Foreign Policy in Focus articles from November 2001

Foreign Policy in Focus archives from November 2001

Use of children as soldiers.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Key Points * Approximately 300,000 children under 18 currently participate in armed conflicts. Thousands more face recruitment or are members of armed forces not currently at war. * Poverty, the proliferation of small and cheap...

Problems with current U.S. policy.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2001... Key Problems * The U.S. has failed to ratify major treaties protecting children's rights. * The U.S., based in part on its domestic recruitment practices, consistently opposes international efforts to raise the minimum age for all...

Toward a new foreign policy.
November 1, 2001... Key Recommendations * In policy and action, the U.S. should follow international attempts to raise the minimum age for soldiering to 18. * The State Department and Congress should examine the problem of child soldiers and should use...

Multilateral debt: the unbearable burden.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2001... Key Points * World Bank figures for 1999 show that $128 million is transferred daily from the 62 most impoverished countries to wealthy countries, and that for every dollar countries receive in grant aid, they repay $13 on old debts. ...

Problems with current U.S. policy.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2001... Voting power at the World Bank and the IMF is apportioned according to the size of each country's monetary contribution. The U.S. has by far the largest share (18% of all votes) and can veto policy decisions, since they require an 85% vote. The...

Toward a new foreign policy.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2001... Key Recommendations * Immediate and comprehensive debt cancellation is necessary for impoverished countries to participate in the global economy as anything but a permanent underclass. * An international body, with strict requirements...