SMALL-SCALE TOURISM YIELDS LARGE-SCALE BENEFITS

Innovative national leaders and forward-looking planners from around the world have proven that tourism that features authentic culture, nature, and experiences creates more opportunities in local communities than any other type of tourism, writes Gülden Türköz Cosslett, UN Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Albania. In this article, the author writes that at the village or town level, nature and culture-oriented tourism permits small-scale businesses to be successful tourism operators based on their own knowledge and experience, and with relatively low capital investment. Tourist spending is local, and tends to stay in the community, spread across a number of individuals in the community, and circulating in the local economy - the so-called \'\'economic multiplier effect\'\'. A study carried out in Costa Rica found that the positive economic impact of nature and culture tourism on a small community can be 5 to 10 times greater per dollar of tourist spending than for an all-inclusive mass tourism destination. Nature and culture tourism requires less public infrastructure and lower levels of private investment, per visitor.

NEPAL NEARS THE POLLS, PART REPUBLIC, PART MONARCHY

After much bargaining and dithering Nepal\'s governing alliance, which includes the former Maoist guerrillas, has finally agreed to hold its twice-postponed elections in April, writes Kunda Dixit, editor and publisher of the Nepali Times newspaper in Kathmandu and the author of the book, A People War. In this article, Dixit writes that a lot of things can go wrong between now and then. Maoist hardliners could try to sabotage polls in which they feel they will have a poor showing. The radical right, still loyal to sidelined King Gyanendra, could provoke violence. Militant groups in the plains bordering India may prevent voting. Or all of the above. It looks likely that although Nepal is a republic on paper, the monarchy will still be an issue in elections. This would distract voters from the real issues of a new constitution. But many Nepalis now think the king is just not worth the trouble to keep any more. April\'s elections will bring closure to this prolonged transition, and hopefully clarity to the political process so that Nepal\'s new rulers can at last turn their attention to lifting the living standards of Asia\'s poorest people.

HILLARY, OBAMA SIGNS OF A CHANGE OF COURSE FOR THE US

The dynamic race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to become the presidential candidate for the Democratic Party is yet another sign of the correction of course now underway in the United States, writes Joaquin Roy, \'\'Jean Monnet\'\' professor and Director of the European Union Centre of the University of Miami (jroy@Miami.edu). In this analysis, Roy writes that with its image abroad in tatters, a part of the US electorate, large enough to defeat the Republicans, has decided to opt for change. Both candidacies can also be seen as opportunities to remedy the traditional pattern of who has held the highest office of the most powerful country in the world. Hillary would be the first woman and Barack the first black to serve as president in the two-hundred- plus-year history of the US. Hillary and Obama both want the benefits of being the alternative, \"for change\" candidates in order to erase the impact of the disgraced presidency of Bush, particularly the divisiveness of the country and the destruction of its image abroad. Both are trying to present themselves as \'outsiders\' opposed to \'the establishment\'. Clinton has a harder time of pulling this off, though Obama can hardly be said to be just a guy from the neighbourhood.

INTERVIEW WITH CANDIDO GRZYBOWSKI: ” THE WORLD COULD BE VERY DIFFERENT FROM HOW IT IS TODAY”

\"The World Social Forum didn't produce the progressive wave in Latin America by itself; nevertheless, it would be difficult to imagine it without the presence of the WSF\", says Cândido Grzybowski, director of Ibvase (Brazil) and member of the WSF International Committee.

ARE WE REALLY RUNNING OUT OF OIL?

Are we running short of oil? Far from it, writes Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero, a fellow at the Oakland Institute, a Puerto Rican author, investigative reporter, and environmental educator. In this article, Marrero writes that new extraction technologies now make it possible to obtain oil from increasingly remote places and geological formations that were previously impenetrable. High gasoline and electricity prices have nothing to do with an alleged scarcity of crude. Rather, the \'\'peak oil\'\' thesis has caused many citizens and consumers to accept high energy prices without protesting. We cannot afford to sit around and wait for a \'\'peak oil\'\' crisis that will not come. Only activism and political action can save the planet from global warming.

AN OPENING OF DISCUSSION WITHIN CUBA

The speech of acting president Raul Castro on June 26 was followed by a call for open discussion, which reignited the debate over the errors of the past and reflection on how to address them, from shortages and domestic difficulties to ideas about political, economic, and social projections, writes Aurelio Alonso, a Cuban sociologist and vice director of the magazine Casa de las Americas. In this article, Alonso writes that the discussion about the socialism in this century is above all a problem for Cuba, which must determine which changes it needs to make. What is certain is that up thus far there is greater clarity about what the socialist experiment was lacking than about what would be required to remake it. What is truly important is that debate has become an everyday matter in Cuba and that it has not been obstructed - even if we cannot recognise that the true value of this opening is rooted in not seeing it as a simple concession but rather a step forward in the revolutionary political culture. e future, must be capable of developing and preserving.

WATERS ARE RISING: CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION MUST COME FAST

You can be sure that if rising sea levels forced the evacuation of the White House in Washington DC, the attitude towards global warming would be very different, writes Anote Tong, President of Kiribati since 2003. In this article, Tong writes that this is precisely what recently happened to one of the buildings of the presidential compound of Kiribati, forcing the president to move to higher ground. To the people of Kiribati, an island nation of just over 105,400 people and comprised of 33 atolls scattered in the central Pacific Ocean, global warming and the rising sea levels are very real threats. Indeed, at some point perhaps towards the end of the century, we will have to think about relocation. Water, or rather the scarcity of it, also poses one of the major challenges for several Pacific Island Countries, especially the Smaller Island States that have no river systems and have very sensitive groundwater resources typical of atoll island structures.

EU – TIGHTER EMISSIONS FOR TRANSPORT A CLEAR WIN-WIN STRATEGY

Strong environmental policies in transport will enable European firms to take the lead in technology development and help address many of today\'s geopolitical tensions, writes Jos Dings, director of the European Federation for Transport and Environment. In this analysis, Dings writes that today the transport sector is not moving in a sustainable direction: CO2 emissions and oil use are up 32 percent since 1990, cancelling out the progress made in other sectors. Policy should be focused on energy efficiency, not finding replacement energy sources to guzzle. Rather than set targets for production of specific alternative fuels, we need targets for reducing the \'\'carbon footprint\'\' of transport fuels, which would let the fuel industry find the most cost effective way of reducing emissions while rewarding the biofuel industry for delivering carbon savings. Whether you believe in helping the environment or restoring the balance of power in the global energy market, more sustainable transport, less energy consumption, and lower CO2 emissions is a win-win strategy.

CHICAGO BOYS, GO HOME!

The multi-trillion dollar \"losses\" on Wall Street are simply cancelling out their illusory \"gains\". No amount of federal bailing and money printing can fill the black hole of unrealistic expectations created by faulty economics, writes Hazel Henderson, author of Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy (2007), president of Ethical Markets Media LLC, USA, and co-creator of the Calvert Henderson Quality of Life Indicators regularly updated at www.calvert-henderson.com. In this analysis, Henderson writes that Wall Street became a parasite on the real economy of Main Street and has spread its contagion around the world. The lesson is that financial markets must shrink; the non-bank investment firms\' business model is broken. The task now is to manage the downsizing of Wall Street and the global financial casino and redesign regulatory systems and markets to restore their useful but limited role in facilitating the production of useful, ecologically-benign goods and services in the growing green economies of the Solar Age. The truth is now in plain sight: there was no invisible hand! Markets and money are both shaped by legislation, central bankers, tax policies, subsidies, lobbying special interests and cronyism. Economics has always been politics in disguise. Money was confused with real wealth: educated healthy citizens and the basic productive eco-systems of our planet.

EUROPE: THE WORLD FINANCIAL CRISIS AND THE DECLINE OF THE LEFT

The neo-liberal system is broken. Capitalism must be moved past this phase of speculation and \"casino economy\" to a form of ethical capitalism that respects the environment and the concerns of society, writes Mario Soares, ex-president and ex-prime minister of Portugal. In this article, Soares calls for a reclaiming of the ethics which were always the hallmark of the left. Civic participation must be increased to counter the weakness of the state, bolster social justice, and oppose the commercialisation of society, corruption, and influence peddling. The activists must resume the fight for peace and the peaceful resolution of conflicts, for social integration, and against inequality and environmental degradation. Most clearly put, the present crisis, which has discredited politics as a whole, was caused by the dealings of economic pressure groups, the immorality of the banking and business elite, and influence peddling by political leaders -in short, by the promiscuous intermingling of politics and business. The conclusion to be drawn in inescapable: the system is corrupt and must be changed, This is the great task facing the European left.

SILENCE FROM THE NEOLIBERAL CHOIR

Where have all the neoliberals gone? A few months ago they were clamouring relentlessly for \"less government\"and \"more privatisation\", no government intervention, no ethical rules, and even fewer public services. For them the paramount goals were cutting taxes and letting the market work its magic without interference of any kind, writes Mario Soares, ex-president and ex-prime minister of Portugal. In this analysis, the author writes that American capitalism in its financial-speculative phase, guided by neoliberal ideology and fortified by the collapse of the communist regimes, carried the US up to the gates of financial catastrophe and economic recession. Now its negative effects have spread across Europe and are beginning to poison the rest of the planet. Will the US Treasury plan stabilise the American economy or only provide short-term relief? The means adopted by various countries and the subsequent reactions of the economic actors have generated little more than violent fluctuations and instability, and thus it is not yet possible to answer this question. However, there can be no doubt that a long-term solution would have to go much farther, beginning with reform of the financial-speculative sector through regulation and controls, a crackdown on tax havens, the introduction of strict ethical norms and social and environmental goals, and finally, as French president Sarkozy said, \"Those responsible for causing this crisis should be put in jail\".

ERRANT PARADOX

A book of mine entitled \'\'Mirrors\'\' is about to be published. It is a sort of -pardon the audacity- universal history. As Oscar Wilde said, \'\'I can resist everything except temptation,\'\' and I confess I have succumbed to the temptation of recounting certain episodes of the human adventure in this world, events that are not well known, writes Eduardo Galeano, a Uruguayan writer and journalist and author of The Open Veins of Latin America and Memories of Fire. In this article, Galeano writes that John Locke, renowned philosopher of liberty, was a shareholder in the Royal Africa Company, which bought and sold slaves. At the dawn of the 18th century, the first of the Bourbons of Spain, Philip V, inaugurated his new throne by signing a contract with his cousin the king of France that allowed the Guinea Company to sell blacks in America. Each king would receive a 25 percent cut of the profits. The names of some of the ships that carried this cargo: Voltaire, Rousseau, Jesus, Hope, Equality, and Friendship. Two of the founding fathers of the US disappeared in the fog of official history. No one remembers Robert Carter or Gouverneur Morris. This amnesia is recompense for their acts: Carter was the first of the champions of independence to free his slaves. Morris, one of the authors of the Constitution, opposed the clause stipulating that a slave was equal to just three-fifths of a person. \'\'The Birth of a Nation\'\', the first Hollywood mega-production, premiered in 1915 in the White House. The president, Woodrow Wilson, gave it a standing ovation. His writings were repeatedly quoted in the film, a racist hymn in praise of the Ku Klux Klan.

HOW TRADE RULES CAN SERVE THE ENVIRONMENT

The relationship between international trade -and indeed the WTO- and climate change would be best defined by a consensual international accord on climate change that successfully embraces all major polluters, writes Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In this article, Lamy writes that until a truly global consensus emerges on how best to tackle the issue of climate change, WTO members will continue to hold different views on what the multilateral trading system can do on this subject. The WTO tool-box of rules can certainly be leveraged in the fight against climate change, but they would need to be mobilised under clearer environmental parameters, which only the environmental community can set. In the absence of such parameters, the WTO will continue to be pulled from left to right by different players, with only a faint possibility of landing in the centre.

CIVIL SOCIETY UNDER ATTACK

In the last twelve months we have seen civil society organisations challenged by political threats to civil society\'s right to exist, by the need to improve its internal governance, and by the threats that face humankind, from climate change crisis to poverty and inequality, writes Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of CIVICUS: A World Alliance for Citizen Participation. In this article the author writes that in 2007 civil society found itself under attack in many countries around the world. In Ethiopia peaceful anti-poverty campaigners Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie are still in prison after 25 months on charges of conspiring to overthrow the government. The verdict of their case is due on 24 December, 2007. In Burma (Myanmar) we saw a vicious state-sponsored crackdown on civil society expressing its right to assembly and expression. In Pakistan activists, lawyers, and campaigners were the victims of President Pervez Musharraf\'s imposition of emergency rule. Unfortunately these are not isolated cases but a few of many continuing attempts across the globe to clamp down on dissenting voices, often in the name of the \'war on terror\'. These are being waged increasingly through legislation to restrict civil society\'s legitimate work.

2007 – A BAD YEAR FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

December 10th marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which began a period of impressive development of international human rights standards, laws, and institutions that have improved the lives of many millions around the world, writes Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International. The year 2007, however, has brought grave human rights violations and the failure to protect the economic, social, and cultural rights of an important part of the global population. From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, human rights are being violated, neglected, and eroded with audacity and impunity by governments, big business, and armed groups. Renewed commitment is needed by governments as well as civil society to convert rhetoric into reality, disillusionment and despair into hope and action. A global strategy of counter-terrorism, led by the US has undermined fundamental principles of human rights, while extremists and armed groups have unleashed a downward spiral of violence that has endangered the lives of ordinary people everywhere. Parliaments, courts and civil society must call for respect of human rights and the rule of law as the path to greater security.

MEGATERRORISM: US MISSILE ‘DEFENCE’ KEY TO SURVIVABLE NUCLEAR WAR

The real reason for the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) the US wants to place in Poland and Czech Republic is Washington\'s perverse desire to be able to wage and win a nuclear war, writes Jan Oberg, director and co-founder of the Transnational Foundation (TFF) in Lund, Sweden, and peace and conflict researcher. In this article, Oberg writes that BMD represents a fundamental break with deterrence because it aims to prevent affected countries from successfully retaliating against a hypothetical first nuclear strike by the US, making it possible to fight and win a nuclear war without any harm to itself. Since September 11, 2001, no one uses the word terror in reference to nuclear weapons despite the fact that they dwarf the threats (pretended or real) from today\'s \'\'terrorism\'\'. Humanity\'s main problem is not nuclear proliferation and, thus, not Iraq and Iran, but the very existence of nuclear weapons. What the binding Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) actually says is that proliferation to non-nuke countries shall stop as a quid pro quo for nuclear abolition by the nuclear powers. The US, Russia, France, China, Israel, Pakistan, India, the UK are the problem -- not Iran or Iraq or North Korea.

BALI: ­ FIRST STEPS ON A ROUGH ROAD

The United Nations Conference on Climate Change was only a necessary first step along what will be a rough road to agreement on the cooperative measures required to bring the risks of climate change under control. The last minute compromise to establish a continuing negotiating process was only reached on a weakened and watered-down basis, writes Maurice Strong, Secretary-General, 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and the first Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In this analysis, Strong writes that we must treat the dangers of climate change as a security issue, the most important threat to global security we will ever face. The author calls for establishment of a Climate Security Fund of USD 1 trillion to be financed by those countries that have contributed most to cumulative emissions. The Fund would be utilised to assist developing countries to reduce the growth of their emissions and adapt to adverse conditions resulting from already irreversible changes. The kind of climate security regime that would result from these and other indispensable measures goes well beyond Bali and what is considered realistic by most under today\'s conditions, but are imperative if we are to secure the conditions that support life as we know it.

EU-AFRICA-CARIBBEAN-PACIFIC TRADE: UNEQUAL PARTNERS, UNFAIR RULES

The December 31 deadline for ratification of the EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the European Union and the ACP Group (Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific) should be extended for negotiating these agreements, writes Luisa Morgantini, vice president of the European Parliament. In this analysis, Morgantini writes that numerous studies show the effect of eliminating preferences and implementing the sort of trade liberalisation that the EU wants to introduce would be devastating to the African economies. Two economies at completely different phases of development should not be treated as if they were equal. It is wrong to pretend that the liberalisation \'\'of almost all trade\'\' between them can generate development. The assumption that the EPAs and WTO rules are unavoidable ignores the possibility of working through this organisation to change the rules. It is to be hoped that the Commission will listen to the arguments of the many voices who have called for an extension of the deadline for negotiating the EPAs, for exclusion of discussion of the \'\'Singapore issues\'\', and for the EPAs to be transformed into true instruments of co-operation for development and not mere free-trade accords.

VENEZUELA: PUTTING THE BRAKES ON HUGO CHAVEZ

In a constitutional referendum on December 2, voters in Venezuela sent a clear message to their president: \'\'Slow down,\'\' writes Jennifer L. McCoy, political science professor at Georgia State University, and director of the Americas Programme at The Carter Centre in Atlanta. In this analysis, McCoy writes that President Hugo Chavez\' own supporters refused to do what he asked - vote on his constitutional reform proposals as if it were a personal loyalty test to him. Venezuela could profit from this experience if all sides (and the US too) learn the lessons and capitalise on the opportunities it provides. International actors should not underestimate the capacity of the Venezuelan people to provide broad constraints on their government, even when institutional checks and balances are practically non-existent. As long as President Chavez follows the electoral path, the Venezuelan people will determine how far they will support his ideas, and when to put on the brakes.

ASEAN NEEDS TO TAKE A STAND ON BURMA

ASEAN\'s refusal to take a firm position on Burma has become its Achilles\' heel, writes Zin Linn, a former political detainee who now lives in exile and is presently the information director of the National Coalition Government (in exile) of Union of Burma. In this analysis, the author writes that ASEAN recently cancelled UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari\'s scheduled briefing on the political situation of Burma at the ASEAN Summit in Singapore. ASEAN member countries\' lack of collective will to take a strong position against Burma is very disappointing and makes a mockery of the ASEAN Charter, which states that the region must be more responsive to human rights issues. According to Amnesty International, there have been fresh arrests by the junta-led Burmese government despite its promises. To date, up to 700 people arrested during and following the September protests remain behind bars, while 1150 political prisoners held prior to the protests have not been released. It is the responsibility of the international community, especially regional players like China and India, to press the ruling junta to make changes and recognise the Burmese people\'s fundamental rights, including the right to freedom of expression.

GLOBALISATION, EQUITY, AND CLIMATE CHANGE

The pollution created by corporations must be recognised as their responsibility and liability, no matter where they create it. Transferring their pollution burden to the poor of the South is not equity, it is injustice, writes Vandana Shiva, author and international campaigner for women and the environment. In this analysis, Shiva writes that in times of globalisation, global corporations are the main economic players, not countries, and global corporations out-source their pollution to the developing world to save costs and maximise profits. The author coins the term \'\'equity schizophrenia\'\', by which corporate globalisers destroy equity to concentrate wealth and resources in the hands of a wealthy few, while they want the poor, whom they have dispossessed of their livelihoods and land, to share the responsibility for pollution, which the poor did not cause. This is hypercapitalism of wealth and resources and socialism of pollution. The poor lose their \'\'goods\'\' to the rich and inherit their liabilities.