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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Thu Dec 30 2010 - 17:28:31 EST
Two-speed world of uncertainty
* From: The Australian <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/>
* December 31, 2010 12:00AM
MULTILATERALISM fell short of expectations in 2010.
.....Resource-rich Eritrea heads the list followed by Qatar, with China and
India in fifth and sixth places with projected growth of between 8.5 and 9
per cent..
One of the few certainties as 2010 ends is that the two-speed economic
divide of the past 12 months will gather pace in the new year. The IMF's
Economic Intelligence Unit has listed 20 nations -- all African, Middle
Eastern or Asian -- that will enjoy the strongest growth in the world this
year. Resource-rich Eritrea heads the list followed by Qatar, with China and
India in fifth and sixth places with projected growth of between 8.5 and 9
per cent. European nations dominate the list of the 20 slowest-growing
countries, with some including Greece, Portugal and Ireland facing another
year of contraction and others just above zero growth. The US ranked No 20
on the slow list.
Aside from the disparity in economic performance between the old and the new
worlds, the other clear-cut trend on the world stage this year was the
failure of multilateralism to deliver members' aspirations. In the year
after the shambolic Copenhagen climate conference, barely any discernible
progress was made towards a global pact to cut carbon emissions.
Unilaterally, Canada, the US and Japan backed away from national schemes for
trading carbon, making it harder for others, including Australia, to do so.
Not for the first time, the UN proved a waste of resources. So marked is its
anti-Israeli bias that it undermines rather than assists the Middle East
peace process. The Security Council stood idly by in the face of North
Korean aggression. And the UNHCR system again failed to make a dent on the
world's vast refugee problem. Its outdated processes are ripe for reform as
they cannot cope with the demands of 10 million refugees awaiting
resettlement. Far more effective than multilateralism is direct co-operation
between nations with common interests, such as Barack Obama's efforts to
step up US military presence in the Asia-Pacific in co-operation with its
regional allies, including Australia.
While the President is optimistic about the impact of this year's troop
surge in the Taliban heartland in southern Afghanistan, UN assessments show
a deterioration of the security situation. Although the US is committed to
begin withdrawing forces from July, the process is likely to be limited,
slow and primarily designed to appease US opinion. But the biggest questions
unanswered after 2010 concern Iran and its push to acquire a nuclear
capability within three years. The window of opportunity to confront that
danger is closing rapidly.
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