The World Bank Before Singapore: Continuing Crisis
The change from Wolfensohn to Wolfowitz put a great sense of urgency into the question of what course the world’s most influential financial adviser and financing institution would take. However, Wolfowitz’s first year brought no great surprises.
>>> more

Between Geneva, Singapore and Heiligendamm
With the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) in Geneva suspended, with the G8 summit in St Petersburg deeply flawed, with an irritating outlook for next year's Heiligendamm summit, and - last but not least - with the Bretton Woods twins IMF and World Bank in acute crisis, these days seem to form a perfect scenario for an anti-globaliser's summer festival. But ...
>>> more

'War on Terror' Will be Won at Home
Five years after the twin towers crumbled in a horrifying spectacle, our government’s foreign policy has done more to recruit terrorists and sympathizers than anything that Osama Bin Laden could have imagined. A comment from the US.
>>> more

A Development Agenda for Internet Governance
'Development agendas' in WTO and WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation) mark a new era in global policy spaces, whereby the rights of the South are being asserted. However, the governance of new information and communication technologies ICTs, chiefly the Internet, remains a nebulous zone, with practically no global policy frameworks.
>>> more

Coke/Pepsi and the 'Investment Climate' in India
The Bush administration is facing fierce criticism across India for backing the Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola companies in their fight with local authorities and consumer groups.
>>> more

Doha: What the South Was Asking For
The suspension of the Doha negotiations on 24 July 2006 is a chance for the industrial countries to rebuild trust with the developing world. A prerequisite for further talks would be to take serious the positions of the South. A documentation of these positions.
>>> more

Blow to Cold War Liberalism: Lieberman's Defeat
The defeat of Senator Joe Lieberman in recent Democratic primary in Connecticut is a historic event. It is because of his support for President Bush and the Iraq War. That is what matters. A comment.
>>> more

Fair Trade and Development: The EU's Non-Policy
More and more consumers buy Fair Trade products. However, the EU falls short of providing meaningful support to Fair Trade. A new report, adopted unanimously by the development committee of the European Parliament, addresses these shortcomings in a comprehensive manner.
>>> more

The World Economic Cycle at a Critical Juncture
For the third consecutive year the IMF issued an overall extremely positive appraisal of the world economic development. Yet the impression that the lessons of failed economic policy have been learned is deceptive.
>>> more

G77/China: The System Lacks Good Global Governance
The controversy on the future of the United Nations continues. On 29 May 2006 a special Ministerial meeting of the Group of 77 and China focussed on system wide coherence, secretariat and management reform, mandate review, and financial resources of the UN. The Ministers' Statement in full length.
>>> more

South: No WTO Deal Against Food Security
In a joint communication the G33, the African Group, the ACP and the LDCs warned that they cannot agree to any WTO deal in agriculture which does not meet their needs of food and livelihood security and rural development.
>>> more

A Fair Deal to the World's Migrant Workers
Across the world, millions of people are on the move – doing jobs ranging from manual labour such as harvesting to high-skilled computer programming. Recently the ILO has launched new initiatives on the subject.
>>> more

The Prerequisite to UN Leadership in Development
Kofi Annan's panel on system-wide coherence has come in for considerable criticism. While sceptics see this as yet another ploy to bolster western dominance, symathisers consider it as the final opportunity for a meaningful role of the UN's development architecture.
>>> more

How European Governments are Inflating Aid Figures
A new study exposes how overall official European aid levels are being exaggerated by one third, through the inclusion of figures which most members of the public would be horrified to see counted in development aid statistics.
>>> more

Frontal Attack on the UN: Reform at the Crossroads
There is no doubt that the UN needs reform and the headings are tempting. But proposals that are now being pushed may very well in practice lead to a weakening in stead of a strengthening of the UN.
>>> more

How to Reform the IMF? How Much Weight for Europe?
The current debate about the future of the IMF, such as just recently at the spring meetings, is a historic opportunity for reform. Only those who benefit from the fund’s role as a debt collector and an instrument of disciplinary neo-liberalism might regret the current loss of importance.
>>> more

EU Council Meeting: More, and More Effective Aid
On 10-11 April 2006, EU Development Ministers will gather in Luxembourg for their twice-yearly Council meeting. The meeting provides the first occasion in 2006 to examine progress on promises made by the EU in 2005 towards eradicating poverty.
>>> more

The New Human Rights Council at the United Nations
On 15 March 2006, the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to create a new UN Human Rights Council (HRC), in spite of the obstructive role of the US. On 19 June 2006, the new HRC will start its first session.
>>> more