World Today, The

Oil: Supply And Demand

Accidents Will Happen

The surge in oil prices in 2000 provoked energy policy reviews in the US, the EU and its member countries, and in Japan and China. The conclusions were broadly similar: energy trade is inevitable. Stability and security of supply can best be achieved by persuading energy exporting countries outside the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to adopt investor-friendly policies and open their oil and gas sectors to private investment to support future energy exports.

Saudi Arabia

Terminal Decline?

Under Wahhabi influence, a hard-line religious minority, the Saudi royal family poured millions of dollars into institutions that fed extremist ideology to students at home and in many parts of the Islamic world. But by the time these graduates had finished their studies, they turned against their original benefactors in Riyadh. Worse, by promoting hard-line Wahhabis, the government had alienated vast sections of Saudi Society, including liberals and moderate Islamists.

Iraq And The Middle East

Divisive Forces

Hollis discusses the American dealings with Iraq and surrounding countries. Without regional cooperation Iraq may never be stable, but Washington is focused on shutting out the foreigners and making the place a trailblazer for democracy. Perhaps the US doesn't realize that the neighbors are part of the fabric in Iraq and there is no way to isolate it from the wider region. It would also be beneficial for Washington officials to remember that the success of the transition to indigenous rule in...

America And The International System

Resent, Resist, Compete

From one perspective, America's successful campaign to topple Saddam Hussein demonstrated its readiness to act as it sees fit, launching the war even though it failed to attain the approval of the UN Security Council. However, by acting against the court of world opinion, the US has compromised its international legitimacy. As a consequence, nations are more likely to resent rather than respect US power and resist rather than rally behind its leadership.

Democratic Republic Of Congo

Shaky Transition

Barely a year after its inception, the Democratic Republic of Congo's transitional government could be close to disintegration. In the second coup attempt in less than three months, renegade forces briefly seize control of the national television station and announce that the army was in charge. Woodside opines that stabilizing the situation will not only require coordination among fractious elements in Kinshasa, but also the cooperation of key regional players.

Serbian Elections

Nationalist Renewal

The victory of nationalist extremist radical party leader Tomislav Nikolic in the first round of the Serbian presidential election is likely to encourage the international community to mobilize support around his nearest challenger, Boris Tadic. Tadic is seen to represent general modernization, while Nikolic is regarded as harking back to the era of former Pres Slobodan Milosevic. Pettifer opines that renewal of nationalism is viewed as a symptom of the failure of post-conflict governments to...

Books British Foreign Policy

Hawks Flying

Kendall reviews The New Mandarins: How British Foreign Policy Works by John Dickie.

Exploiting Minors In Armed Conflict

Too Young to Die

Fox reveals that the use of children in war zones is fast becoming the norm, despite conventions on children's rights. The London-based Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers offers a working definition of a child soldier as any person under eighteen years of age who is a member of or attached to the armed political forces or an armed political group, whether or not there is an armed conflict. Fox opines that no matter if a minor falls within the working definition of child soldier, thei...

American Military And The 'War' On Terrorism

Watching Over Africa

In June last year, before starting out on a tour of Africa, Pres George W. Bush presented an outline of his policy. His first goal of the partnership with Africa is to help establish peace and security across the continent. In line to this policy, the Americans have devised a three-pronged strategy, which include building Africa's security capability, acquiring bases and other assets on the continent, and intervening directly when American interests cannot be addresses in other ways.

Agricultural Commodity Crisis

And so to Market

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) established a high-level panel on commodities to bring together governments, academics, the private sector and civil society organizations to brainstorm, analyze and promote workable solutions to commodity problems. UNCTAD's recent report on commodity issues says that markets have not provided the necessary solutions to instability and secular decline in commodity prices. It further reveals that the main reasons why markets fail are price vo...

East Timor

Diplomacy On a Shoestring

The experience of the 24-year Indonesian occupation, in particular the intense international lobby campaign, which Jose Ramos Horta and other exiled Timorese leaders undertook so effectively, has intimately shaped present-day diplomacy. Now, as foreign minister, Horta is facing a new challenge of building a professional foreign service and foreign policy, which will embed East Timor in a web of international alliances and regional groupings so that it will never again face the threat of forei...