All Commentaries
Has Israeli Occupation Become Legal in the 21st Century?
This past eight months of bloodletting between Israelis and Palestinians is no more than an additional, exhausting chapter in a decades old conflict that seems today more polarized than ever. When Israel invaded the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem in 1967, the occupation of Palestine was born. With this birth came a second Palestinian Diaspora (the first was in 1948 when Israel was established) and the reality that an entire population–1.2 million Palestinians–would become totally controlled by the Israeli military. Over three decades later, no one expected to see the occupation enduring, or to see Palestinians still able to resist.
The Failure of U.S. Policy Toward Iraq and Proposed Alternatives
Current U.S.-UN policy regarding Iraq has failed and has largely lost credibility. It is widely viewed internationally as reflecting U.S. (and, to a lesser degree, British) insistence on maintaining a punitive sanctions-based approach regardless of the humanitarian impact and it is increasingly regarded as having failed to bring about either democratic changes in Iraq or security for the Persian Gulf region. Numerous countries are challenging, if not directly violating, the sanctions regime, and international support has largely eroded.
The New Lexicon
Walls; Electric Fences; Eliminations; Dogs; Closure; Collective Punishment; Tanks; Assault Helicopters; F-16s; Reciprocity; Retaliation; War. Welcome to the new Israeli lexicon concerning the Palestinians–the “new speak” of the post-Oslo period. And as with the Orwellian “new speak,” there is no longer any real discussion of issues and options, no plurality of opinions among the Israeli public, let alone the political leadership.
HIV/AIDS Global Trust Fund: Need for an Equitable and Efficient Governance Structure
The international community appears poised to intervene to end the devastating effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, especially in Africa where, according to the United Nations Agency for HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), more than 25 million Africans live with the virus or are dying of AIDS. Few infected Africans have access to life saving anti-HIV/AIDS medicines that have transformed the disease from a feared to a manageable chronic infection in the West. Through a combination of street protests, sophisticated policy reviews, media exposes, and powerful commentaries in the print and electronic media, AIDS activists have forced the issue of access to HIV/AIDS care in developing nations.
UN Small Arms Conference: Evaluation and Prospects
Small arms and light weapons, often ignored in traditional arms control agreements, contribute to the vast majority of death and destruction in conflicts worldwide. Large amounts of small arms not only intensify the lethal effects and duration of fighting, but their ready availability can also lead hostile groups to take up arms in the first place. In post-conflict settings, the continued circulation of small arms among former combatants and new criminals generates an intense atmosphere of insecurity, making it difficult for communities to put a stop to the cycle of bloodshed. In conflicts like those in Angola and Sierra Leone, small arms are illicitly trafficked in exchange for diamonds and other contraband. Closer to home, they are used by drug traffickers and criminals to cut short the lives of urban youth.
Raise a Glass to Kyoto
“And there’s a mighty judgment coming, but I may be wrong.” – Leonard Cohen
The Slovenia Summit: Bush Meets Putin
The first Bush-Putin meeting will not take place in a vacuum. Their one-day summit in Slovenia will come after Bush concludes a swing through Spain, Belgium, Poland, and Sweden (which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union). President Vladimir Putin will have already assessed the new U.S. president personally through psychological profiling and consultations with European leaders who have met him. He already has his agenda, which is to use the meeting to influence European elite and public opinion, which is already skeptical about Washington’s plans for National Missile Defense (NMD).
Have Faith in Free Trade–The Greatest Story Over Sold
Have Faith in Free Trade–The Greatest Story Over Sold By Kevin Gallagher
Why We Must Open the Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Boards: The Case of User Fees on Primary Healthcare in Tanzania
One of the most controversial “structural adjustment” policies promoted by the World Bank and the IMF is the imposition of user fees on primary healthcare and education. These user fees have been associated with lower school enrollment and reduced access to primary healthcare. For some years, the World Bank, while acknowledging problems with the implementation of user fees, defended them in principle on the grounds that there were, or were supposed to be, exemptions for the poor, even though, as the World Bank was eventually forced to admit, the track record indicates that exemption schemes do not work.
UN Betrayal of Western Sahara Appears Imminent
When a country violates fundamental principles of international law and when the UN Security Council demands that it cease its illegal behavior, one might expect that the world body would impose sanctions or other measures to foster compliance. This has been the case with Iraq, Libya, and other international outlaws in recent years.