LATIN AMERICA-NARCOTICS: The Drug War as Cover

In Colombia, a government tarnished by alleged links to drug dealers is rocked back on its heels by a bold challenge from guerrillas. In Panama, the timetable for the United States to hand over the canal to local control is suddenly linked to compliance with anti-drug initiatives.

LIBERIA-POLITICS: Who Is In Charge?

In trying to assert its authority over a renegade warlord, Liberia's interim ruling Council of State has not only exposed its weakness but has also undermined an already shaky peace process.

/DEVELOPMENT BULLETIN 5/ HAITI: Aristide’s Silence is like a Roar

The streets of the Haitian capital are still papered with old election posters showing ex-president Jean Bertrand Aristide and his ally and successor Rene' Preval embracing one another. Now the distance between the two is obvious.

HAITI-ECONOMY: Aristide’s Silence is like a Roar

The streets of the Haitian capital are still papered with old election posters showing ex-president Jean Bertrand Aristide and his ally and successor Rene' Preval embracing one another. Now the distance between the two is obvious.

AGRICULTURE: A Return to the Roots Could Prevent a Food Crisis

Mounting concerns about food security and of the diminishing diversity of agricultural crops are key issues to be addressed at two high-level United Nations meetings to be held this year.

LAOS: Kaysone – Big in Life, Bigger in Death

Three years after his death, Kaysone Phomvihane's portraits still hang on walls of government offices and soup shops in Laos, a sign of the ex-president's enduring influence on a country that is ever so gradually shedding its Marxist ideology.

LAOS-POLITICS: Reformers Reined in By a Watchful Old Guard

The Lao People's Revolutionary Party's (LPRA) sixth Congress turned out to be more of a renewal of old values and ideology rather than a progression of change, confounding the expectations of some insiders and outsiders.

ENVIRONMENT: Mad Cows And Growth Hormones Part Of The Same Problem

The spread of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), or so-called 'Mad Cow disease' may have been encouraged by western industry's increasing use of artificial growth hormones to boost profitable milk and meat production.

TAIWAN-CHINA: Election Storm Over, But Choppy Waters Remain

Lee Teng Hui's clear victory in Taiwan's first direct presidential election at the weekend, has shown up as misguided, China's belligerent tactics to undermine support for the Taiwanese leader.

ASIA-SECURITY: Taiwan Strait Tensions Stoke Regional Arms Race

Perhaps what is the most ominous development that will arise out of the current tensions in the Taiwan Strait is that it will stoke an arms race already spreading across the region.

DISARMAMENT: India, Non-Aligned Drift Apart on Nuclear Ban

The Indian government has hardened its position on the Comprehensive (nuclear) Test Ban Treaty, now being negotiated in the U.N. Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, putting its fate in the balance.

ARGENTINA-ECONOMY: Inflation Eases but Foreign Debt Increases

Argentina has emerged from the nightmare of hyper-inflation but an increasing foreign debt burden threatens new horrors for the nation's economy.

LATAM: The Military Spectre still Haunts Civilian Nightmares

The general loss of military political power in the Latin American nations has led to a very curious state of affairs, where the ghost of the armies still haunt the seats of government striking fear into the hearts of the new governments.

ASIA/EUROPE-HUMAN RIGHTS: Summit Will Spotlight Japan-ASEAN Bond

If there is a side to be taken at the March summit between South-east Asian countries and the European Union (EU), Japan, with one leg in Asia's camp and the other in that of the industrialised nations, will look to its regional neighbours.

HONG KONG: Who Will be The Boss Post-1997? It’s Anyone’s Guess

Less than 18 months before Hong Kong is handed over to Chinese rule and the latest past-time in the British Colony is trying to guess who will be the first China- appointed post-1997 governor to succeed Britain's Chris Patten.

IRAQ-UNITED NATIONS: Sanctions, Oil, Hunger

Iraq opens talks with U.N. Secretary- General Boutros Boutros-Ghali Tuesday, on modalities of implementing U.N. Security Council resolution 986, passed in April 1995, which allows Baghdad to sell one billion dollars worth of oil abroad every three months.

MIDDLE EAST: What Role for Europe?

Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres had little need to discuss basic bilateral issues when he came to Britain this week. Israel's relations with the United Kingdom have rarely been so good. This gave the Israeli premier a chance to expound on prospects for a broad Middle East peace -- and to open the door for speculation on possible British and European roles in furthering the Middle East peace process.

BRAZIL-TRADE: How to Achieve a Surplus?

Brazil, ravaged by decades of high inflation and a 3.15 billion dollar trade deficit in 1995 , is having trouble deciding on a stable foreign trade policy that fits between protectionism and and liberalization.

TURKEY-GREECE: NATO’s Headache Worsened by Crisis over “Rocks”

Poor relations between Greece and Turkey are a constant worry to their partners in NATO and the latest clash in the Aegean over a couple of routinely uninhabited rocks have duly prompted fresh concern in the Western security organisation.

ECONOMICS: The More Foreign Investment the Better? Maybe Not!

A growing balance of payments deficit is casting a shadow over Malaysia's much-heralded "miracle economic growth" -- and ironically, too much foreign investment, and too few controls, is a key reason for the pall.

INDONESIA: Irian Jaya Hostage Crisis Highlights a Wider Problem

The hostage-taking by rebels in Indonesia's eastern-most province of Irian Jaya highlightg a continuing and wider political problem facing the Jakarta government -- separatist movements across the archipelago.