Labor, Trade, & Finance Archives - Page 127 of 235

USAID Boycott Off Target

by Sam Bahour | May 1, 2002

Palestine has scarce resources to face the enormous challenges in a struggle that has now continued for over five decades. Operating with a scarcity of resources is true of our Palestinian Authority (PA), the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that make up civil society, and our local and national institutions. For this reason, it is imperative that all available resources be mobilized in efforts that have the greatest potential political, social, and community return.

Central Asian Elites, Suddenly, Shift Into Revolt, Part I

by Ahmed Rashid | May 1, 2002

For much of the 1990s Boris Shikhmuradov was the most acceptable public face of Turkmenistan’s dictatorial regime, traveling the world as Foreign Minister. An Armenian by birth and a former journalist, the suave and jovial Shikhmuradov spoke English fluently. He made a sharp contrast to his dour boss, President Saparmyrat Niyazov, who goes by Turkmenbashi the Great (Father of all Turkmen) and presides over an extreme Soveit-style personality cult. Shikhmuradov countered this bizarre image of Central Asian governance. Now–like other former elites–he is opposing it.

Russia, China Warily Watch for American Intrusions in Central Asia, Part II

by Ahmed Rashid | May 1, 2002

As small Central Asian countries have struck military alliances with the United States, their leaders have asserted their own power more aggressively. At the same time, the presence of American soldiers threatens to dilute Russia’s and China’s power to influence the region’s politics and economics. Since September 2001, Russia and China have cooperated with Washington’s moves and generally affirmed its aims. But as the fighting in Afghanistan winds down, hard-liners in both countries are expressing resentment and apprehension about a prolonged American presence in a region they consider their backyard.

Corporate America and Israeli Occupation

by Sam Bahour | May 1, 2002

In light of the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, the time has come for corporate boardrooms of companies involved in that region to reassess their role, even if that role has been to remain silent for all these years. The corporate world must channel its influence to end the Israeli occupation. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has reached a dangerous point that has the potential to disrupt business activity, especially U.S. business interests throughout the Middle East. Long-term U.S. national strategic interests in the region are also at risk–namely the cost of and uninterrupted flow of oil. Millions of U.S. corporate and citizen tax dollars spent on building the Palestinian economy were lost in this latest Israeli offensive against the Palestinian civil and national infrastructure.

The Homeland is in Danger

by Aviad Kleinberg | May 1, 2002

I did not pick this title lightly. There comes a time when even a historian, well versed in patient, hysteria-free observation of historical processes, feels his hair stand on end as he realizes how bad, how really bad, things are getting.

Afghan Women Emerge As Elections Take Place

by Ahmed Rashid | May 1, 2002

In a reversal of the oppressive Taliban era, educated Afghan women are using the elections to the upcoming Loya Jirga, or grand tribal council, to press for their civil rights. Many are now seeking a greater political and social role in Afghanistan, whereas until a few months ago women were virtual non-people.

Kim Jong-il: Promises, Promises

by Brent (Won-Ki) Choi | May 1, 2002

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il seems to have been born with a natural charisma. To the constant amazement of the outside world, he has been winning the hearts of foreign visitors who meet him face to face, from former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright to South Korean President Kim Dae-jung to conservative South Korean lawmaker Park Geun-hye.

U.S. Eyes Caspian Oil in “War On Terror”

by Armen Georgian | Apr 1, 2002

The arrival of U.S. troops in Georgia on April 29 raised as many glasses in Ankara and Baku as it did jitters in Moscow. Touted as a new front in the “war on terror,” the Bush administration is in reality scrambling for Caspian oil in a bid to oust Russia from its traditional backyard. Washington insists its “train and equip force'” of 10 combat helicopters and 150 military instructors is solely intended to help Georgia combat Islamic radicals in the lawless Pankisi Gorge, allegedly a safe haven for al Qaeda militants and their Chechen allies. But other motives became apparent, although largely unnoticed by the Western press when Georgian Defense Ministry official Mirian Kiknadze told Radio Free Europe on February 27: “The U.S. military will train our rapid reaction force, which is guarding strategic sites in Georgia–particularly oil pipelines.” He was referring to the embryonic Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) project, set to reduce Georgia’s and Azerbaijan’s energy reliance on Russia and bring the southern Caucasus into the U.S. fold.

A Way Out

by Sam Bahour, Michael Dahan | Apr 1, 2002

Every foreign military invasion has a predefined end called withdrawal. The hideous Israeli incursion of internationally recognized Palestinian territories is no exception. Every military operation has a defined political goal, yet Sharon seems to be keeping this a secret from his cabinet, the Israeli people and, indeed, the world.

Economic Development Under Fire

by Sam Bahour | Apr 1, 2002

The Palestinian economy is one of the many, but less often discussed, victims of Israeli military aggression on Palestinian towns, cities, villages, and refugee camps. Before Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon was elected, the Palestinian economy was engaged in an internationally acknowledged pattern of growth. This growth started to be realized despite the fact that during the first several years after Oslo, the Palestinian standard of living actually decreased because of Israeli closures and land appropriation for illegal settlement building. The Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator in the Occupied Territories (UNSCO) reported, “In the spring of 2000, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) Ministry of Finance projected that the Palestinian economy would continue to grow as it had since 1997 and that real growth rates for GDP and GNP for the Palestinian territory would reach 5 and 6 percent respectively.” Today the Palestinian economy is in shambles.