In The News

Moving Money from One Pocket to Another

Shada Islam August 1, 2003
Europe's new farm subsidy reform package is not perfect, but it may help break the logjam in the WTO, says Shada Islam, a Brussels-based journalist specializing in EU trade policy. The EU farm reforms replace production subsidies with direct payments to farmers who meet food safety and environmental standards. EU officials argue that "decoupling" subsidies from production will do...

Superpower in the South Pacific

C. Raja Mohan July 30, 2003
Australia has long been the premier power in the South Pacific. According to this opinion in an Indian daily, however, Australia is increasingly matching its economic and military capabilities with the political will to exercise its power. The author says that national security concerns are behind Canberra's new policies of intervention and preemption in failing microstates where terrorist...

What the Millennium Development Compact Means

Romeo Austria Reyes July 23, 2003
Although slow progress in aid, trade, and debt relief casts doubt on the feasibility of the Millennium Development Goals and the sincerity of rich nations to the Millennium Development Compact, Indonesia is generally making good progress toward realizing the development objectives. However, inter-provincial inequalities are plentiful. To ensure the good national trend is matched at the sub-...

Setting America above the Law

Soha Abdelaty July 18, 2003
The US and Egypt recently signed a bilateral agreement guaranteeing the immunity of each other's officials and military personnel from prosecution in the International Criminal Court (ICC). Cairo's decision to exempt the US personnel from Court jurisdiction has angered those who uphold the need for an encompassing, multilateral judicial institution. Cairo was initially an enthusiastic...

A Miserly Response to a Global Emergency

Jeffrey Sachs July 17, 2003
Yesterday, 15,000 Africans died of AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria as rich countries praised themselves for their 'generous' contributions to the UN fund set up to fight these diseases. Writing in the Financial Times, Jeffrey Sachs says that rich countries like the US, Britain, France, and Japan all agree that these three health crises are out of control. And yet their governments...

Bush Tour: PR Exercise or Boon to Africa?

July 14, 2003
Was US President George W. Bush's trip to Africa primarily self-serving or truly centered on the continent's welfare? Throughout the five-day visit, critics asserted that the only interests the US President holds in Africa are American. Some observers believe that after finding itself short on friends in the UN Security Council prior to the Iraq War, the US is attempting to amass a...

Can the Third World Spend the AIDS Money Well?

Alan Beattie July 13, 2003
At the upcoming international conference on AIDS, much of the discussion will focus on ways to improve how the developing world utilizes funds for AIDS education, prevention, and treatment. In the past, similar concerns over the use of anti-AIDS funds led to the creation of the Global Fund, which allows aid to bypass weak and often corrupt governments in developing countries. This centralized...