Globalaffairs

Issue 16/August-September 2009
By Erica L. Green

While the World Health Organization braces the world for the latest H1N1 swine flu outbreak, countries like Uganda are still battling an epidemic they have been fighting for centuries, malaria. This can be a very preventable disease through the use of mosquito nets and prophylactics. However, due to economic conditions, many rural Ugandan couples are swapping their mosquito netting for lacey wedding coutour.

In recent years, many Ugandans are straying away from traditional means of matrimony to adopt those more in line with Christian beliefs [5]. This usually involves a church, a ceremony with family, a pastor, and costly formal attire. The BBC notes that the groom usually has little difficulty unearthing a suit jacket and tie in the sultry Sub-Sahara, but the bride faces more complex challenges. In rural regions, white fabric is often impractical and could be expensive due to the rareness. So to meet the requirements of a white wedding, many creative brides-to-be have turned to their mosquito bed netting [5]. They simply bring their net to the local tailor down the road and in return they get a breath-taking ensemble that seriously rivals Dolce & Gabbana -and for a mere 3.30 Euros ($5 USD). Top that Vera Wang. The Ugandan Ministry of Health, however, cringes at this practice. It not only exposes the women to insecticides, but leaves them netless after the nuptials.

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Issue 16/August-September 2009
By Felien De Smedt

The adequate use of the natural resources of a country is important for the national economy. However the question arises: how does one define “adequate”.

72% of the Peruvian Amazon forest is divided in 64 blocks for the exploration and exploitation of gas and/or oil. Of those, 56 have been just formed since 2004. This intensive increase was an immediate answer to the reduction of costs for foreign investments in Peru (1). In 2007, the Peruvian President, Alán García, announces, in his article The Dog in the Manger Syndrome (El Síndrome del Perro Hortelano) that he doesn’t intend to stop, saying that “[...] reality shows us that we must develop the resources that we do not utilize and put greater effort into our work (2).” Even though the government still doesn’t have a management policy on natural resources in a long term basis, the hydrocarbon landscape keeps extending. But what’s the cost?

Oil extraction has a serious environmental and social impact (3). It violates some of the most fundamental human rights of the indigenous people of the Amazon such as the right to life, to health, to property and social peace. The government has the duty to protect the living space of its citizens and to prevent contamination of the enormous biodiversity of the Amazon forest. The environmental management policy of the Peruvian state is weak. The National Environmental Management System stands under supervision of the National Environment Council (CONAM), a state body disposing of few financial resources and without political clout. Moreover, the environmental impact studies, necessary to register the quality of the environment, are carried out by firms, and contracted by the oil companies themselves. The evaluation lacks objectivity.

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Issue 16/August-September 2009
By Alexandre Calvo Cristina

Proliferation and Non-proliferation, or why states seek nuclear weapons

The development of nuclear weapons led to two different views of their nature, with some claiming the fundamental nature of warfare had not been affected (1), and others seeing them as marking a new era in the field of human conflict. The main argument in favor of the latter view is that due to their sheer effects, a country possessing them would not be attacked by other nuclear powers for fear of retaliation, leading to the so called MAD (mutually assured destruction). It was precisely in order to guarantee this equilibrium of terror and avoid the perceived potential destabilizing effects of missile defense systems (which, by allowing a country to attack another without or with a lessened risk of retaliation might make it an attractive proposition, or at least provide incentives for a first strike in the event of a crisis) that the US and the USSR signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 1972 (2).

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Issue 16/August-September 2009
By Sandra Azima

This discussion aims to highlight the central policy concern which has existed for over two decades in Mexican politics. The issue of drug trafficking remains a challenge for the Mexican authorities and the mission of combating drug cartels and curtailing drug-related violence has consequently turned into a transnational matter. In order to allow for a closer examination of these elements, a consideration of the escalating narco-criminal war needs to be made. The failure of law enforcement institutions to combat drug cartels has lead the Calderón administration to deploy military forces in an attempt to regain control and meanwhile effectively limit violence throughout the nation. Furthermore attention will be drawn to the US-Mexican bilateral relationship, in addition to considering the impact of US gun and drug policies on this enduring global narcotics trade.

Finally the issue of drug abuse and the re-examination of existing policies by the authorities is discussed, to evaluate the effectiveness of such measures in reducing addiction and curbing the rising levels of violence of that this war on drugs has generated.

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Issue 16/August-September 2009
By Glen Ruffle

The greatest financial depression since 1929 is apparently coming to an end. There are signs of growth again, ‘green shoots’ of recovery are emerging as the economies of the world start to pick up the pieces from the past 30 years.

For it was around 30 years ago that the world took the first steps towards the process that began to end last year. With the liberalization of markets under Anglo-sphere leaders Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, the growth of money and credit globally started to really take off.

And under the steady hand of Alan Greenspan, US Federal Reserve Chairman, and his intellectual backer, Ben Bernanke, who succeeded him [1], the world basked in continual growth, with even the most educated economists seemingly oblivious to the imminently approaching demise of the system [2], believing endless, fast growth to be eternally possible.

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Issue 16/August-September 2009
By Tannaz Bandukwalla

Summers have traditionally been the most lethal fighting months in Afghanistan because most Taliban fighters and other guerrillas limit their activities during the long and severe winters but this July has proved to be the deadliest month for U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan since they arrived there at the end of 2001, with 70 foreign troops - including 42 Americans - killed. Six more U.S. soldiers were killed on the first two days of August.

Three factors that have made this summer especially deadly. One was President Obama’s decision to send 21,000 additional troops to the country, including a Marine expeditionary brigade now conducting operations in Helmand Province, one of the most dangerous regions of Afghanistan. The second reason is that the guerrillas’ increasing skill at using improvised explosive devices and the third factor is the upcoming Presidential elections on 20th of August.

The Presidential election has stirred into action and once again brought Afghanistan in fore-front news. The Taliban in Afghanistan warned that they would attempt to derail the presidential election, calling on Afghans to boycott the poll and urging them to “join the trenches of jihad”. A statement issued by the Taliban’s leadership council and posted on a website it uses (www.alemarah1.net), said the election was a U.S. “invention” and urged voters to join them instead of taking part in a poll labelled as a farce. The statement was the first of its kind issued by the Taliban urging the direct disruption of the election.

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Issue 16/August-September 2009
By Roger Casas

More than one year after ethnic riots rocked the city of Lhasa and other Tibetan-populated areas in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the inter-ethnic violence recently unleashed in Urumqi, capital city of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, has brought to light the deep ethnic cleavages and tensions showing the social fabric of the country. According to Uyghur (1) exile organizations, violence broke out when the police tried to dissolve by force what had been so far a peaceful demonstration by a Uyghur group; allegedly in reaction to this, Uyghur attacked the police as well as Han (2) shop-owners and passer-bys. Officially, more than 190 people were killed and almost 1,700 injured in the riots. Strain was also high during the following days, when armed bands of Han civilians patrolled the streets of Urumqi vowing retaliation against the Uyghurs -and forcing the regional government to display an impressive police and military force to avoid new clashes.

Accounts of the riots in Urumqi are in any case confuse and contradictory, due partly to the strong control still exercised by the Chinese government over the media: in spite of the relative openness in relation to similar incidents during the past decade, figures of dead and injured, as well as of their ethnic distribution have been issued by government offices with extreme caution, while attempts for an independent verification of the facts have been blocked.

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Issue 16/August-September 2009
Erica L. Green

The Olympic Games last year was a crowning moment for Beijing and the country China. The games all began with the opening ceremony as a cotillion-like showcase of new wealth, appreciation for fine art, and athletic prowess. However, it was evident even before this event that China has come of age in today’s global economy and has emerged as an influential force. Currently, China securely sits within the ranks of the world’s top economic Group of 20 (G20), Group of 8 (G8), and now G2. It is the world’s largest manufacturer of exported goods and it is a chief stakeholder in the global economic recovery. With such gains, however, how are the Chinese people adjusting to the recent prosperity? How are these changes shaping the new generation, Generation Next (16 to 25 year olds)? Is it possible to have too much wealth and freedom?

Despite the recent economic gains and success that China’s Gen Nexters enjoy, many still remember the way China once was. The 20th century was a time of great change and turmoil in Chinese history. Beginning in 1911 China’s political system shifted rapidly from an imperial state to a republic, then to communism. After the Japanese invasion during World War II, China joined forces with its ally Russia. Deng Yan, a Chinese-American immigrant now living in the United States, witnessed much of the Mao Revolution first-hand. She states the partnership was fueled by Stalin who is said to have influenced Mao Zedong, who took over shortly after in 1949. The ideology held today in China under the current president, Hu Jintao, is a hybrid of traditional communism and western influenced capitalism. This new government has strong traditional conservatism at its core with branches of enthusiasm and vigor.

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