When it tore down part of the wall at Rafah, Hamas was acting for the party’s own benefit, in an attempt to implement its Islamic Revolution program at the expense of unity between Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The author argues that Israel should lift the sanctions imposed upon Gaza and negotiate a comprehensive peace plan with Palestinian President Abu Mazen for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Neighboring countries such as Egypt should partake in the dialog, and Hamas and other factions must also comply with the peace process.

• Olmert is unaffected by Jerusalem’s storms
  por Mario Sznajder

Regarding the release of FARC’s hostages, the presidents of Colombia and Venezuela are prisoners of domestic policy, the author says. Chávez needs outside success to assimilate the referendum’s political debate, and Uribe needs to demonstrate that Chávez is not the only one capable of leading negotiations to free hostages. The author points out that the international community is hoping that these events will reduce the current tension between Colombia and Venezuela, and not the other way around.

• The intimate relationship between narcotrafficking and the State
  por Fabián Bosoer
• The international mediation in Colombia, is it defusing the conflict?
  por José Luis Gómez Garavito

After years of colonial and dictatorial rule in the Philippines, the People Power Revolution of 1986 installed a new government and led to the initiation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). Yet more than twenty years later, poverty remains high in rural areas and income inequality remains a serious problem. The author faults the program’s land to the tiller concept and goes on to argue that access to jobs, and not land ownership, is a better way to reduce rural poverty.

The progress that Peru has experienced since Alan García regained the presidency is obvious: to the latest economic results (production growth, low inflation rate and proper fiscal discipline) we must add the FTA with the United States and the election of Lima as the host of the Fifth European Union-Latin America and Caribbean (EU-LAC) Summit, as well as the APEC summit. Even with all of this, the recent cases of corruption indicate that there is still a lot left to do, beginning with reform of the public, education, and health sectors, which is a major pending task.

The publication of the Winograd Commission’s final report on the 2006 Lebanon War has not caused the political destabilization in Jerusalem that could have been expected a couple of months ago. There are several reasons for this, but two stand out above the rest: the report presented the image of an idealized (on a political and military level) Israel that no longer exists. And if the Minister of Defense, Ehud Bark (Labor Party), withdraws from Ehud Olmert’s coalition government, forcing elections to be moved forward, Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) will win.

No one disputes the growing weight of the emerging Indian giant in the economic scene and global geopolitics. However, if India is to achieve a more influential position on the international level, it must strengthen its democratic system and be aware of the need to confront inequality and injustice with ambitious long-term policies. It is faced with an imbalance that cannot be resolved by its macroeconomic growth alone, regardless of how spectacular it may be.

• Southeast Asia reduces poverty, but increases inequality
  por Viviana Malvina Sosa

Isolated for so long, and lacking a political culture on which to force democratic values, Paraguay needs help and support from its neighbors in order to move forward. This is especially needed from Brazil, the obligatory country of reference for Paraguayans, and one of the few countries that are capable of positively influencing the management of what will be the new government after the presidential elections in April.

Ever since the last elections in Kenya, the world has seen the country sink into violence, due to the accusations of fraud in the elections controlled by president Mwai Kibaki. The author says that the most serious European press has analyzed the conflict as a typical expression of the savage tribal confrontation characteristic of Blacks. However, other sources assert that the majority of assassinations have occurred at the hands of the State, and not at those of any Kikuyu tribe or ethnic group. Why the African Union must shake off its indifference and avoid another Darfur.

One of the quandaries facing terrorism analysts today: the jihadist’s dilemma of whether to promote collective or individual action among potential adherents. Although this may appear to be an obscure issue, so specific as to interest only counterterrorism analysts, it is actually a widely applicable and underappreciated topic that could directly impact the type of terrorism Europe may face in the future. As such, it is a concern for all.