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TWO
CHEERS FOR THE HONG KONG MINISTERIAL ~ 20 December 2005
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| After
4 years of negotiations, Trade Ministers in Hong Kong made modest
progress that will keep the trade round going and hope alive. Good
work...read more |
SUCCESS
OR FAILURE AT HONG KONG ? ~ 28 November 2005
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| Early
next month Trade Ministers from 148 countries will meet in Hong Kong
to try and make progress on the Doha Development round...read more |
DEMOCRACY
vs. DEVELOPMENT ? ~ 28 November 2005
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| Don
McKinnon, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, at the Commonwealth
Leaders Conference in Malta over the weekend suggested a trade-off
between trade and democracy, saying democracy did not put meals on
the table. Wrong...read more |
NOTHING
KEEPS HAPPENING IN GENEVA ~ 10 November 2005
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| It’s
now a little over a month until Trade Ministers meet in Hong Kong
with the hope of advancing the ambitious Doha Development Round. Unfortunately
the timetable for concluding the round has not been met...read more |
THE
ROAD FROM DOHA TO HONG KONG, A CRITICAL WEEK ~ 25 October 2005
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| In
December, Trade Ministers will assemble in Hong Kong, a critical meeting
that should advance the negotiations to conclude the Doha Development
Round...read more |
DIPLOMACY
CAN WORK...IF WE LET IT ~ 24 October 2005
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| I
spent an informative day recently in Prague at the Forum 2000, a think
group organised by one of my hero’s, Vaclav Havel, former President
of Czechoslovakia...read more |
MIGRATION
COMMISSION REPORT ~ 03
October 2005
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| This
week, after several years of submissions, visits to most regions,
and public hearings, the Global Commission on International Migration
released its findings...read more |
U.N.
COMMISSION ON EMPOWERMENT OF THE POOR ~ 26 September 2005
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| We
have learnt what works and what does not in the struggle against global
poverty...read more |
WHO
WILL WIN ? ~ 20 September 2005
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| Nobody
won the election in New Zealand ...yet...read more |
DEMOCRACY
vs. DEVELOPMENT ? ~ 09
September 2005
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| During
the period of the cold war there was a sordid consensus that the development
needs of newly independent colonies were best met by strong leaders,
it’s called the “authoritarian advantage”...read more |
AN
AGE OF REASON OR AN AGE OF RAGE? ~ 30
August 2005
|
| Proving Genetically Modified foods are safe is a bit like proving
the existence of the Loch Ness Monster. It’s hard to prove something
is not there when fanatics want to believe...read more |
WORLD
ON THE MOVE: ‘GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS’ ~ 10
August 2005
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| I
have been a member of a Global Commission on International Migration
and our report several years in the making will be published soon...read more |
DOHA
- ENLARGE THE VISION - G20 THE BEST CARD ~ 25
July 2005
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| 12
days ago over 30 Ministers of Trade met in Dalian in North China to
seek an agreement on the Doha Development round, which is already
behind schedule...read more |
G8
HOPE TRUMPS HATE ~ 11
July 2005
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| Britain
went in 24 hours from Olympic euphoria to stoic sorrow as extremists
murdered and maimed ordinary Londoners...read more |
MYTHS
AND OLD TRUTHS 27
June 2005
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| EVERYTHING
HAS CHANGED BUT THE SLOGANS Napoleon said, “China is a sleeping
giant, let her sleep.”...read more |
ELECTION
TIME IN NEW ZEALAND ~ 27
June 2005
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| A
Report to Overseas Friends...read more |
THE
BLAIR INITIATIVE ~ 08
June 2005
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| British
Prime Minister Blair has an opportunity to make history because he
will be chairing the Group of 8 most industrialised countries’
leaders who meet on the 6th of July in the tranquillity of the famous
mansion at Gleneagles...read more |
A
NEW DIRECTOR-GENERAL...back to basics! ~ May 2005
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| In
a remarkably calm and dignified manner, the World Trade Organisation
has chosen a new Director-General, Pascal Lamby, a former European
Trade Commissioner...read more |
INDIA
vs. CHINA...NO CONTEST ~ May 2005
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| In the early 1980’s, the great cliché was that we were
entering a Pacific Age with the centre of economic gravity shifting
from the Atlantic...read more |
“A
NEW DEMOCRATIC SPRING?” ~ May 2005
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| Remember the Prague spring when a bright spark, a hopeful beam of
enlightenment shone briefly from the shadows of Soviet occupation,
illuminating the true nature of Communist imperialism?...read more |
THE
G20 ~ May 2005
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| India was last week the host of a meeting of twenty developing country
Trade Ministers, the G20...read more |
UNITED
NATIONS REFORM ~ March
2005
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| I believe in the United Nations and probably a bit too romantic about
its possibilities...read more |
AFRICA ~ March
2005
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| U.K. Prime Minister, Tony Blair, a year ago established a commission
on Africa, calling Africa’s problem a scar on the conscience
of the world...read more |
MULTILATERALISM
IS THE ANSWER ~ March
2005
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| Last week leaders, ministers, officials and hundreds of journalists
met in Santiago, Chile for the annual conference of the 21 members
of the Asian Pacific Economic Co-Operation Forum (APEC)...read more |
GAY
MARRIAGE? ~ March
2005
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| New Zealand has just gone through the political agony of passing legislation
to provide for civil union. That is a legal celebration of a union
that mimics all the law surrounding marriage...read more |
DEMOCRACY ~ March
2005
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| By March I will have been in the Middle East 6 times in 6 months...read more |
EDUCATION
AND LITERACY ~ March
2005
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| I can claim to be one of the earliest China bores. There are only
two types of people, those who are talking about China and those who
are not...read more |
CHINA
- THE NEXT BIG STORY ~ March
2005
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| What happened a few hundred years ago that gave Europe and those countries
that built on the European experience the edge...read more |
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