In The News

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...

A Truckload of Nonsense

George Monbiot June 15, 2005
The recent agreement by seven of the G-8 nations to cancel impoverished countries' debts to the World Bank and the IMF requires debtor nations to eliminate corruption and promote private-sector development. A close analysis of the past, however, reveals that corruption has seldom been a barrier to foreign aid and loans. In fact, corporations in first-world countries often take advantage of...

Bush Touts Trade, but US Bid to Empower OAS Stalls

Pablo Bachelet June 7, 2005
Concerned over political turmoil and threats to free trade emerging from many Latin American states, President Bush emphasized on Monday that democracy and trade liberalization will put troubled OAS member states on the path to greater prosperity. But the nature of recent difficulties in countries like Bolivia and Venezuela underscore the many problems with the US approach. Both countries and...

Nationalism Ignites EU Rebellion

Daniel Williams June 5, 2005
Last week's French and Dutch referendums on the EU constitution are believed to be popular expressions of unease over the pace and nature of European integration. While most Europeans have benefited from 50 years of developments that have brought about a common currency, convenient travel and easier trade, many citizens are anxious about future unification measures that threaten to impinge...

"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...

Exchange of Empires

Timothy Garton Ash May 20, 2005
Recognized internationally as a part of Moldova, the para-state of Transnistria highlights a unique dilemma for the European Union. A microcosm of the former Soviet Union at first glance, this narrow region on the east bank of the Dniestr River is a fusion of communist and Western cultures, a symbolic representation of the decline of the Russian empire. Since 1992, Transnistria has won de facto...

Double Vision in Beirut

Frances Z. Brown May 12, 2005
In the three months since the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, the Middle Eastern country has seen a remarkable transformation. Large-scale and tenacious street protests resulted in the resignation of the incumbent pro-Syrian prime minister. As Western powers acclaim the "Cedar Revolution" – named after the emblem adorning the Lebanese flag, and...