EU.
So why is this a must read for us the futurists and all others in the third world country because if Pentagon is listening to him as much he says it is, the future conflicts would mostly be in the third world countries including a lot of U.S bases.