Globalaffairs

Issue 18/December-January 2010
By Juan Luis Dorado Merchán

What will the tensions between Columbia and Venezuela come to? Will the tensions brought on by international leaders make the violence escalate or even lead to an outright confrontation in the area? Is the new agreement between Bogota and Washington about military bases to blame for the reaction of Chavez?

There are many questions to be answered when analyzing the latest conflict between Columbia and Venezuela. The latest tension. One of many between neighbouring states that seem condemned to perpetual misunderstandings, at least while both leaders are in power. And at least one of them will most likely stay in office for many years to come.

The installation of seven North American bases on Columbian territory, a military agreement whose benefits for Columbia are questionable, is the latest battleground of Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarians. It is a renewed reason to resort to doctrines of fear for the enemy, and thus whip up its bases and allies. A new form of strengthening the Bolivarian Revolution.

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Issue 18/December-January 2010
By Paul Pryce

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), more commonly known as North Korea, is fixed with many labels on the international stage. It has been accused repeatedly of “…unpredictable behaviour…” (1) and assigned the nickname of the Hermit Kingdom by American policymakers. (2) The imagery is quite clear. The portrayal of North Korea is one of a madman running amok in the international system, acting irrationally with impunity and bordering on absolute and institutionalized insanity.

Yet is there some form of rationality evident in North Korean foreign policy? Is North Korea truly as capricious as the public rhetoric of diplomats and political leaders would have us believe, or are the actions of the regime based on careful calculations about what kinds of interaction would best serve the state’s interests? If there is some rationality to the manner in which North Korea interacts with its environment, the Northeast Asian region, what can be done to reduce tensions and achieve something approaching normalized relations on the Korean peninsula?

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Issue 18/December- January 2010
By Daniel Puglisi

One day Silvio Berlusconi will be a name in Italian school history books alongside a timeline from beginning to end. His rule, which began for the first time in 1994 will be attributed the title of Berlusconism and university students will write final year theses upon him. His biography will be that of contemporary Italy.

As of 2009, after three separate national election victories he stands as the Italian Republic’s longest serving Prime Minister (1). Interruptions from government collapse, technocratic caretaker administrations and ineffective appearances by the Italian political left have featured in between. To date the billionaire media tycoon-net worth estimated at $6billion and football club owner turned right wing politician has in total only held his premiership for a little over 6 years (2). Yet such is the fragmentary nature of Italian politics that this is an impressive achievement; to date the country has had more than 60 governments since 1945 (3).

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Issue 18/December-January 2010
By Glen Ruffle

For the past century, the global spread of democracy has helped secure peace and stability in the world. It has long been noted that democracies rarely go to war with other democracies, and particularly in this day and age of international communications and globalisation, the capacity for citizens to communicate internationally has grown phenomenally.

Yet 2010 could be the start of the end of this era. The passing into law of the Lisbon Treaty represents a choice by the elite of Europe to choose power instead of democracy. The rise of China as a global power, still controlled by a single party; the secure base of power that Putin and Medvedev have in Russia; and the dictatorships across the Middle East; all of these show us that democracy still has a long way to go. As Vaclav Havel noted, “The era of totalitarian systems has not ended…new, far more sophisticated ways of controlling society are being born” [1]. All of this means one thing: the time of democracy has passed. We are entering a new epoch in world history.

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