Globalaffairs

Issue 25/ September-December 2011
By Glen Ruffle

Few would have thought in 1969, that an ardent worshipper of Egypt’s anti-imperial pan-Arabist leader, President Gamal Nasser, who led a coup and gained power in Libya, would only in August 2011 finally lose control. This week, after 42 years, his regime finally crumbled.

Muammar Gaddafi passionately chased after pan-Arabic unity, but few others shared his vision after Nasser died. Egypt’s next leader, Sadat, rejected Gaddafi, even subjecting him to a military defeat in 1977, and Sudan had a complex political situation at home to deal with without Gaddafi’s dreams.

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Issue 24/May-August 2011
By Abdulkadir Suleiman

It is literally perfect to assume that the Norway shooting spree on Friday was not come by chance as Europe has been experiencing wave of loathing for the last ten years throughout the continent. The Norway incident was not more than a disclose of, what perhaps, most people won’t actually realize unless it is affected by score of people and that obscurity has ragged approximately hundred lives in a couple of hours.

The numbers of individuals who have excessively obsess a xenophobic as well as Islamphobia expressions were significantly increased in European metropolitan cities since 9/11 incident and in result the conservatisms have grabbed some attention since then. In deed the action by Anders Behring Breivik has translated the inner hearts of those individuals into really political manifestation.

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Issue 24/May-August 2011
By Abdulkadir Suleiman

Although China’s strategic position in the region is still on its track of conventionality yet the zero-sum game politics of Korean-peninsula would likely be shifted into a new direction of a new adopted policy. China has opened up its markets rightly opposite on its ideological foundation and adopted what some analysts call as a State-run-Capitalism. On the other hand, North Korea even further closed tightly its doors and stands quite opposite on the direction of China. But America and it’s traditionally ally in the region South Korea, stand somewhere in between them watching and thinking properly of how and where to push the pendulum. If America and South Korea keep preserving their existing policy of isolating North Korea and refusing to resume the six-talks unless and until North Korea officially acknowledges the Yeonpyeong incidents; what effort China would have to adopt as to balance its Strategic interest in region as well as that of globally economic interest.

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By Niruban Balachandran
Issue 24/ May-August 2011

From conflict prevention to third-party mediation, intercultural organizations have long had a unique history of resolving ethnic disputes between communities. The importance of grassroots intercultural organizations to international peacebuilding, which has often been overlooked, is now attracting the attention of governments, NGOs, diplomats and multilateral organizations worldwide.

Below are profiles of five intercultural organizations that have different geographical locations, different goals and different visions for the future, but are united in a belief that cross-cultural dialogue and mutual respect are crucial to peacebuilding. They are Seeds of Peace, The Valley of Peace Initiative, The Pontamina Choir of Bosnia-Herzegovina, The Solomon Asch Center for the Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict and Peace Direct.

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Issue 24/May-August 2011
By Guy Burton

On 19 May Barack Obama tried to reset American foreign policy towards the Middle East. This was in the wake of the uprisings that have swept the region, resulting in the overthrow of the Tunisian and Egyptian presidents and the ongoing confrontations between people on the street and their regimes in Bahrain, Yemen, Libya and Syria (1).

The Libyan and Syrian cases have been especially prominent in the West in recent months. This is mainly because of the different approaches taken by the West towards the two countries. In Libya the West appears to be actively engaged in trying to topple Muammar Gaddafi’s leadership through NATO’s implementation of a no-fly zone and airstrikes against the regime. The British, French and American forces have been at the forefront of this movement; the Italians have also recently joined. Meanwhile, despite continuing protests and the heavy handed response of the authorities in Syria, which has resulted in hundreds of deaths and more injured, the West has avoided taking action.

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Issue 24/May-August 2011
By Erica L. Green

A transition of power has finally taken place in Côte d’Ivoire, but many are uncertain if there will be peace. For the last four months, there has been a tense standoff between outgoing President Gbagbo, and President-elect Ouattara. However, several weeks ago, Gbagbo’s rein was brought to an abrupt end by his arrest, giving Ouattara full sovereignty over the country.

Gbagbo’s reaction to the election loss took many by surprise. Previously, to some he was viewed as a role model that brought peace and economic stability to the country. Up until now, Côte d’Ivoire was considered one of the most stable and prosperous countries in Africa. Reflecting on Gbagbo’s time in office, some wonder if his down fall was the self perception of a man too successful to step down. On the other hand, others argue he should have stepped down a long time ago.

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Issue 23/January-March 2011
By Erica L. Green

The problem with writing about a country that is so rapidly changing is that by the time this is article is published, everything will be old news. However, one question will probably remain the same. What will Haiti’s future hold? One tragedy after another in past year alone has left many perplexed over the fate of the country of Haiti and its people. The year 2010 brought a deadly earthquake, a cholera epidemic, and election riots. These incidents alone had a death toll of an estimated 280,000 of Haiti’s inhabitants. When is enough enough? What will it take for the country to stabilize itself? Can a country so ravaged by poverty and health disparities before the earthquake rebound after so many setbacks?

I had the privilege of journeying back to Haiti one year after the devastating earthquake. What a difference 12 months can make. Structurally, there were some signs of improvement, but much has stayed the same. The biggest change, however, is probably in the sentiment of the people. These days many of the Haitians receiving aid are a tad suspicious, and rightly so. Many international faces have come and gone. Many promises of support have been, but lie dormant in the hands of the donors until the government can stabilize and develop a system to manage these resources, which is arguable the cause of such wide-spread destruction and loss of life.

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Issue 23/January-March 2011
By Guy Burton

The issue of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank forms a central part of any negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. The settlements started to be built in the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza after the end of the 1967 war. While settlements grew under Labor governments during the 1970s, it was after the election of the pro-settler and right-wing Likud party in 1977 that the number of settlers and settlements increased rapidly.

Over the past decade the number of settlements in the West Bank has reached 121 with another 100 classified as outposts. While the settlements were officially sanctioned, outposts emerged without any authorization by the state. However, both types receive the same assistance from the Israeli state in terms of security and road construction around them. In total, around 460,000 Jewish Israeli settlers currently live in the West Bank. Around 191,000 of them live in or around Jerusalem with 271,000 in the rest of the West Bank. The settler population is also growing faster than the rest of the Israeli population, at 4-6% compared to 1.5% each year over the past two decades (1).

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Issue 23/January-March 2011
By David Criekemans

In January 2011, Belgium broke a record. It became the country in Western Europe that needed the most days ever in order to form a new federal government. Since the federal elections of June 2010, seven political parties are trying to form a new government and are attempting to reorganize the Belgian federation via a process called ‘state reform’.

In Flanders, the nationalist party N-VA of Bart De Wever won the elections, which is a centre right party. But in Wallonia, the socialist party PS of Elio Di Rupo won the elections. Both “big guys” today still try to reconcile ‘water’ and ‘fire‘, but until now this has only produced a lot of steam and a political impasse, instead of a political deal. The clock is already counting more than 215 days, and today it seems that the politicians are even much further away from a political deal than ever. What is happening? Is Belgium a non-government country? Is the Belgian federation about to break up?

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