The World Today

Issue: August & September 2000

In this issue:

It is more than three years since the handover for Hong Kong to China. An article in Fortune magazine some two years before that, pronounced the death of the territory. The author argued: ‘As Hong Kong becomes a captive colony of Beijing and increasingly begins to resemble just another mainland city, governed by corruption and political connection rather than the even-handed rule of law, it seems destined to become a global backwater’.

Articles

Asylum seekers are using more and more desperate measures to reach western Europe. Far from reducing the human tide, tighter border controls and restrictions on entry have simply driven the problem underground. Entry restrictions mean that many potential refugees in real need of international protection are simply prevented from seeking asylum in Europe. Without visas or the resources to pay the extortionate fees demanded by traffickers, they have no opportunity to seek refugee status in safe countries.

The US Department of State announced on June 19 that Iran, Iraq, Libya and North Korea will no longer be ‘rogue states’ but rather ‘states of concern’.

Nuclear weapons and their terrifying power to destroy us all are back on the agenda. Russia has just ratified the Nuclear Non-Proliferation and START II treaties. The five main nuclear powers – the United States, Russia, Britain, China and France – have pledged ‘unequivocally’ to ‘ultimately’ eliminate such weapons, though no timetable has been set. But critics at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conference which ended in May, say the process is open ended and too slow. The time is right for two of the smaller nuclear states – Britain and France – to take a radical new initiative for progressive disarmament.

In the world’s last communist power the stock markets have been derided as corrupt, manipulated and protected. Such cynicism is no longer justified – they really are taking the capitalist road.

In 1900, the motor car was a novelty and London streets were clogged with horse-drawn carriages. Emissions – growing piles of horse manure – were seen as a threat by some. As the century progressed, the novelty turned into a mass-produced article of necessity. Oil fuelled this remarkable growth in motorised transport and such has been its impact, in times of both war and peace, that the twentieth century can justifiably be described as the oil era.

From Russia and the Caspian Sea to the Indian subcontinent and the Far East, important and exciting energy developments are taking place in Eurasia – a large geographic area. There are many implications for broader Western goals. These goals fall generally into three categories: energy security; the establishment of stable, market–driven and democratic states; and expansion of new economic opportunities for US and Western investors. The Caspian region is a valuable example of how energy development bears directly on these topics.

Also in this issue

Libya is an international player again. The trial of two men accused of involvement in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988 and the suspension of UN sanctions have ended its isolation. But will its changing international role bring domestic reform?

Empty crisp bags and chocolate biscuits litter the area. Kids in their late teens and twenties crash around the office. Yet at the grubby table, talking serious matters of state, sits a neat-suited European diplomat. Alex Rondos, advisor to the Greek foreign minister, is talking intently with a handful of slightly scruffy students. Even for Belgrade, it is a bizarre contrast. Resistance is in the air and maybe moving to challenge those who run the regime.

The international community is facing a relatively new dilemma in its attempts to resolve civil wars. Should it negotiate peace agreements with leaders it suspects of gross human rights violations or should it attempt to prosecute them? What if calls for justice seem irreconcilable with the search for peace? This is a current dilemma in Sierra Leone, where rebel leader Fodey Sankoh was pressed to join a government, despite accusations of human rights abuses. His failure to keep the bargain highlighted the problem.

There is still strong opposition in America to the International Criminal Court which will come into being once enough countries have ratified it. Most states see it as a powerful weapon against war crimes and genocide. With or without Washington, it seems certain to go ahead.

The Sydney Olympics in September will be the world’s biggest peacetime event. However, the sporting component is only the tip of the iceberg – it will also be a major financial occasion, with dollars overshadowing sporting skills. With its high ideals, the Olympic movement needs to be as accountable and ethical as any large international concern.

The decision by Zimbabwe’s President, Robert Mugabe, to seize white-owned farms – an issue in the recent election campaign – is a powerful reminder that land matters. It remains contentious in southern and eastern Africa because, to a varying degree in each country, it is a focus for the problems of economic inequality, ethnicity and race, rural poverty and land rights. Traditional and modern laws and customs co-exist, and legitimacy – acquired after conquest – is contested.