EDGE Spring Presentation 9

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EDGE Spring Presentation 9

• Saudi Arabia taking lead in Middle east
• Arab League on Sudan elements of Oil
• Russia objects to US missile deployment
• Evo Morales and the Peoples Trade Association
• Agenda for Nigerias YarAdua
• Reaction to Student Proposals

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A Saudi Prince Tied To Bush Sounding Out Of Step
With Saudi KingBush administration officials
have been scratching their heads over steps taken
by Prince Bandars uncle, King Abdullah of Saudi
Arabia, that have surprised them by going against
the American playbook, after receiving assurances
to the contrary from Prince Bandar during secret
trips he made to Washington, D.C. For instance,
in February, Abdullah effectively torpedoed plans
by Secretary of State Condolleezza Rice for a
high-profile peace summit meeting between Prime
Israeli Minister Ehud Olmert and the Palestinian
president, Mahmoud Abbas, by brokering a
power-sharing agreement with Abbas Fatah and
Hamas that did not require Hamas to recognize
Israel or forswear violence. The Americans had
believed, after discussions with Prince Bandar,
that the Saudis were on board with the strategy
of isolating Hamas.

• After the Sept. 11 attacks, as the United States
  learned that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi,
  and focused on the strict Wahhabi school of Islam
  that informed them and their fellow Saudi, Osama
  bin Laden, Prince Bandar took a public role in
  assuring the Americans that his nation would
  cooperate in investigating and combating
  anti-American terrorism. He also helped arrange
  for more than a hundred members of the bin Laden
  family to be flown out of the United States.

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LaLibnan Analysis- The Honeymoon's over for Bush
and the Saudis

• By Martin Indyk Washington Riyadh - What has
  happened to the love affair between Saudi
  Arabia's King Abdullah and President Bush? Two
  years ago, down on the Texas ranch, they were
  photographed walking hand in hand. It was the
  beginning of a beautiful relationship
• Bush dropped his demand for democratization in
  the puritanical kingdom, and Abdullah did his
  best to moderate oil prices. The dowry was a new
  U.S. arms deal for the Saudis. A second honeymoon
  was scheduled for this month, when Bush planned
  to host Abdullah for his first state visit.
• So the White House was mightily perplexed when it
  was informed that the king's schedule didn't
  allow for a spring visit to Washington. Then, at
  an Arab League summit in Riyadh last month,
  Abdullah denounced the U.S. war in Iraq as an
  "illegitimate occupation." He also used the
  occasion to make up with Bush's bete noire,
  Bashar al-Assad, the brash Syrian president who
  had previously denounced the Saudi leader as "a
  dwarf.
• To kick off his grand anti-Iranian design, Bandar
  encouraged the weak but moderate Palestinian
  president, Mahmoud Abbas, to confront Hamas. But
  Bandar's boss, Abdullah, had another idea
  Instead of sending Abbas the fat aid check that
  Bandar had promised, Abdullah invited Hamas's
  leaders to Mecca to forge a new Palestinian unity
  government, to include the moderate Abbas and his
  challengers in Hamas. Bandar's plan was in
  shambles. The Bush administration, which had led
  a year-long boycott of the Hamas government, felt
  as though it had been sucker punched.

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A Saudi Prince Tied to Bush Is Sounding
Off-KeyBy HELENE COOPER and JIM RUTENBERG NY
Times

• WASHINGTON, April 28 No foreign diplomat has
  been closer or had more access to President Bush,
  his family, and his administration than the
  magnetic and fabulously wealthy Prince Bandar bin
  Sultan of Saudi Arabia.
• For instance, in February, King Abdullah
  effectively torpedoed plans by Secretary of State
  Condoleezza Rice for a high-profile peace summit
  meeting between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of
  Israel and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud
  Abbas, by brokering a power-sharing agreement
  with Mr. Abbass Fatah and Hamas that did not
  require Hamas to recognize Israel or forswear
  violence. The Americans had believed, after
  discussions with Prince Bandar, that the Saudis
  were on board with the strategy of isolating
  Hamas.
• American officials also believed, again after
  speaking with Prince Bandar, that the Saudis
  might agree to direct engagement with Israel as
  part of a broad American plan to jump-start
  Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. King Abdullah
  countermanded that plan.
• Most bitingly, during a speech before Arab heads
  of state in Riyadh three weeks ago, the king
  condemned the American invasion of Iraq as an
  illegal foreign occupation. The Bush
  administration, caught off guard, was infuriated,
  and administration officials have found Prince
  Bandar hard to reach since.

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Arab League Summit, Mar. 28-29, 2007 Saudi
Arabias King Abdullah bin-Abdul Aziz al-Saud
..an illegitimate foreign occupation of Iraq.
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China Today Analysis Arab countries step to
front stage on Darfur issue

• KHARTOUM, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Through a
  multipartite ministerial meeting held in the
  Libyan capital Tripoli at the weekend, the Arab
  countries stepped up to the front stage regarding
  the Darfur issue in the western Sudanese region,
  local analysts said on Monday.
•     The meeting called by Libya, was attended by
  officials from Sudan, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea,
  Libya, the five permanent members of the UN
  Security Council as well as the African Union,
  the European Union, the League of Arab States,
  and the United Nations.
•     The meeting was held at a time when Darfur
  rebel movements were continuously boycotting a
  resumption of peace talks and Khartoum was under
  mounting pressures to approve the deployment of
  UN peacekeepers in Darfur.
•  Shortly after the visit, Cairo announced that it
  would send more than 500 soldiers to participate
  in the AU peacekeeping forces in Darfur.
  
•     The Egyptian soldiers will be the first
  fighting troops deployed by an Arab country in
  Darfur, where a number of medical teams and
  engineering units from the Arab states are
  working in the 7800-strong AU force.

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By Andrew Gilligan, Evening Standard 24 August
2004 Britain has sent more than 180 tons of arms
to war-torn Sudan in the last three years,
according to the United Nations. The revelation,
which will embarrass Foreign Secretary Jack Straw
as he visits Darfur today, is contained in the
official UN commodity trade database, Comtrade,
which compiles information supplied by national
customs services. During his visit to the Abu
Shouk refugee camp, Mr Straw is expected to
condemn what he described as the "atrocities"
committed in Darfur by the Janjaweed, a militia
sponsored by the Sudan government. "I will
impress on the government of Sudan the scale of
international concern and the need to make full
progress in implementing their obligations," he
said last night. But the weapons which,
according to Comtrade, have been supplied by
Britain are exactly the types which are being
used by the Janjaweed in their campaign of rape,
ethnic cleansing and murder. The Comtrade website
shows that weapons weighing 184 tons and with a
net value at 2001 prices of ?441,000 were
imported by Sudan from the UK in 2001 and 2002.
The goods included parts and accessories for
pistols and revolvers, arms and ammunition.
Smaller quantities, including telescopic sights,
were imported in earlier years. The database
gives no details of the manufacturer or precise
specification of the weapons supplied, but given
the quantities and values they were almost
certainly small arms of the type commonly used by
the Janjaweed. The Government insisted last night
that it had not exported any arms to Sudan in
2001 or 2002, but said it was "continuing to look
into" the Standard's discovery.  

Arms to Sudan trade revealed
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While discussing trade with Czech President
Vaclav Klaus on Friday, Russian President
Vladimir Putin criticized the US plan to place
anti-missile instillations in Eastern Europe. The
two leaders met in the Green Room at the Grand
Kremlin Palace.Putin and Klaus signed a number
of joint agreements and held a press conference
afterwards. The Russian President rejected the US
claims that the defense systems expected to be
deployed in Poland and the Czech Republic were
aimed at neutralizing a potential treat from
Iran. He said that no such threat exists or is
likely to exist anytime soon
Submitted by Dan Wilson on April 27, 2007
Back in 1972 the US and Soviet Union signed a
treaty banning the development of anti-ballistic
missiles. The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM
Treaty or ABMT for short) was signed on May 26,
1972 by then President of the United States,
Richard Nixon and the General Secretary of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Leonid
Brezhnev.
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Proposal from Bolivian President Evo Morales
concerningA People's Trade Agreement (PTA)

• To achieve a true integration among peoples that
  transcends the commercial and economic arenas,
  recognizing the differences of each country, and
  at the same time prioritizing the protection of
  internal production and national companies.  A
  treaty which holds, above all, the well being of
  the people and a respect for their history and
  cultures.Another integration is possible

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What does the PTA present?

• Unlike capitalist ideology, the PTA introduces
  the following concepts into the commercial
  integration debate  complementarity,
  cooperation, solidarity, reciprocity, prosperity
  and the respect for the sovereignty of each
  country.  In this way, it incorporates objectives
  which are absent from the commercial integration
  programs advanced by the North, such as effective
  poverty reduction, preservation of indigenous
  communities and respect for the environment. 
• PTA considers trade and investment not just as
  ends in themselves but rather as potential paths
  to development therefore absolute liberalization
  of markets and the shrinking' of the State are
  not the primary objectives, rather the well being
  of the people is the primary goal. 
• In other words, the objectives are to strengthen
  small producers, micro-businesses, cooperatives
  and communitarian enterprises and to facilitate
  the interchange of goods with external markets. 
  
•             The purpose of the PTA is to be at
  the service of more than just a small exporting
  group. The PTA is proposed as part of a new
  economic model, with the purpose of improving the
  living conditions of the population (income
  levels, health, education, access to water and
  culture) and promoting sustainable development
  which is equitable, egalitarian and democratic,
  and which permits conscious participation of
  citizens in making collective decisions.  If the
  FTAs are negotiated in secret, the PTA needs the
  active participation and discussion of social
  movements, who through using our new political
  instrument, have begun to govern Bolivia for
  Bolivians.

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Nigerian Bar Association sets agenda for
YarAdua April 27th, 2007

• NBA also demands quality education, improved
  welfare of the people, protection as well as
  respect for human rights and the rule of
  law.        YarAdua was Monday declared
  president-elect in the April 21 presidential 
  elections conducted by the Independent  National
  Electoral  Commission ( INEC )  and is to take
  over from President Olusegun Obasanjo on May 29, 
  ushering  in a successful civilian to civilian
  transition   in  Nigerias  47 years  of
  independence.  Olisa Agbakoba, NBA president,
  who spoke to Business Day advised the new
  government to make a paradigm shift and address
  the social welfare of the people. According to
  Agbakoba, we need to see a shift in the economic
  policy of the government. We need to shift from
  what I call market fundamentalism  where  the
  reform is dictated by what is called the 
  Washington Economic Consensus   driven by the
  World Bank, IMF, WTO and begin to think about a
  home grown  economic policy. I can not go and
  tell my children that I have money in the bank
  and they are hungry. The president as the head of
  Nigeria can not go and tell his children that we
  are keeping money for them to earn interest. So
  shift in economic policy is very important.

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Textile industry gets N80bn lifeline April 27th,
2007

• Aliyu Modibo, Minister of Commerce and Industry
  who disclosed this at the ministerial press
  briefing of the Ministry said A Cotton/Textile
  Revival Fund of N80-billion has been approved to
  address the multiple problems of the sector at
  all levels and to arrest the decline in the
  production of textiles and promote export. The
  minister who lamented that the strength of the
  industry which had over 170 operating companies
  has now reduced to just only 10, stressed that
  this has become a great concern to the government
  and  is determined to find a lasting solution to
  the collapse of the sector. Governments
  injection of N80-billion to tackle the problems
  of the sector is coming in the face of a total
  collapse of a once vibrant industry, which
  employed millions of Nigerians. The industry had
  gone into complete paralysis following a
  catalogue of problems caused largely by
  infrastructural deficiencies in the country,
  unfavourable import duty regime and governments
  disinterestedness in the industrys plight over
  the years.This change of heart by the government
  will come as a relief for the sector, but it will
  still have to pursue its own strategies for
  survival as a new government to be headed by
  Umaru Yar Adua takes over the reigns of
  government next month.

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Colombia

• The role of the FARC and AUC with U.S.
• Terms of the Truce in 1990s
• Comments on the futility of the drug war
• Review of US Interest in Colombian oil resources
• National Debt review cancellation
• Degree of legitimacy of government elections
• Investment in farming and job creation for rural
  populations
  
• Competing with Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia,
  Nicaragua in social programs.

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Mexico-US

• Growing Mexican political power in city and
  county jurisdictions, efforts to counter
  
• Effect of minimum wages and cities with living
  wage
  
• Security threat?? Hatred and prejudice
• Economic impact of remissions and settlement in
  Mexican retirement communities
  
• WTO and agricultural subsidies effects on Mexican
  trade
  
• Control of remaining oil resources and their
  value
  
• Investments in US communities, housing
  businesses, ect. From Mexico and Latin America.
  
• Businesses in Mexico exporting to US, Chicken,
  corn, biofuel, etc.

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Japan

• Check national debt, is it owed to foreign
  nations or to local citizens.
  
• What is their military budget and what is the
  future plans
  
• How is their early education related to Europe?
• If productivity has increased, why cant it
  compensate for the reduced workforce of cute old
  Japanese ladies
  
• Look into the keiretsu a bit more. Relate it to
  the historic government.
  
• The era of Japan Colonialization before WWI, have
  they learned their lessons
  
• Check on the indigenous population and the
  treatment of other cultures within Japan.
  
• Present Political swing to the right.

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Diamond Cartel

• Check on the Debeers and the new Angolan Cartel
  led by Angola.
  
• Also the starting of diamond polishing in
  Angola.
  
• As a parallel check out the 5 sisters and the
  formation of OPEC.
  
• As a projection look at the cotton trade and the
  possibility of a developing nation cooperative
  group.

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Romania

• Lay out the strategy of adjusting to the ground
  rules of the EU
  
• A review of the formation and ability of the EU
  to set rules for the starters of WWI and WWII to
  coexist in a common market.
  
• The history culture that will be emphasized with
  pride in the future
  
• Any residual effects of transition and how to fix
  them.

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The Workings of OPEC

• Real world market effects, Texas influence
• Arab leadership in region
• Projection of Arab profits at projected crude
  prices
  
• Millennium goals, how much promised.
• How much of 60/barrel would have to be directed
  towards the goals by OPEC Fund to mandate by oil
  tax
  
• Explanation of why to do it, for investment,
  social, religious, elections, etc.

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100 laptop

• Outline the positive policy not the criticisms
• One laptop per child is not as good as 30 laptops
  per library and access to it in the evenings to
  adults
  
• Check Linux for support projects
• Reference Moores law and power of todays cell
  phones
  
• Identify all uses including direct ecommerce,
  adult education, news, health etc.
  
• Check internet cafes and support of projects.

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India

• Spreading the growth especially to rural
  populations.
  
• Micro credit and rural enterprises
• Political goals of different parties in
  different states
  
• World trade positions and comparison with other
  nations, China, Latin America, Africa
  
• India Pakistan issues.

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China

• Particular emphasis on projects to bring Western
  China up to growth.
  
• Dealing of China with Africa, Latin America

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ASEAN

•  I. The cultural background of each of the
  nations before the Europeans arrived. You should
  emphasize their cultures and languages and
  religions and/or cultural practices. Be sure to
  include that there were wars and empires then
  too.     II. The colonial era from discovery by
  the Europeans up to World War I. Be sure to
  include which nation and what goods they were
  after. Dutch in Indonesia, Japan in Korea and
  China,(Japan joined the Europeans.) The English
  in China. The Portuguese in China. The French in
  much of Vietnam, Cambodia, etc. The US in the
  Philippines and other south seas islands and
  Hawaii.     III. The change in control during
  WWII and then the Cold War.The Vietnam war for
  independence is the most important in the ASEAN
  group. You will also see the current military
  occupancy in Thailand by US forces and in the
  Philippines and Japan and Indonesia through arms
  sales.     IV. Following a reorganization of
  forces under UN guidelines, what will be the
  future of the ASEAN group. I think there is a
  model that includes trade and common migration
  between nations, similar to the Europe Union.
  Look at the current exports to US and Europe, is
  it similar to the colonial trade interests? Now
  the West has to pay for the goods.     V. What
  are the characteristics of the populations left
  behind economic development in each member
  nation? See what enterprises they have or could
  have with better investment.