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Nikola Krastev

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April 07, 2006
UN: High-Level Panel Lays Groundwork For Review Of Reform Process

(ITAR-TASS) The reform process that is under way at the United Nations has been boosted into higher gear with the establishment on April 6 of a Panel on Coherence in the areas of development, humanitarian assistance, and the environment. The main goal of the panel, which will have a time-limited mission, is to oversee the reform process and to provide recommendations to improve the efficiency of the UN's various departments. The world body has been plagued in recent years by corruption, mismanagement, and sex-abuse scandals. The panel is expected to produce a set of practical recommendations, which will be provided to the UN General Assembly in September.
April 06, 2006
Iran: U.S. Experts Discuss Washington's Policy Options

Panel participants Pollack, Haas, and Gerecht (left to right) (RFE/RL) A panel of U.S.-based experts gathered at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on April 5 to discuss the policy implications for Washington of the nuclear standoff with Iran. The panelists agreed that the Iranian public is not obsessed with the nuclear issue -- saying it is instead the regime's obsession. They identified five main goals of U.S. policy toward Iran: They include forcing Tehran to reconsider its nuclear policy and end its support of terrorism, enlisting Iranian cooperation in Iraq and Afghanistan, and pressing Iran to change its tack on the Palestinian-Israeli problem. The fifth goal concerns democracy and human rights in Iran.
March 15, 2006
UN: General Assembly Votes To Create New Rights Council

Manuel Rodriguez-Cuadros, Peru's ambassador and president of the 62nd Commission on Human Rights (left), and Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on March 13 (epa) The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly today to establish a new Human Rights Council which will replace the long-criticized Human Rights Commission. The United States, the world body's most influential member, voted against the Council but said it will work diligently to make the new body as efficient as it can be. The new Council will be the preeminent international human rights watchdog. It will aim to expose human rights abusers and help nations draw up rights legislation.
March 15, 2006
Full Security Council Discusses Iran Nuclear Issue

All 15 members of the UN Security Council held an informal meeting on March 14 to discuss a draft statement on Iran's nuclear program. The statement would call on Iran to suspend uranium-enrichment activities and take measures to build confidence that Iran is not trying to make nuclear weapons.
March 11, 2006
UN: Security Council Members Working On Response To Iran

John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the UN (file photo) (epa) Diplomats relegate talk of sanctions against Iran to the background as the United Nations Security Council prepares to discuss Iran's nuclear program.
March 10, 2006
Dry And Getting Drier

Cross-border water disputes, water losses caused by poor irrigation practices, the continuing decline of the Aral Sea -- water is increasingly becoming a major problem for Central Asia. The UN says restoring the Aral to its pre-1960 condition is out of question because of the irreversible ecological damage.
March 07, 2006
The Shock Of Andijon Lingers For Many

Ten months after authorities brutally crushed a public demonstration in eastern Uzbekistan, the massacre is still having an effect on Uzbeks: stifling dissent and paralyzing any unsanctioned expression of public opinion.
March 06, 2006
The Business Of Attracting Foreign Business

A conference was held in New York this week that Georgian officials hope will help them reach their goal of bringing in $500 million of foreign direct investment.
March 01, 2006
Afghanistan: UN Drug Agency Promotes 'Alternative Development' For Curbing Poppy Cultivation

Is there any better crop? (AFP) In a report released today in New York, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) says almost all of the heroin entering Europe comes from Afghanistan. The INCB also says that the strategy of encouraging opium-poppy farmers to switch to other crops is not working and that an "alternative development" approach is needed.
February 28, 2006
World: Women Making Progress In Winning Parliament Seats

Yuliya Tymoshenko is frequently described as Ukraine's most popular politician (RFE/RL) On the eve of a two-week session set to begin on 1 March, the UN Commission on the Status of Women says that the international community is finally comprehending that empowering women is the most effective tool for a country's development. Newly released data from a global survey on women in power indicates that one out of five parliamentarians elected in 2005 were women and that there are nine newly elected parliaments with over 30 percent women. But at the same time, an Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) report shows, a decrease in female parliamentarians was observed in eight countries. The biggest setback, the report says, happened in Kyrgyzstan, where the proportion of women in parliament dropped from 10 percent to zero.
February 28, 2006
World: Experts Discuss Complex Causes Of Suicide Bombings

(epa) An attempt to blow up the world's largest oil refinery in Saudi Arabia on 24 February underscores the importance radical Islamist networks are placing on suicide terrorism. Al-Qaeda, which claimed responsibility for the thwarted attack, vowed to target more oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. Suicide bombers are highly motivated religious men and women who turn themselves into human bombs by strapping explosives onto their bodies. Contrary to popular belief, experts say, suicide terrorism is not always religion-related, or particular to Islamic fundamentalism.
February 28, 2006
Vote On Human Rights Council In Limbo Over U.S. Objections

The United States has rejected a UN compromise draft for a new Human Rights Council calling it "insufficient" and with "manifold deficiencies".
February 27, 2006
Iraq: Yale University To Digitize Iraqi Academic Journals

Many of Iraq's libraries and academic institutions were looted during the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 (CTK) Yale University has announced it is beginning a project to digitize part of its vast collection of Iraqi academic journals and make them accessible to scholars worldwide. The project is important because Iraq has a rich tradition of academic publishing dating back to the 19th century. However, today many of the Arabic-language journals are imperiled or not easily accessible.
February 23, 2006
China: Report Says Media Control Is Tightening

An internet cafe in Beijing. Bloggers are pushing the limits of media freedom in China (file photo) (epa) A recent survey suggests that the tightening of Communist Party control over the mass media in China extends not only to cyberspace and the highly publicized cases of several Internet companies doing business there. According to "Mass Media Control in Contemporary China," published by U.S.-based nonprofit Freedom House, an organization which measures the state of freedom around the world, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) resorts to various suppression techniques, among them removal of noncomplying editors, financial incentives for self-censorship, compulsory "brain-washing" training sessions and, in some cases, even closing publications. At the same time, the report says, the greater privatization of media ownership, growing market competition, and the availability of information from abroad are likely to undermine the restrictive policies.
February 23, 2006
Annan Heads To Qatar In Bid To Calm Cartoon Controversy

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is heading to Qatar to try and help end the spate of deadly violence over publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
February 21, 2006
Search Begins For Next Secretary-General

After almost a decade leading the UN, Ghanaian-born Secretary-General Kofi Annan's current term expires in December. The search for his replacement has begun.
February 21, 2006
East: Energy-Efficiency Investment To Grow In Eastern Europe, CIS

An automotive plant in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod (file photo) (ITAR-TASS) With only 6 percent of the world's population, Eastern Europe and the CIS produce some 12 percent of the world's greenhouse gases. However, since the 1990s, the region's carbon emissions have decreased. According to a recent UN report, energy-efficiency investments in Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine have had a positive effect. But the report warns that more must be done to convince investors that energy-efficiency projects are a viable -- and profitable -- option.
February 18, 2006
FBI To Investigate Opposition Figure's Killing

A senior U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) official has confirmed that the Kazakh government wants the bureau's assistance in the investigation of the death of prominent Kazakh government critic, Altynbek Sarsenbaev.
February 10, 2006
Freedom House Becomes Latest NGO Casualty

A civil court in Tashkent has rejected Freedom House's final appeal of a six-month suspension of its activities in Uzbekistan.
February 09, 2006
NATO Commander Says Drugs Biggest Threat

The commander of the NATO forces in Afghanistan calls the fresh deployment of foreign troops "by far the most ambitious operation" for NATO since the Cold War.

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