Labor, Trade, & Finance Archives - Page 130 of 237

The Other Axis of Evil

by Ignacio Ramonet | Mar 1, 2002

We need to be aware that neo-liberal globalization is attacking the social order on three fronts. The economic front is the most important since it affects all humanity. It is presided over by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization: they form the real axis of evil.1 This loathsome triumvirate creates massive havoc and seeks to impose an economic agenda founded on the predominance of the private sector and the markets, and on profit. Consider the fraud surrounding Enron, Turkey’s monetary crisis, the collapse of Argentina, and the environmental devastation.

When History Repeats Itself, Again And Again

by Sam Bahour, Michael Dahan | Mar 1, 2002

The first Palestinian refugee camps were a product of the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. In 1967, when Israel militarily occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, a second wave of Palestinian refugees was created. Today, Ariel Sharon and his government are creating a third wave of Palestinian refugees by attacking those very same refugees who, decades ago, fled for their lives and have been living under illegal Israeli occupation ever since.

“We are the Democrats:” The Crisis in Zimbabwe and the Death of the NEPAD

by Ian Taylor | Mar 1, 2002

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?

by Abdumannob Polat | Mar 1, 2002

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.

Thabo Mbeki’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development: Breaking or Shining the Chains of Global Apartheid?

by Patrick Bond, John Gershman | Mar 1, 2002

(Editor’s Note: Launched in October 2001, the New Economic Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD online at www.nepad.org) aims to establish a “new framework of interaction with the rest of the world, including the industrialized countries and multilateral organizations” as a means of putting Africa on a high-growth path. As a project of the African Union, it tries to articulate a regional development strategy. The NEPAD outlines a reciprocal set of commitments between Africa states, donor governments, and the private sector as a framework for managing Africa’s integration into the world economy.

Get Out of the Territories

by Graham Usher | Feb 1, 2002

As war raged in the occupied territories, peace flowered in Tel Aviv. On Saturday, February 16, 14,000 Israelis marched, sang peace anthems, lit candles, and demanded Israel “Get out of the territories, get back to ourselves!”

Reviewing the Korea-U.S. Summit: What Lies Beneath

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

Reviewing the Korea-U.S. Summit: What Lies Beneath By Brent (Won-Ki) Choi February 22, 2002

Industrial Unrest in China: A Labor Movement in the Making?

by Tim Pringle | Feb 1, 2002

“What the hell have you come here for? We’ve got nothing here! The mines have shut down and those bastards in their offices are corrupt to the bone! We had a strike, but there’s no way of controlling them. It’s not like the USA where everyone’s rich and you’ve got democracy. Shulan Town? It’s a joke.”

Food Supremacy: America’s Other War

by Devinder Sharma | Feb 1, 2002

As the American and allied military forces continue to operate in Afghanistan, the world is increasingly getting dragged into yet another war–the war for food supremacy. And like the war against terrorism, the battle for food superiority is also going to be long drawn. With the battle lines already sketched and with the back-up support of international financial institutions, this war is being aggressively pursued on the trade front.

Redressing Evil: Advice from South Korea

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

U.S. President George W. Bush’s upcoming trip to South Korea in mid-February is an opportunity for the Bush administration to demonstrate its new vision by explicitly support the “sunshine policy” of South Korea’s President Kim Dae-Jung–a policy that has led to significant reduction in tensions in one of the last remaining hotspots of the cold war. Over the past year, the Bush administration has demonstrated little of the flexibility and vision necessary to reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula. Instead, the administration has been inconsistent and obstructionist.