Charles Falconer
2/28/2010
The UK lags well behind other European countries and the US when it comes to bringing prosecutions for bribery, writes Falconer. This is largely due to outdated laws that leave the Serious Fraud Office ill-equipped to fight corruption, especially when it involves UK companies trading outside the UK. For this reason, Falconer says it is vital that the Bribery Bill makes it through parliament before the general election. Failure to do this could lead other nations to doubt that the UK is serious about tackling the problem.
The writer is the former Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice.
Roger Cohen
Comparing global climate change to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Tidwell claims that sweeping, political change is the only hope of saving the planet from large-scale destruction caused by greenhouse gas emissions. While many distractions and inhibitions have prevented legislation that would effectively cease the burning of fossil fuels, the “go green” movement–hyped by the media and thus appearing larger and more significant than it really is–shares the blame. Rather than obsessing over green fads, the author calls Americans to real action.
Over the past week there have been resignations and investigations of top scientists in England and the US. This event amounts to a peer review of a putative scientific “consensus” by bloggers. The story so far has played itself out largely on blogs, often run by the same scientists who had a hard time getting printed in the scientific journals. “Climategate” has provided a voice to the scientists who had been frozen out of the debate. While this episode raises disturbing questions about scientific standards in highly political areas such as global warming, Crovitz says it’s remarkable to see how quickly corrective information can now spread.
The newly elected Greek government is faced with an economy in a recession, a grave fiscal situation, and deep-rooted structural problems, with a public deficit estimated at 12.7% of GDP and debt above 110% of GDP. On top of this, Greek statistics and Greek policies now suffer from a lack of credibility as a consequence of the previous government’s reporting a fiscal deficit only half as high as we now know to be the case. However, Papaconstantinou makes the case that as the new government in Athens pushes for economic and budgetary change, skeptics should suspend their disbelief.
Brown believed he was chosen by God to destroy slavery, the size and make-up of his strike-force was similar to that of the 9/11 hijackers, he used covert backers, and the group used aliases and coded language. John Brown sought to free slaves, terrorize the South, and incite a broad conflict. The 9/11 terrorists sought to hobble America, and after eight years, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have killed nearly twice as many Americans as the hijackers did. And Americans domestic and foreign policy options will continue to be hobbled as it increases troops in Afghanistan.
From a once-promising democratic leader in the region, Ukraine has dissipated into a source of disenchantment for the democracy activists in neighboring ex-Soviet republics. The EU and other democratic nations need a clear, constructive, and principled policy with regard to Ukraine. If Kiev’s next leaders prove unwilling or unable to halt the nation’s slide toward its authoritarian past, Western powers will have to support the civil society movement and new emerging leaders. This may help preserve the few gains of the Orange Revolution. But even if Ukrainians lose their way, Gongadze believes that the basic democratic reforms they have earned will ensure that their destiny will still remain in their own hands.
Europe’s strength will be determined by how well it competes economically with the rest of the world, and for this reason Mandelson says the distribution of the big economic portfolios in the next European Commission are critically important. The choices of José Manuel Barroso, the Commission president, will carry much weight in defining the direction of EU policy. The new commissioners will have to be much more than quiet consensus-builders because there is little to recommend European consensus for its own sake.
Robert Mugabe has made the people of Zimbabwe destitute and dependent. Magodonga Mahlangu and Jennifer Williams, leaders of Women of Zimbabwe Arise and recent recipients of the John F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, have lead and engaged in non-violent protests against social injustice. Protesters are organized via word of mouth so that their communications can not be traced, and they are prepared for the arrests and beatings that result from their activism. Tens of thousands of women are committed to holding the government accountable and rising above the “stink” surrounding them (sometimes quite literally, as sewage systems fail and the government does nothing). With such fearlessness among Zimbabwean women, notes Gerson, it is Mugabe who should fear.
