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This month, the town's fascist sympathies became the subject of intense debate when its mayor unveiled a publicly financed memorial to one of its most controversial former citizens: Rodolfo Graziani, a general under Mussolini who was accused of war crimes at the end of World War II and earned the title of "the Butcher" in two campaigns during Italy's colonization of North Africa in the 1920s and '30s.

CoPo Relevance: influence of a country's history over its current identity/political culture. Thanks, Alexander.

Both Japan and France rank in the top 50 for Global Peace Rankings-- Japan 8th and France 48th. The biggest difference in their rankings comes from France's possession of heavy and nuclear weapons. The Japanese have limited possession of heavy and nuclear weapons as a result of the pacifist constitution they were forced to adopt following WWII which limited their ability to arm for war. Furthermore, France is involved in more conflicts and exports more weapons than Japan, which is also heavily related to the restrictions placed on Japan following WWII. However, Japan has a worse record when it comes to relations with neighbors which may be related to actions from WWII and rising tensions between Japan, China, and South Korea. Yet, perhaps unrelated to WWII and relating more to culture of society, France has a higher level of violent demonstrations and internal organized conflict than Japan. Japan has a homogenous population that has a main focus of work and a culture that accepts the social and economic hierarchy, but France has a more heterogeneous population with many disenfranchised groups that were once colonized that continue to face discrimination.

This act is one that can be compared to our own countries' push back against confederate statues in the south. Both acknowledge history, but a dark and twisted one to say the least.

Good find, Julian! and yes to your comment.

Climate change is affecting many countries gravely, especially developing nations. Leaders of those countries are pleading other nations to supply financial aid to help them. They believe richer nations owe them because they became rich off of fossil fuels.

It's very interesting when you reflect on how far back this problem goes. Especially when considering the effects of colonization on the environments within regions of Africa and South America. It is going to be a very long and difficult road to fully compensate and prepare poorer countries for climate change after how hard we have screwed them over.