The World Today Middle East Democracy: Forbidden Fruit Israelis will choose a new government later this month. Palestinians had also planned to go to the polls, but their election has been shelved. Under occupation and expected to stop the violence as well as reform, their situation has done little to bolster faith in democracy. This personal assessment of the power of the polls indicates that free and fair elections have not made much headway in the Middle East.
The World Today Books - Europe's Far Right: Blip or Danger? Preachers of Hate: The Rise of the Far Right by Angus Roxburgh. Published by Gibson Square Books, November 2002
The World Today Globalisation - Unfinished Business: Labouring Abroad Immigrant workers are largely unwelcome in the wealthy west – unless, that is, they do jobs westerners have no taste for. But controls on workers’ access make a mockery of globalisation and may carry more serious dangers too.
The World Today Justice and the 'War Against Terrorism': Beyond the Law Where should we draw the line between war and law enforcement in the fight against terrorism?
The World Today International Terrorism and Al Qaeda: Still Threatening Has the west got the measure of Al Qaeda? The list of attacks attributed to it continues to grow, Mombasa and Bali having just been added. But what about the battle for Muslim hearts and minds, has that war even begun?
The World Today The Bali Bomb and Australian Policy: Costly Delusion Militant Islam was there in Indonesia for all to see long before the Bali bomb. How could Australian security analysts miss it?
The World Today Indonesia and Aceh: Ceasefire or more? The signing of a peace agreement with a rebel group is generally good news, especially in the light of the ‘war’ against terrorism and when the conflict concerned is within Indonesia, scene of the Bali bomb.
The World Today Brazil: In Power at Last At his fourth attempt, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva – known universally as Lula – is becoming President of Brazil. It is the first time that someone speaking for the poor and dispossessed has held this office. Will he really be able to introduce a new way of doing politics in a country with a fragile economy?
