In The News

Think Continental

Gamal Nkrumah June 10, 2005
Amidst controversy over the arguably paltry US aid offerings to Africa, many countries on that continent are meeting at this week's Cairo African Trade Conference to discuss regional and continental trade as an independent path to prosperity. African nations are interested in forming a unified front at WTO negotiations to increase their trade power and improve their disadvantaged position...

Agreeing on Africa, Up to a Point

June 8, 2005
As incoming president of the G-8, Tony Blair has made reducing African poverty the focus of his agenda, aiming to pardon the continent's staggering debt and increase aid by US$50 billion. But he faces opposition from Germany, France, and Japan – who propose focusing efforts on just five developing countries – as well as the United States, reluctant to double its aid. With Africa's...

"In Larger Freedom": Decision Time at the UN

Kofi Annan May 31, 2005
The wide range of threats afflicting different regions today complicates international collaboration. In an interconnected world, however, these threats are often more closely related than we realize. Extreme poverty and civil conflict in one country, for example, encourage terrorist groups to strike in another; the outbreak of disease in a region with poor health care may spread to wealthier...

How to Jump-Start the WTO

Susan Ariel Aaronson May 26, 2005
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Organization. One of the tenets of the organization is to use trade as a means to achieve sustainable development for the world's emerging economies, but after several rounds of talks, the WTO seems stalled. As Susan Ariel Aaronson and Jamie Zimmerman write, there is yet hope for the organization and its goals. The key: Policymakers...

A Global Alliance Against Forced Labor

May 12, 2005
The International Labor Organization (ILO) has issued an update on its four-year-old report on slavery and other types of forced labor. The new report, issued May 2005, takes a longer view on the issue, describing developments in the last four years and looking toward the future. After defining and identifying the scope of the problem, the group evaluates efforts in the past years to stem the...

Al-Jazeera Puts Focus on Reform

Robin Wright May 9, 2005
The most-watched news network in the Middle East, Al-Jazeera has the potential to greatly affect the future of regional democratization. Some welcome Al-Jazeera as a foil to state-controlled media in the region, and many see it a new vehicle to give voice to otherwise underrepresented perspectives. As the channel gives more airtime to reformist movements, it finds increasing hostility from less...

More Creative Thinking Needed On Drug R&D

Priya Shetty May 4, 2005
Countries worldwide are investing more and more in research and development on diseases and drugs to fight them. But few of these projects are aimed at illnesses afflicting the world's poorest regions – illnesses which account for widespread death and devastation. A major reason for this neglect is the patent system, which prioritizes duplication over innovation; new global intellectual...