The World Today

July 2008: July 2008

Power cuts have become almost routine, attacks on refugees from Zimbabwe and elsewhere have left dozens dead and hundreds injured, and the man most likely to become president faces corruption charges. These dramatic upheavals are symptoms of South Africa’s failure to confront its long-term problems.

Articles

Activists from Open Europe think-tank hold a banner in the colours of the Irish flag to urge EU leaders to stop the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty outside the European Council.

Ahead of the French holiday rush for relaxation in warm waters, President Nicolas Sarkozy has ﬂung himself into the Mediterranean policy pool. Not content with existing arrangements, plans and processes for dealing with those on the other shore, the President has built his very own scheme, now adopted by the European Union. But the tides have not been altogether kind.

The African Peer Review Mechanism: Lessons from the Pioneers, by Ross Herbert and Steven Gruzd, The South African Institute of International Affairs, Johannesburg, 2008.

Where is the G8 invitation for the Gulf? There was a moment when Russia had to fight for a place at the table with leading industrial nations, especially in the crisis-ridden 1990s.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy rests on contradictory pillars. It asserts Islamic and Arab credentials, while standing beside the United States; backing regional compromise, but conceding little to Iranian interests. The recent ebb and ﬂow of forces in Lebanon underlines the complexities.

Indian women protesting against electricity price increases in Hyderabad

Oil people call them pipe dreams: plans to transport energy across vast distances to places where it is needed most. That need is clear in Pakistan and India, but can the obstacles be overcome at this time of high prices, to turn the recurring dreams into reality?

Also in this issue

The death and destruction in Burma as a result of Cyclone Nargis may yet come close to the Asian Tsunami in impact: some 120,000 dead and 2.5 million needing help now, compared to 190,000 deaths and three million displaced in 2004. The level of devastation might have been less in Burma, but for the government’s decision to control the international response. The impact of this on the global policy community, and the country’s fractured opposition, has been extensive.

More than a year has passed since North Korea promised to end its nuclear activities as part of the three- stage process. The cycle of missed deadlines and disagreements – the latest in a failure to detail these activities by the end of last year – sounds familiar. But how are we to understand this secretive land and make sense of the predictions about it?