Dear Reader, This is the second installment of my personal newsletter, Words&Music. To receive this in your inbox, sign up here: http://eepurl.com/duzZz9 Dear Reader, Global poverty. Climate change. Political uncertainty. Swedish development aid. Financial markets. The United Nations and the World Bank. The challenge of learning to lead a complex department, in a complex public … Continue reading Words&Music 2: What a difference a half-year makes
Government, Policy, Politics
Freedom of Information: You Have Chydenius To Thank for That
This short post was originally published on the now-defunct website Worldchanging.com, in 2007. The story of Chydenius serves as a good reminder of the importance of maintaining a free press and the right of public access to government information — principles that seem increasingly under attack around the world. The text has been slightly updated. … Continue reading Freedom of Information: You Have Chydenius To Thank for That
The ‘big push’ transforming the world’s energy systems
As I’m sure you have noticed, renewable energy is taking the world by storm, driven by rapidly falling prices. Ever wonder how that happened? In 2009, I authored a concept paper for the United Nations Secretariat, for circulation at the Copenhagen Climate Summit. COP15 became infamous because it was deemed a spectacular failure. Heads of … Continue reading The ‘big push’ transforming the world’s energy systems
Instagram Diary from Almedalen 2017
Here are the texts from all my Instagram posts from "Almedalsveckan", the famous Swedish week of political and (increasingly) marketing activity focused on current social issues — a "festival of opinion" as some call it. For the pictures, visit my Instagram page. In fact, Almedalen reminds me of the New Orleans Jazz Festival, with talk … Continue reading Instagram Diary from Almedalen 2017
Celebrating a victory for ethics and eloquence
For politically centrist, ethically minded people, who prefer serious debate to trolling and twitterstorms, these are challenging times. As Frank Bruni recently wrote in the New York Times (see link below), extremism and outrage is the order of the day. We need antidotes. Here's one: would you like to see (and hear) an example of … Continue reading Celebrating a victory for ethics and eloquence
To the President-Elect: A Confidential Briefing
To the President-Elect of the United States: Considering who your closest advisors are, it is a fair guess that no one else is going to give you a briefing on sustainability. So I offer you one. I will keep it short, because you have a lot of information to absorb now. (People say that you … Continue reading To the President-Elect: A Confidential Briefing
Post-Election Statement
As a dual citizen of the USA and Sweden, I am determined to keep working for the vision and reality of sustainable development for all, here in my beloved Sweden and Europe where I live, in my beloved USA where I have both family and business ties, and around the world. That imperative does not … Continue reading Post-Election Statement
Hillary Clinton for President
"The word 'debate' loses its meaning when one candidate is serious and the other is a vacuous bully." So wrote the New York Times in today's edition, and I could not agree more. I am breaking with my usual habit of staying publicly neutral on US electoral politics and strongly endorsing Hillary Clinton for president. … Continue reading Hillary Clinton for President
Swiss reject pioneering “Green Economy” referendum, but Geneva passes it
Yesterday, Switzerland held a remarkable vote. The question: whether to legally limit the country to living within its share of the ecological limits of our planet, by 2050. Currently, Switzerland uses three times the sustainable level of resources; so passing this law would have required the whole country, legally, to start a march toward physical … Continue reading Swiss reject pioneering “Green Economy” referendum, but Geneva passes it
“Do not forget”: A few terrible facts about torture
A few important facts that Americans must keep in mind as we head to the voting booth in 2016: The Republican candidate has said publicly, "I would bring back waterboarding, and I’d bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding,” adding, in other appearances, “Don’t tell me it doesn’t work—torture works,” and “If … Continue reading “Do not forget”: A few terrible facts about torture
Alan AtKisson 