In The News

International AIDS Conference: Prime Minister Heckled at Opening

Phermsak Lilakul July 12, 2004
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was accused of being a liar when he pledged equal medical access for AIDS patients at the 15th International Aids Conference in Thailand. Controversy at the opening ceremonies centered around the Prime minister’s three-month-long, all-out war on drugs last year that resulted in the questionable deaths of more than 2,500 people. In Thailand, intravenous...

Security Above All

July 2, 2004
With the coming into force of a United Nations-initiated shipping code a new barrier has been erected in global trading. The International Ships and Port Facility Security Code which was adopted by the UN members in 2002 requires countries to undertake security measures to prevent terrorist use of international shipping. This editorial in a South African newspaper echoes the mixed reaction the...

Power of Information Technology Awaits Unleashing

William Mougayar July 1, 2004
With no conclusive outcome reached at the UN-sponsored World Summit on the Information Society, developing countries will continue to lag behind developed countries in the vital Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector. The author, William Mougayar, an independent scholar and management consultant, opines that the meeting should have focused on important issues such as network...

Give the Transatlantic Alliance a Fresh Start

Charles Powell June 28, 2004
Transatlantic relations are in a "terminal" stage and must be mended, writes Charles Powell, former adviser on foreign affairs and defense to Margaret Thatcher. The transatlantic alliance once enjoyed great heights – especially during the cold war – but now differences over the Iraq War have cast doubt on the concept of ‘the West’ as a global leader. Currently politicians and laypeople...

Can Corporations Safeguard Labor and Human Rights?

Susan Ariel Aaronson June 24, 2004
Recent scandals over US mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan have badly tarnished America’s human rights record. Grave as the abuses are, says globalization scholar Susan Ariel Aaronson, the Bush administration can help restore at least a measure of goodwill by promoting human rights and labor protections in the factories of US-based multinational corporations. The anti-...

U.S. Drops Plan to Exempt G.I.'s From U.N. Court

Warren Hoge June 24, 2004
With only one week left before a special exemption for US troops was set to expire at the United Nations, Washington has said it will no longer seek to protect its military from prosecution by the International Criminal Court. For two years running, the US has received a special one-year exemption from the UN Security Council that prevents its civilian and military personnel taking part in peace...

UK's Flawed Position on Global Court

Steve Crawshaw June 22, 2004
At the United Nations this week, the US is expected to request an extension of a resolution exempting its military personnel from prosecution at the newly established International Criminal Court. To grant such a request, say human rights advocates Steve Crawshaw and Richard Dicker, would weaken the Court and send a dangerous signal to the world. The Bush Administration's insistence on...