Transnational news - 22 April 2008

Editor's pick: Articles of the week

	Examining relationships between European Union policies and migratory pressures Susan George Instead of relying on border police, the EU should assess the effects of its own policies on poor, migrant-sending countries. Unless the policies that perpetuate the conditions for poverty and injustice are changed, the reasons for migration will remain.

	In the shadow of debt The sad but sobering story behind a quarter-century of stagnation Walden Bello The 25 year long stagnation of the Philippine economy is the consequence of the government's reduced capacity to invest - as it prioritises debt repayments, and of the loss of revenues due to trade liberalisation.

	United States manoeuvre to carve up Bolivia with autonomy vote Roger Burbach The illegal referendum held on Sunday to declare autonomy in Santa Cruz, Bolivia's richest province, is backed by the Bush administration in an attempt to halt the leftward drift of South America.

	Latin America needs a new drug policy approach TNI's Martin Jelsma participated in the inaugural meeting of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy which revealed growing political support for alternative global drug policies on the continent.

Enlazando Alternativas 3

The third Linking Alternatives encounter
will be held from 13-16 May in Lima, Peru, sponsored by various social movements and non-governmental organizations in Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The encounter will coincide with the Fifth Summit of Heads of State and Government of LAC and the EU, and will create opportunities for critical analysis of relationships between the EU and LAC.
www.enlazandoalternativas.org

New publication

	Budgeting for the future: Building another Europe Teresa Maisano and Tommaso Rondinella (eds.) A critical civil society outlook on the EU's 2007-2013 Financial Framework that examines a wide range of European policies including anti-poverty measures, corporate tax policies, global trade policies and environmental conservation.

Global outlook stories

Reaping what they have sown
Hilary Wainwright
While the radical left are in no position to say 'I told you so', reviving public service values and practices is the only way to renew the Labour Party in the UK.
See also: New Labour is dead: Power can't shape truth by Tariq Ali

Falling back on pseudo-science?
Praful Bidwai
After trotting out the distorted arguments that action on climate change will harm the poor and that India is already doing enough, policymakers are now clutching at straws to duck India's responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

A defeated Left tries to recompose
Paolo Gerbaudo
An entire array of old and new political identities on the Italian Left have lost political representation in the space of one election. What are the lessons that can be learnt from this defeat and how can the left rise again?

The Left's prospect is looking up
Praful Bidwai
Any remedies introduced by the newly elected right-wing governments in Europe will not halt the unprecedented crisis of neoliberalism, while the changes introduced by the Left, and not only in Latin America, have more durable prospects.

To stay or not to stay?
Boris Kagarlitsky
Vladimir Putin's destiny is becoming ever more uncertain as Dmitry Medvedev's inauguration day approaches, as discord within the Russian bureaucracy becomes more evident.

Afghanistan: Mirage of the Good War
Tariq Ali
The reasons for the West's stalemate in Afghanistan can be found in the very nature of the occupation regime as a broken country subjected to the combined predations of NGOs and NATO.

The Subprime Crisis
Robin Blackburn
As reverberations from the stricken mortgage market reach the real economy, Robin Blackburn reveals the origins of the crunch in the shadowy realms of financialisation.

Course Correction
Praful Bidwai
Relations between India and Iran, which deteriorated over the past three years from traditional friendship and warmth into mutual suspicion and tension, have started looking up again.

Can big business really save the planet? (video)
Walden Bello and Kevin Smith will participate in the event "Turning up the Heat: Can big business really save the planet?" Here you can find an interview with Walden Bello and a talk on carbon trading by Kevin Smith.

En español

Enlazando Alternativas 3

	El tercer encuentro Enlazando Alternativas (EA3) - Cumbre de los Pueblos de Europa y de América Latina y el Caribe (ALC), se realizará en Lima, Perú, del 13 al 16 de mayo del 2008, paralelamente a la Quinta Cumbre de Jefes de Estado y de Gobiernos de ALC y la UE. www.enlazandoalternativas.org

Selección del editor

Desafíos y dilemas del intelectual público
Walden Bello
La verdad no está ahí, sin más, se hace real y se ratifica con la acción, pero aunque para realizarla y llevar a cabo un orden más justo hace falta poder, no se puede permitir que la verdad sea destruida por el poder durante el proceso. Este es el papel del intelectual público: señalar verdades que no son convenientes desde el propio punto de vista político.

	Los 9 de Rayhteon O por qué luchar contra crímenes de guerra no es un crimen Beatriz Martínez Nueve activistas norirlandeses se enfrentan a un juicio por ocupar las instalaciones de una empresa militar.

Nueva publicación

	Bajo el signo del conflicto Colombia y sus relaciones con Estados Unidos y la Unión Europea Amira Armenta Ensayo que examina los principales problemas que sufre Colombia, la estrategia estadounidense de seguridad puesta en práctica por medio del Plan Colombia y, finalmente, los lazos económicos con la Unión Europea.

Perspectiva global

El poder no puede amañar eternamente la verdad
Tariq Ali
La base de la popularidad del ex alcalde Ken Livingtone era que no se trataba de un político edulcorado del nuevo laborismo.

Burgués sí, pero, ¿reformista?
Atilio Borón se suma a la polémica sobre el actual Gobierno argentino de Kirchner, cuestionando su "reformismo".

Tres actos y un desenlace
Pere Vilanova
Las incoherencias procedentes de la cumbre de OTAN muestran la necesitad de que el uso de la fuerza en la escena internacional respete los principios de legalidad y de legitimidad.