The World Today: January 2006: January 2006

Last July the United States struck a unique nuclear deal with India. This has polarised the international community and even provoked doubts in the US Congress. Seven years after the world condemned India’s nuclear tests, why is Washington now prepared to support the country’s nuclear programme? Critics argue that the move undermines global nuclear control mechanisms, and will heighten tensions with Pakistan.

The good news about the relief effort in Sri Lanka was that probably no one died of deprivation: food, health care and transitional shelters were swiftly provided and adequate. But the unsystematic response has left almost every victim feeling that others have it better. The predominantly Tamil and Muslim people in the north and east are convinced that victims in the south are better off because they receive more government aid, while in the Sinhalese-speaking south, the north and east are resented because they are receiving the bulk of attention from nongovernmental organisations.

A five-year plan for international aid for Afghanistan is to be thrashed out at an international conference in London this month. But despite broadly successful presidential and parliamentary elections in the last fifteen months, security remains one of the biggest issues.

Can the eurozone survive in its present form? This may seem a surprising question in view of the number of times the euro has been hailed as a ‘success’ in the seven years since its introduction. But a closer look at economic developments under the surface reveals some highly disturbing developments.

By deciding to open membership talks with Turkey, the European Union has torn up a longstanding approach to dealing with nearby Moslem nations. Instead of containment at arms length with buffer states, Europe is proposing an embrace. The process will also alter links with Balkan states, offering new influence to central Europe.

Is Russia heading back to its old authoritarian ways? Is America trying to produce a democratic revolution there to follow those in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan? The story of proposed new laws about nongovernmental organisations is more complex but nonetheless intriguing.