Global Agenda articles from March 2004

Global Agenda archives from March 2004

Proliferating worries; Nuclear proliferation; Talking about North Korea, worrying about much besides.(nuclear programs of North Korea)
March 1, 2004... As the latest round of multilateral talks on North Korea's nuclear programme ends without a breakthrough, disturbing evidence continues to emerge on the spread of equipment and know-how for building atom bombs TALKS aimed at getting North...

Mr Schroder goes to Washington.(German chancellor Gerhard Schroder's visit to America)
March 1, 2004... Relations between America and Europe are slowly recovering but rebuilding trust will be hard, even after Gerhard Schroder's friendly meeting with George Bush last week. As tensions over Iraq subside, they are growing over trade and exchange...

Things you can drop on your foot.(Chinese shares)
March 2, 2004... China needs them in spades, as it were, which is good news for Japan IF SO many markets are so expensive and expensiveness is relative, then something, it has been well pointed out by readers, must be cheap. But what, damn it? Although...

Iraq's thorny governance.
March 2, 2004... Iraqi leaders have agreed on a temporary constitution that guarantees freedom of religion and provides special rights to women and Kurds. Despite this progress, many more details of Iraq's future governance still need to be sorted out. And, as...

A bruising battle ahead.(presidential elections in United States)
March 4, 2004... John Kerry has locked up the Democratic presidential nomination by winning all but one of the "Super Tuesday" primaries. The contest between the Massachusetts senator and George Bush will be long and nasty THE smoke has cleared from the...

Pot shots and warning shots.(monetary policy of European Central Bank )
March 4, 2004... The European Central Bank has ignored pleas from politicians to ease monetary policy this month. A more eloquent appeal for a rate cut may come from the economy itself in the months ahead The European Central Bank (ECB), ensconced in its...

After Aristide, what?(President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti overthrown)
March 4, 2004... An international peacekeeping force has begun arriving in Haiti after the overthrow of its president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Can the impoverished country now overcome two centuries of post-colonial misery? UNTIL the last moment, Haiti's...

Progress in politics, blood on the streets; Iraq; A temporary constitution agreed, but the bloodshed continues.
March 4, 2004... The day after Iraqi leaders agree on a temporary constitution that guarantees freedom of religion and provides special rights to women and Kurds, co-ordinated bomb attacks kill more than 170 Shias celebrating a religious festival in Karbala and...

Power to the shareholder?
March 4, 2004... Michael Eisner of Disney and Sir Philip Watts of Shell have both been forced to relinquish their roles as chairman. These changes have been chalked up as victories for shareholders. But have investors really got the better of the imperial boss?...

Wanted: firefighting figurehead; The IMF; Looking for a new firefighter-in-chief, or should that be figurehead?
March 5, 2004... At a delicate moment in its negotiations with Argentina, the IMF's boss has left his post to take on the presidency of Germany. His new position will be largely ceremonial. Was his last? ON THURSDAY March 4th, Horst Kohler resigned, a year...

Political snags, security woes; Iraq; The temporary constitution delayed, the bloodshed continues.(political uncertainities in Iraq)
March 5, 2004... As Iraqi leaders revive debate on a temporary constitution, the country is still reeling from the co-ordinated bomb attacks that killed more than 170 Shias celebrating a religious festival in Karbala and Baghdad. The threat of civil war may be...

China pauses for breath; China's income gap; Time to pause for the peasants, says Wen.(Wen Jiabao's agricultural policy)
March 8, 2004... The prime minister of China seeks to reassure its hundreds of millions of poor peasants that they have not been forgotten in the country's rush for wealth. What effect will this change of emphasis have on the economy? TURN your eyes from...

A new democracy; Greek general election; Karamanlis's Olympian tasks.(Prime minister Costas Karamanlis of Greece)
March 9, 2004... The right-of-centre New Democracy party has swept the "natural party of government" from power. The new prime minister, Costas Karamanlis, will have to deal with some crucial issues straight away, including the upcoming Athens Olympics and...

Herb lore from the Sage of Omaha.(Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.)(Column)
March 9, 2004... Wise words from Warren IN A perhaps vain attempt to make his garden less like the scruffy yard that it is, Buttonwood recently took his mother and two daughters to Syon Park, a gardening centre in west London. His girls enthused about...

The mother of parliamentary rows.(Tony Blair's Constitutional Reform Bill to abolish the Lord Chancellor's job )
March 9, 2004... In Britain's biggest constitutional tussle for decades, the unelected House of Lords has sabotaged Tony Blair's bill to give Britain a proper supreme court and an independent body to select judges BRITAIN has long been an anomaly among the...

A constitution at last.(Iraqi constitution)
March 9, 2004... Iraqi leaders have approved a temporary constitution after a weekend of tension and delay. Checking the violence will be even harder AT LAST, Iraq has a temporary constitution. After a weekend of haggling and delays, the document was signed...

Shellshocked.(Royal Dutch-Shell Group of Cos.)
March 9, 2004... After shocking energy markets with the admission that its proven oil reserves were a fifth lower than previously reported, and then ousting its chairman, Royal Dutch/Shell is under fire again. Senior managers, including the new chairman,...

A new democracy; Greek general election; Karamanlis's Olympian tasks.
March 10, 2004... The right-of-centre New Democracy party has swept the "natural party of government" from power. The new prime minister, Costas Karamanlis, will have to deal with some crucial issues straight away, including the upcoming Athens Olympics and...

The mother of parliamentary rows.(Tony Blair's Constitutional Reform Bill to abolish Lord Chancellor's job )
March 10, 2004... In Britain's biggest constitutional tussle for decades, the unelected House of Lords has sabotaged Tony Blair's bill to give Britain a proper supreme court and an independent body to select judges BRITAIN has long been an anomaly among the...

Who blinked? Argentina and the IMF; Default averted.(International Monetary Fund finances Argentina)
March 10, 2004... Argentina has pulled back from the brink of another default by paying back $3.1 billion it owed the IMF. All the same, there may be trouble ahead JORGE LUIS BORGES once wrote of the power of tango to conjure an imagined past, "stoic and...

Shellshocked.(Royal Dutch-Shell Group of Cos.)
March 10, 2004... After shocking energy markets with the admission that its proven oil and gas reserves were a fifth lower than previously reported, and then ousting its chairman, Royal Dutch/Shell is under fire again. Senior managers, including the new...

Who blinked? Argentina and the IMF; Default averted.(International Monetary Fund)
March 11, 2004... Argentina has pulled back from the brink of another default by paying back $3.1 billion it owed the IMF. All the same, there may be trouble ahead JORGE LUIS BORGES once wrote of the power of tango to conjure an imagined past, "stoic and...

Slaughter in the rush hour.(bombing on commuter trains in Madrid)
March 11, 2004... Bombs on four commuter trains in Madrid's morning rush hour have killed at least 190 people. The government has said they were the work of ETA but the Basque terrorist group's political wing has denied this MARCH 11th 2004 is likely to...

Can they can spam? Junk e-mail lawsuits; Wham! Bam! Take that, spam!(cases)
March 11, 2004... In the biggest citation yet of a new American anti-spam law, Microsoft and three other industry giants have filed suit against alleged junk e-mailers. But the war on spam can only be won using technology as well as the courts AT THE World...

Slaughter in the rush hour.(train bombing in Madrid)
March 12, 2004... The Spanish government has blamed the Basque terrorist group ETA for the rush-hour bombs that killed almost 200 people in Madrid, but there are also suggestions that al-Qaeda might have been responsible MARCH 11th 2004 is likely to remain...

Can they can spam? Junk e-mail lawsuits; Wham! Bam! Take that, spam!(regulation )
March 12, 2004... In the biggest citation yet of a new American anti-spam law, Microsoft and three other industry giants have filed suit against alleged junk e-mailers. But the war on spam can only be won using technology as well as the courts AT THE World...

Roh goes, for now.(South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun steps down after being impeached)
March 12, 2004... South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun has been forced to step down after being impeached by parliament, ostensibly for breaking election rules ahead of next month's general election. The move has proven extremely divisive and will increase...

Who bombed the trains?(terrorist attacks on commuter trains in Spain)
March 12, 2004... As the death toll nears 200 after the bombings of four commuter trains in Madrid, the Spanish government insists that the Basque terrorist group ETA remains the chief suspect, despite suggestions that al-Qaeda might have been responsible ...

Who bombed the trains?(train bombing in Madrid)
March 13, 2004... As the death toll nears 200 after the bombings of four commuter trains in Madrid, the Spanish government insists that the Basque terrorist group ETA remains the chief suspect, despite suggestions that al-Qaeda might have been responsible ...

Suspicion shifts to al-Qaeda.(train bombing and its influence on elections)
March 14, 2004... Spain's voters went to the polls on Sunday amid increasing signs that al-Qaeda might have planted the devastating train bombs in Madrid three days earlier--and not Basque separatists, as the government has been insisting AS POLLING began...

After the train bombs, a political bombshell.(Spain's People's Party lost elections to Socialists)
March 14, 2004... Spain's ruling People's Party has lost the election to the opposition Socialists, amid increasing signs that it may have been al-Qaeda that planted the devastating train bombs in Madrid last week--and not Basque separatists, as the government...

After the train bombs, a political bombshell.(People's Party lost elections to Socialists)
March 15, 2004... Spain's ruling People's Party has lost the election to the opposition Socialists, amid increasing signs that it may have been al-Qaeda that planted the devastating train bombs in Madrid last week--and not Basque separatists, as the government...

Putin's one-man show continues.(Russian President Vladimir Putin's reform agenda)
March 15, 2004... After getting re-elected by a landslide, President Vladimir Putin is promising to press on with some ambitious reforms. His squashing of democracy may make this easier at first but will ultimately undermine his attempts to modernise Russia ...

Roh goes, for now.(South Korea's president Roh Moo-hyun steps down after being impeached by parliament)
March 16, 2004... South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun has been forced to step down after being impeached by parliament, ostensibly for breaking election rules ahead of next month's general election. The move has proven extremely divisive and will increase...

After the train bombs, a political bombshell.(People's Party lost the election to the opposition Socialists)
March 16, 2004... Spain's ruling People's Party has lost the election to the opposition Socialists, amid increasing signs that al-Qaeda or an allied Islamist group planted the devastating train bombs in Madrid last week--and not Basque separatists, as the...

Putin's one-man show continues.(Russian President Vladimir Putin)
March 16, 2004... After getting re-elected by a landslide, President Vladimir Putin is promising to press on with some ambitious reforms. His squashing of democracy may make this easier at first but will ultimately undermine his attempts to modernise Russia ...

Ford focus.(Securities of Ford Motor Credit Co and General Motors Acceptance Corp.)
March 16, 2004... With stockmarkets looking shaky once again, the auto sector would seem to be a particularly bad bet NO PETROLHEAD, Buttonwood used to drive a Honda people carrier, and now toddles around in a Fiat Punto, a modest car with much to be modest...

Wobbles in the alliance.(war alliances)
March 16, 2004... Spanish voters' rejection of the government of Jose Maria Aznar, a key supporter of America's war in Iraq, has rattled American allies round the world. With the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq approaching, dissent is rising ...

Wobbles in the alliance.(war alliances)
March 17, 2004... Spanish voters' rejection of the government of Jose Maria Aznar, a key supporter of America's war in Iraq, has rattled American allies round the world. With the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq approaching, dissent is rising ...

Buttonwood columns.
March 18, 2004... Ford focus Mar 16th 2004 Herb lore from the Sage of Omaha Mar 9th 2004 Things you can drop on your foot Mar 2nd 2004 Our mutual friend Feb 24th 2004 The coming storm Feb 17th 2004 The G7 and the duck-billed platypus Feb...

Painful for some, but hardly a crisis.(Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries )(petroleum prices)
March 18, 2004... Light crude is hovering around a 13-year high. But are companies protesting too much about high oil prices? "FOR the last 30 years, the price of oil has been the single most important determinant of the economy and the stockmarket." So...

Brown's red box, full of pink slips.(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)(finance minister Gordon Brown)
March 18, 2004... Britain's finance minister has announced a cull of the civil service in an effort to make the public sector more efficient. But, across the OECD, the lesson is the same: how public-sector workers do their job is more important than how many of...

Peace hopes go up in flames.(North Atlantic Treaty Organization sends troops to Serbia)
March 18, 2004... NATO is sending reinforcements to Kosovo, amid the worst violence in the Balkan province since it came under United Nations control in 1999 "WAR!" was the screaming headline in one of Serbia's main newspapers. "Kosovo in blood" said...

Wobbles in the alliance.(war alliances)(impact of Iraq war)
March 18, 2004... Spanish voters' rejection of the government of Jose Maria Aznar, a key supporter of America's war in Iraq, has rattled American allies round the world. With the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq approaching, dissent is rising ...

Chen survives to push for independence; China, Taiwan and Hong Kong; Surviving an assassin, pushing for independence.(President Chen Shuibian)
March 19, 2004... President Chen Shui-bian has survived an attempted assassination on the eve of Taiwan's elections and a controversial referendum, which Beijing fears will cement Taiwan's independence and trigger demands for more freedoms from Hong Kong and...

Peace hopes go up in flames.(North Atlantic Treaty Organization sends troops to Serbia)
March 19, 2004... NATO is sending reinforcements to Kosovo, amid the worst violence in the Balkan province since it came under United Nations control in 1999 "WAR!" was the screaming headline in one of Serbia's main newspapers. "Kosovo in blood" said...

Wobbles in the alliance.(war alliances)
March 19, 2004... Spanish voters' rejection of the government of Jose Maria Aznar, a key supporter of America's war in Iraq, has rattled American allies round the world. With the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq approaching, dissent is rising ...

Ever more doubters; Iraq, one year on; Europe's renewed doubts.
March 19, 2004... A year after the invasion of Iraq, continuing violence and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction have prompted even America's allies to question the justification for war. Spain's newly elected leader has threatened to pull troops out...

Chen survives again.(Taiwan's President Chen Shuibian)
March 21, 2004... After surviving an assassin's bullet, Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian has been narrowly re-elected. But he lost a referendum that Beijing feared would cement Taiwan's independence, encouraging Hong Kong and other Chinese regions to seek more...

A chronology of the Middle East conflict.
March 22, 2004... Many peace plans, little peace 1917: In the Balfour Declaration, Britain expresses its support for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people", though without prejudicing its non-Jewish communities. 1920:...

Chen survives again.(Taiwan's President Chen Shuibian)
March 22, 2004... After surviving an assassin's bullet, Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian has been narrowly re-elected. But he lost a referendum that Beijing feared would cement Taiwan's independence, encouraging Hong Kong and other Chinese regions to seek more...

A wave of fury at Yassin's killing.(spiritual leader of Hamas Sheikh Ahmed Yassin)
March 22, 2004... Israel's killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas, has been met by Palestinian threats of revenge, European condemnation and American denials of involvement ISRAEL has been trying for some time to kill Sheikh Ahmed...

Ever more doubters; Iraq, one year on; Europe's renewed doubts.
March 22, 2004... A year after the invasion of Iraq, continuing violence and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction have prompted even America's allies to question the justification for war. Spain's newly elected leader has threatened to pull troops out...

Chen survives again.(Taiwan's President Chen Shuibian)
March 23, 2004... After surviving an assassin's bullet, Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian has been narrowly re-elected. But he lost a referendum that Beijing feared would cement Taiwan's independence, encouraging Hong Kong and other Chinese regions to seek more...

A wave of fury at Yassin's killing.(spiritual leader of Hamas Sheikh Ahmed Yassin)
March 23, 2004... Israel's killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas, has been met by Palestinian threats of revenge, UN and European condemnation, and American denials of involvement ISRAEL has been trying for some time to kill Sheikh...

Crude arguments.(surging oil price)
March 23, 2004... Markets should worry about the surging oil price NERVES, it is clear, are becoming increasingly frayed in financial markets. In general, the riskier and more generously valued the market, the edgier investors are. They are increasingly...

Another attempt to tame the monopolist.(European Commission's regulation for Microsoft Corp.)
March 23, 2004... After more than five years of investigation, the European Commission is set to fine Microsoft almost €500m for monopolistic abuses and to require it to change its behaviour, in order to give competitors in the server and media-player...

A wave of fury at Yassin's killing.(death of spiritual leader of Hamas Sheikh Ahmed Yassin)
March 24, 2004... Israel's killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas, has been met by Palestinian threats of revenge, UN and European condemnation, and American denials of involvement ISRAEL has been trying for some time to kill Sheikh...

Can Microsoft be tamed? Microsoft and the EU; Another attempt to tame the monopolist.(European Union's regulation for Microsoft Corp. for monopolistic abuses)
March 24, 2004... After more than five years of investigation, the European Commission has fined Microsoft almost €500m for monopolistic abuses and given it four months to make life easier for competitors in the server and media-player markets. But with a...

Can Microsoft be tamed? Microsoft and the EU; Another attempt to tame the monopolist.(European Union's regulation for Microsoft Corp's monopolistic abuses)
March 25, 2004... After more than five years of investigation, the European Commission has fined Microsoft almost €500m for monopolistic abuses and given it four months to make life easier for competitors in the server and media-player markets. But with a...

What went wrong, and how to do better.(investigation of September 11th terrorist attacks)(anti terrorism law)
March 25, 2004... An American commission investigating the September 11th attacks has heard sobering testimony from Richard Clarke, a former counter-terrorism chief, and others about why the government failed to neutralise al-Qaeda before it was too late. In...

A chronology of the Middle East conflict.
March 26, 2004... Many peace plans, little peace 1917: In the Balfour Declaration, Britain expresses its support for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people", though without prejudicing its non-Jewish communities. 1920:...

A wave of fury at Yassin's killing.(death of spiritual leader of Hamas Sheikh Ahmed Yassin )
March 26, 2004... Israel's killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas, has been met by Palestinian threats of revenge, UN and European condemnation, and American denials of involvement ISRAEL has been trying for some time to kill Sheikh...

What went wrong, and how to do better.(curbing terrorist activities)(regulation for terrorism)
March 26, 2004... An American commission investigating the September 11th attacks has heard sobering testimony from Richard Clarke, a former counter-terrorism chief, and others about why the government failed to neutralise al-Qaeda before it was too late....

Revived to die another day?(planning to give European Union a written constitution)
March 26, 2004... European Union leaders have relaunched their plan to give the EU a written constitution, which had looked doomed after the collapse of talks last December. The leaders now seem ready to compromise but what about their voters and parliaments?...

Poland's Miller waves goodbye; Poland's political turmoil; Unpopular Miller forced out.
March 26, 2004... Leszek Miller has said he is resigning as Polish prime minister, after his growing unpopularity led to a split in his party. Poland has been thrown into political turmoil, just five weeks before it joins the European Union THERE is an old...

Poland's Miller waves goodbye; Poland's political turmoil; Unpopular Miller bows out.(prime minister Leszek Miller resigns)(Poland joins European Union)
March 29, 2004... Leszek Miller has said he is resigning as Polish prime minister, after his growing unpopularity led to a split in his party. Poland has been thrown into political turmoil, just five weeks before it joins the European Union THERE is an old...

Terrorgate? Fighting terrorism; Controversy in Washington, progress in Europe.(terrorism regulation)
March 29, 2004... A political storm is raging in Washington over a former counter-terrorism official's charges that invading Iraq diverted resources from the war on terror. Meanwhile, European leaders have overhauled their counter-terrorism arrangements...

Chaos all round.(international relation of Middle East region)
March 29, 2004... With the Arab countries in disarray and Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, facing mounting legal problems, can President George Bush get the Middle East peace process back on track? GRITTING its teeth and trying to use diplomatic...

A judgment on Paris.(humiliating defeat of Jacques Chirac)
March 29, 2004... Jacques Chirac's ruling party has suffered a humiliating defeat in the second round of France's regional elections. Will Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the prime minister, survive the aftermath? ON SUNDAY March 28th, voters across France turned out...

A judgment on Paris.(Jacques Chirac's defeat in elections)
March 30, 2004... Jacques Chirac's ruling party has suffered a humiliating defeat in the second round of France's regional elections. Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the prime minister, has survived. So far ON SUNDAY March 28th, voters across France turned out for the...

Karimov fights back; Attacks in Uzbekistan; Fighting terrorism with repression.(President Islam Karimov)
March 30, 2004... After a series of terrorist attacks in Uzbekistan, the security forces have stormed the hideout of a group of Islamist militants in the capital, Tashkent. The Central Asian country's dictatorial president, Islam Karimov, is likely to respond to...

Poland's Miller waves goodbye; Poland's political turmoil; Unpopular Miller bows out.
March 31, 2004... Leszek Miller has said he is resigning as Polish prime minister, after his growing unpopularity led to a split in his party. Poland has been thrown into political turmoil, just five weeks before it joins the European Union THERE is an old...

Karimov fights back; Attacks in Uzbekistan; Fighting terrorism with repression.(Islam Karimov's harsh crackdown of islamist militants )
March 31, 2004... After a series of terrorist attacks in Uzbekistan, the security forces have stormed the hideout of a group of Islamist militants in the capital, Tashkent. The Central Asian country's dictatorial president, Islam Karimov, is likely to respond to...

Fightback or death-rattle?(recording industry cases for illegal file sharing on the internet)
March 31, 2004... The recording industry has launched a wave of lawsuits outside America in a bid to curb illegal file-sharing on the internet, which has contributed to a steep decline in music sales. The industry is cutting costs, consolidating...

The unstoppable, surging yen; The surging Japanese yen; The only way is up.
March 31, 2004... The yen is surging again. Will the Japanese authorities halt its rise? Can they? "THIS intervention is stupid," said Fumihiko Igarashi, an opposition politician in Japan's lower house of parliament. "It's a fight we can't win." Indeed, on...

Chirac shuffles the pack; French elections; A post-election reshuffle.
March 31, 2004... After his ruling party suffered a humiliating defeat in the second round of France's regional elections, Jacques Chirac has reshuffled his cabinet, appointing new foreign and finance ministers. Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the prime minister, has...

Not-so-Jolly Rogers; The music industry; Tackling the pirates.(music industry files suits against pirates)
March 31, 2004... The music industry has filed more than 250 lawsuits against individuals who, it claims, have illegally downloaded copyrighted music on to their computers. The industry reckons that online piracy is behind a big drop in music sales and the...