In The News

Living Up to the Fables, Ancient and Modern

N. Ravi July 13, 2005
The Indian economy has swelled in the past few years, to the point that politicians regularly predict that China and India will soon become the world's largest economies. In this editorial, N. Ravi challenges these "modern fables," questioning the likelihood that India can catch up to China and the world's leading economies. Though the overall economy of India will doubtless...

How Africans See the Initiative to Help the Continent

Bashir Goth July 8, 2005
As the G-8 discusses plans to cancel Africa's debt this week, most agree that the world's richest countries can and should aid the ailing continent. In fact, the group agreed to double aid to Africa by 2010. But in the excitement surrounding the G-8 summit, few have asked Africans how they feel about the plan. The answer, supplied by African journalist Bashir Goth, is surprisingly...

Africa Needs an Al-Jazeera

Philip Fiske de Gouveia July 6, 2005
The spotlight on Africa of late has focused on many laudable goals: sustainable development, debt relief, disease prevention and control, and reining in governmental corruption. But promoting democracy and permanently establishing open and honest government, Philip Fiske de Gouveia writes, is inherently linked to a feature which most Africa nations still lack: a free press. The overwhelming...

In India, Economic Prosperity Is Spreading Slowly

Saritha Rai July 5, 2005
The boom in India's technology sector, and its status as the top destination for many American and European outsourcers, has brought the country high growth and a widespread boost in standard of living – at least for the middle and upper classes. But the majority of Indians, especially those in outlying rural areas, still live in poverty and do not reap the benefits of India's success...

Progress on Global Access to HIV Antiretroviral Therapy

July 1, 2005
The number of people receiving combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV/AIDS is increasing in every region of the world, tripling in the last 12 months in both sub-Saharan Africa and Asia – the two areas most affected by the disease. According to this newly released report by the WHO and UNAIDS, however, it is unlikely that the "3 by 5" goal of treating three million HIV-...

Peace the Only Option for Aceh

Aguswandi June 16, 2005
The prospect of achieving sustainable peace in the tumultuous Indonesian region of Aceh is being undermined by comments from politicians denouncing the ongoing peace negotiations in Helsinki. While the majority of Acehnese support the talks as a step towards ending violence, these voices of dissent ignore the positive results and denounce foreign assistance for fear that Aceh will become the...

Lifting Africa's Debt Sentence

Doug Saunders June 13, 2005
A summit of financial ministers from the G-8 announced on Saturday that 18 of the world's poorest nations, most of which are in sub-Saharan Africa, will be relieved of their debt burdens. The beneficiaries – deemed to have satisfactory governments and economic structures – were selected via an intensive vetting system. The agreement has sparked opposition on both sides of the African aid...