All Commentaries
The U.S. Hit List at the United Nations
Quietly, and without the fanfare that accompanies the campaign in the mountains of Afghanistan, the administration has begun a long march through multilateral institutions. At the UN and elsewhere, the U.S. has mounted a campaign to purge international civil servants judged to be out of step with Washington in the war on terrorism and its insistence that the U.S. have the last word in all global governance issues.
Finding America’s Voice in the Middle East
As U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell continues his special focus on the Middle East it is possible that his message, like that of the U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and U.S. special envoy Anthony Zinni, may be lost. America is clearly turning up the volume with the presence of such high-level American officials in the region. The problem, however, is not one of amplification, but rather of credibility and clarity. Until America finds its own voice in the Palestinian-Israeli dispute, it is unlikely that America’s voice will be heard or heeded in the Arab world.
U.S. Shadow Over Venezuela
Regardless of the final outcome of the recent military coup and counter-coup in Venezuela, two things are clear: Venezuela is not just another banana-oil republic; and the United States has, once again, deeply damaged itself in Latin America.
Anthrax, Drug Transnationals, and TRIPs
Against the backdrop of September 11th terrorist attacks in the U.S., the anthrax attacks in late 2001 raised highly controversial issues related to intellectual property rights. Just a few months earlier, the world had witnessed heated debates on the patent controversy when the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association of South Africa (PMASA), a body representing South African subsidiaries of 39 drug transnational corporations (TNCs), took the South African government to court to prevent it from importing cheaper versions of patented drugs for patients suffering from Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). However, under tremendous pressure generated by health activists and concerned groups around the world, the drug TNCs unconditionally dropped the lawsuit against the South African government.
“We are the Democrats:” The Crisis in Zimbabwe and the Death of the NEPAD
Few events in Africa in recent years have so excited world opinion as has the downward spiral of Zimbabwe under President Robert Mugabe and the years of chaos and terror under his rule. The slide into lawlessness, the wholesale, illegal confiscation of land, the general free-fall of the Zimbabwean economy, and the presidential competition between Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Popular Front (ZANU-PF) and Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change, have been the stuff of many editorials and commentaries in all the main newspapers, both in the West and in Africa. At the same time however, the Zimbabwe case has highlighted the perpetual reluctance of African elites to criticize one of their own, particularly in light of African leaders’ reactions to what most people saw as fundamentally rigged elections. This point raises profound questions as to the seriousness and credibility of the New Economic Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
Uzbekistan: What Policy Must the U.S. Have?
On March 12, President Bush plans to greet his Uzbek counterpart, Islam Karimov, in the White House. Uzbekistan has emerged as a key strategic partner to the United States after September 11, not only due to its frontier with Afghanistan. For years, some strategists in Washington have considered the Tashkent regime as an important regional player. It is the most populous nation in the region, with 24 million citizens, and serves as the homeland for significant Uzbek minorities in all its neighbors, including Afghanistan.
The War on Dissent Widens
A powerful group of neo-conservatives is launching a new public relations campaign in support of President George W. Bush’s war on terrorism.
Shades of Gray
Is India Going the Way of 1930s Germany?
The recent rounds of violence between religious groups in India do more than reveal the fragility of India’s secular state. They highlight the inability of Indian democracy to combat what is essentially a fascist onslaught.
Networking Civil Society in Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain – This politically progressive, culturally distinct Mediterranean city served as host for Ubuntu, the latest international gathering of civil society. In contrast with the 60,000 people who converged on Porto Alegre, Brazil, in February for the second World Social Forum (WSF), less than 100 specially invited delegates participated in Ubuntu’s second annual constitutive meeting, held here March 1 and 2.