|
||
|
THIRD WORLD RESURGENCE #194/195 (October/November 2006) This issue’s contents:
North
Korea's nuclear test: A failed Bush policy When North Korea exploded a nuclear device in October, the Republicans in the US blamed it all on President Clinton's resort to 'basketball diplomacy' in the 1990s instead of the use of the 'big stick'! But, as Bruce Cumings argues in this piece, if the US could have learnt anything from past experience, it is that you do not 'confront' the North Koreans. Washington
vs. Pyongyang: War or diplomacy? In this analysis of US policy, John Feffer shows how Bush's combination of uncompromising negotiating positions, strong rhetoric and firm containment measures has served to accelerate North Korea's nuclear weapons programme instead of ushering in the de-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. Unfortunately, Republican reverses in the recent US mid-term elections may not, in Feffer's view, result in a change of course. Time
to end the Korean War Since the US and North Korea are still technically at war, the root cause of the current crisis must be understood, contends Sheila Miyoshi Jager, in the context of the larger crisis, which is the ongoing Korean War. Washington must come to terms with the emergence of a pan-Korean nationalism in South Korea which views reconciliation and ultimately reunification, rather than confrontation, as the only way to resolve this crisis. Nuclear
test signals the need to return to peace agenda If North Korea's action in detonating a nuclear device is regarded as one more blow to the existing global non-proliferation order, then nuclear-weapon states have only themselves to blame. They cannot prevent the spread of nuclear weapons while refusing to fulfil their part of the global bargain by themselves moving towards disarmament. North
Korea: Nuclear dangers and dilemmas North Korea's detonation of a nuclear device should be a wake-up call to the international community to put global nuclear disarmament at the top of its agenda, says Dr Ronald McCoy. What
to do with the world's nuclear arsenal The five declared nuclear-weapon states continue to possess thousands of nuclear weapons even though they are obligated to take disarmament initiatives. It is time for these states to start taking concrete steps to ensure the total elimination of nuclear weapons.
No
real commitments in FAO's 'Food Summit Plus 10' A decade after the 1996 World Food Summit pledged to halve the number of hungry people by 2015, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has reported that almost no progress has been made to realise this goal. Organic
agriculture can contribute to food security, says FAO Organic agriculture can play a major role in reducing world hunger, says a top official of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. Organic
farming improving Ethiopian yields and incomes Organic farming and sustainable agriculture practices in Ethiopia have brought about significant benefits to poor farmers and communities, according to the country's top environment official.
The
backpacker medics Several hundred volunteer healthcare workers dodge bullets and risk arrest to bring a little comfort to tens of thousands of displaced people in eastern Burma.
'New
type of strategic partnership' for China-Africa A summit meeting in November on China-Africa cooperation constituted a landmark in Beijing's growing relationship with the African countries. With representatives of 48 African countries in attendance (41 of them at the level of head of state or government), the summit proclaimed the emergence of a new type of strategic partnership.
Milton Friedman and the economics of empire Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist who died recently, attracted some effusive tributes for his contribution to economic theory. Few of these, however, highlighted his sordid role as an adviser to the Pinochet military government in Chile and his contribution to the intellectual moulding of the regime's economists (known as the 'Chicago Boys') who implemented the free-market theories which they had imbibed under his tutelage at the University of Chicago. Greg Grandin focusses on this dreadful legacy and the merciless new world which it ushered in. How
multinational corporations avoid paying their taxes Drug companies and other multinational corporations based in the US systematically avoid paying tax in the US on their profits. The companies elect to realise profits in low-tax countries and because of this, the American public have to pay billions of unnecessary taxes to make up for the shortfall, writes Peter Rost, an ex-pharmaceutical executive.
The
Suez crisis: 50 years on The Suez crisis, which erupted some 50 years ago, was one of the defining events of the post-war world. It began in July 1956 with the nationalisation of the Suez Canal by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and culminated in a tripartite invasion of Egypt in October of that year. Although the origins of this crisis can be traced to the withdrawal of a World Bank loan to Egypt, the Bank's decision merely served as a catalyst to bring to the surface the new tensions and conflicts which were emerging within a Western-dominated post-war world order. T Rajamoorthy analyses the Suez crisis and its significance. 50
years after Suez, US hegemony ebbing fast According to long-term Middle East observers, 50 years after the Suez crisis propelled the US to the position of the dominant Western power in the region, it faces the possibility of being pushed out altogether.
Cuba
still under siege after 45 years Contrary to the wishful thinking of the Miami emigres and the US, which has recently tightened its 45-year embargo on Cuba, whether Fidel Castro is dead or alive, one of the most remarkable revolutions of the 20th century is not on the verge of collapse. Killing
hope in Beit Hanoun The recent slaughter of Palestinian civilians, mainly women and children, in Beit Hanoun, Gaza is the latest outrage committed by the occupying Israeli forces. A UN Security Council resolution criticising Israel for the massacre was promptly vetoed by the US, but the rabid ravings of US envoy John Bolton could not persuade 156 countries, including all EU members, from voting to censure Israel in a similar resolution before the UN General Assembly. We publish Ramzy Baroud's moving account of the carnage, along with a report on Bolton's unabashedly pro-Israel stance at the UN. Darfur:
Local strife with global repercussions The conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan is a complex one, with multiple factors intersecting at local, regional, national and international levels. There has been an 'involution of conflict', as various parties were drawn into a cyclical, seemingly unending dynamic of violence. It is not simply about Arabs versus Blacks. The
meaning of Gates The replacement of Donald Rumsfeld as US Defence Secretary with Robert Gates signals a shift from imperial offense to imperial defence, says Michael T Klare. The
various meanings of Ortega's triumph The victory of Daniel Ortega, the Sandinista leader, in the recent Nicaraguan presidential elections is clearly an unwelcome outcome for the US, which toppled his earlier administration some 16 years ago. But what are the real implications of his current triumph? Gabriel San Roman analyses the importance of this victory.
Indonesia:
Historians under criminal investigation A witch-hunt appears to have begun against historians who have chosen to depart from the Indonesian army-sponsored version of the events behind the September 1965 coup attempt in the country. Guatemala:
the 'perfect place to commit a crime'
'Rent-a-womb':
The latest Indian export Surrogate motherhood is the latest form of services outsourcing which India is offering the West.
Veiled
threats It is mystifying how countries which pride themselves on their tolerance, pluralism and love of diversity can exhibit such prejudice and discrimination over something so personal as a veil, says Jeremy Seabrook. For subscription and enquiries: THIRD WORLD NETWORK Tel: 60-4-2266728/2266159; Fax: 60-4-2264505; Email: twnet@po.jaring.my
|
||
