Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Disagreement on Zimbabwe
A comment piece in The Times a few days a go makes interesting reading: Zimbabwe: the West blinked first.
Michael Holman disagrees with my view that Thabo Mbeki, the President of South Africa should take a firmer line with Mugabe, suggesting that the UN should be the body that takes action. The UN, however, is unlikely to do so. While the Security Council is dominated by the larger developed countries, the UN itself obviously has a more diverse membership including newer, less developed and smaller countries who are very protective of their sovereignty. They would be unlikely to want to see the UN interfering with the internal running of the country where, while there are clearly humanitarian issues, the state does not represent a threat to any other and where the regime in power still retains support from countries such as South Africa.
While Holman is right to suggest that the wider international community has a large role to play in dealing with the Zimbabwe situation, Mbeki must still register his disapproval of the Mugabe regime. His continued acceptance of the tactics of Mugabe is disgraceful and allows the Zimbabwean President to claim that the criticism of him is not based on sound principle but on "neo-colonialism".
More on Zimbabwe: UN to check on "clean up
The unfairness of the Common Agricultural Policy is well demonstrated by this article on the plight of African farmers. It amazes me that while at the G8 summit there will be discussions about how best to give aid to Africa, one of the best ways to help the continent, eradicating farm subsidies in both the US and the EU, is not on the agenda.
Michael Holman disagrees with my view that Thabo Mbeki, the President of South Africa should take a firmer line with Mugabe, suggesting that the UN should be the body that takes action. The UN, however, is unlikely to do so. While the Security Council is dominated by the larger developed countries, the UN itself obviously has a more diverse membership including newer, less developed and smaller countries who are very protective of their sovereignty. They would be unlikely to want to see the UN interfering with the internal running of the country where, while there are clearly humanitarian issues, the state does not represent a threat to any other and where the regime in power still retains support from countries such as South Africa.
While Holman is right to suggest that the wider international community has a large role to play in dealing with the Zimbabwe situation, Mbeki must still register his disapproval of the Mugabe regime. His continued acceptance of the tactics of Mugabe is disgraceful and allows the Zimbabwean President to claim that the criticism of him is not based on sound principle but on "neo-colonialism".
More on Zimbabwe: UN to check on "clean up
The unfairness of the Common Agricultural Policy is well demonstrated by this article on the plight of African farmers. It amazes me that while at the G8 summit there will be discussions about how best to give aid to Africa, one of the best ways to help the continent, eradicating farm subsidies in both the US and the EU, is not on the agenda.
# posted by GrecianEd @ 1:20 am 
