|
||||||||||||
GPF List-Serve
July 19 - 23, 1999
Greetings from GPF!
This week saw a lot of activity in the UN Security Council. The "framework agreement" sponsored by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) advanced the search for peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia. But the two warring sides continue their finger- pointing, undermining hopes for an end to the bloody 14-month border war. The seven-point agreement calls for an end to all military hostility and the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from territory they seized during recent months. In addition, both sides must agree to the deployment of military observers by the OAU in cooperation with the UN. But for now, the fighting continues as the leaders of the two countries accuse one another of blocking the road to peace.
Meanwhile, East Timor has taken a step towards peace. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan announced that UN personnel would go ahead with the registration of voters for the ballot on the future status of the territory, to be held in late August. ''The ballot will go forward. Attempts have been made to derail it, but we are unintimidated and unimpressed,'' Annan said last Friday. Despite recent militia violence directed against East Timorese civilians and UN workers, the registration process got underway on Tuesday July 20th and is expected to last 20 days.
The UN continues to wrestle with more powerful adversaries in the Balkans, where the UN's authority comes in conflict with the United States and with NATO over the future of Kosovo. At GPF, we appreciated a recent article on this subject by John Caruso that explores the economic aspects of the Rambouillet Peace Proposal. Analysts have paid scant attention to economic dimensions of the conflict, so we find this paper especially enlightening, with its detailed commentary on the text that the United States and its allies hoped to impose on Yugoslavia and Kosovo before the bombing began.
In New York, the UN continues to face its own financial problems, especially the latest round of ultimatums from the superpower. Media frenzy has sub- sided, but the current Congressional bills on payment of arrears moved closer to approval this week when an ammendment on birth control was rejected. The Ted Turner juggernaut in Washington greeted this development joyfully, with con- gratulatory ads in seveal newspapers. But at GPF we have not changed our view that the bill is a disaster for the United Nations and a serious blow to multi- lateral decision making. This week, we posted a briefing paper by the Campaign for UN Reform that examines the recent US legislation and discusses its short- comings. It remains to be seen whether this much-touted bill will eventually pass. If not, the US must come up with at least $250 million by year's end or it will lose its seat in the UN General Assembly. GPF will follow these events closely in the weeks to come.
One of the best sources of information on virtualy any subject at the UN is our friend, Bhaskar Menon, renowned editors of the International Documents Review newsletter. Those who hesitated to spend $200 per year on his publication will be glad to learn of his new monthly newspaper, called UNdiplomatic Times. It will be distributed free of charge, with financing by advertisements. We ran into "Papa" Menon on Thursday just outside the Secretariat building where he gleefully thrust a pile of freshly-printed copies into our hands. Congratu- lations Papa! We at GPF will be among your enthusiastic readers!