The World Today

August & September 2003: August/September 2003

As we move towards the second anniversary of September 11, it may seem eccentric to emphasis how weak the Al Qaeda organisation headed by Osama Bin Laden is — indeed, how weak it has always been.

Articles

The weapon of terrorism has taken a radical new turn, especially in the Middle East. Suicide bombing is widely regarded as legitimate.

In his essay ‘No Name in the Street’, Harlem-born Parisian resident James Baldwin wrote: ‘If one really wishes to know how justice is administered in a country, one does not question the policemen, the lawyers, the judges, or the protected members of the middle class.

Ayesha Ijaz Khan’s essay won her a place as a finalist in last year’s Shell/Economist writing prize.

With the Cold War over, democracy became the only game in town. But the ‘war’ against terror made allies of authoritarian states, especially in Asia. Now democracy is said to be part of the answer for the Middle East, but is it really for export?

Afghanistan could either be one end of a growing arc of instability through the Middle East or an early example of gradual, democratic post-conflict nation building. Cross-border tribal loyalties and control of remote areas in Pakistan may well be decisive.

The Doha development round rapidly degenerated into protectionist brinkmanship. With the ink still wet on the November 2001 Doha declaration, President George Bush dramatically increased US farm subsidies and imposed punitive tariffs on steel imports. More recently, Washington has failed to meet the commitments it made in Doha on patent rights for medicines in poor countries. And the European Union remains aggressively inflexible in agriculture. Prospects for progress at the Cancún ministerial meeting in September are dismal.

Also in this issue

Transatlantic trade rows are legendary – beef and bananas are being followed by a dispute over genetically modified food. In the acrimonious climate after the Iraq invasion, Washington challenged a European ban through the World Trade Organization. Now the WTO may become the loser in a fight few believe America can really win.

The United Nations and peacekeeping don’t automatically go together in any vision of the future. Until less than a decade ago the UN was the only real peacekeeping body in the world. It had been that way since Ralph Bunche dreamed it up as acting UN mediator on Palestine in 1948. Now, everyone does peacekeeping. But how should we do it in a world of weak states where regional concerns often dominate?

Private military companies became notorious when it appeared that they may be doing governments’ dirty work for them. But even the UN has considered using them and there are fresh suggestions that Gurkha soldiers could be employed in Africa. With British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw recently warning against recruiting mercenaries for the Ivory Coast, regulation seems essential. Yet the British government has put off such a move for more consultation.

The Andean nation of Peru, like much of Latin America, is trapped in a web of contradictions. With one of the fastest growing economies in the region, President Alejandro Toledo’s approval rating has dropped from fifty nine percent to less than twelve percent – an unprecedented level. The murderous Shining Path guerrillas, soundly defeated in the 1990s, are enjoying a resurgence, kidnapping seventy one pipeline workers in early June, then ambushing an army patrol and killing seven people in July. Experiencing a democratic renaissance after a decade of authoritarian rule, popular disgust with political parties and old-style political leaders has seldom been higher.

Hard on the heels of the British decision to delay application to join the euro currency zone comes a Swedish referendum on the same issue. With four new European Union members in the neighbourhood, much is at stake. The euro could become a major unifying force in the Baltic and a valuable economic stimulant.