Day: June 18, 2018
Dien Bien Phu and after: the U.S. inherits an intractable conflict
You thought the Vietnam war was lost by 1974? Turn your clocks back two decades Almost 70 years after the French defeat — and, all credit due, the Vietminh victory — at Dien Bien Phu in northwest Vietnam,1 lessons continue to be drawn from a military confrontation that saw the defeat of a well-equipped Western…
Prisoners of age: old folks in jail
LIFE SENTENCE Older inmates are packing U.S. prisons and colouring them with shades of gray Foreword from the book Prisoners of Age (2000): http://www.prisonersofage.com/home Photos by Ron Levine Text by David Winch “My prison is becoming a old folks home” — Warden of 3,000-prisoner Angola state penitentiary in Louisiana I was young and…
Bangkok is calling, but UN staff don’t hear it
From the archives: 2010 The city is bursting with activity. Its downtown pulses like a mini-Tokyo. The country is growing prosperous, and gleaming towers rise at every turn. Yes, it’s not hard to boost Bangkok and Thailand. And yet, who wants to work there? by David Winch, UN Special magazine, March 2010 photos: Pierre-Michel Virot…