By Alessandro RAIMONDI
March 3 (THE GLOBE)
Once more, one month ago John Paul II, the pope come from the East, has gone West to meet in St. Louis the leader of the Free World. Bill Clinton and the Holy Father have conferred, as one might have expected, of today�s world�s problems, time bombs only waiting for the right moment to explode. Issues of international politics such as Iraq, Kosovo, Africa, others of moral thickness such as abortion, death penalty, and others of more practical matters such as the international debt, civil rights and the globalization process have been openly discussed at the summit, marking, no question about, the largest gap between Europe and America in recent years.
Such agendas, the reader might remark, are routine whenever two heads of states are conducting discussions in official meetings meant to acknowledge the existence of issues to be solved and, possibly, to offer solutions. That�s part of the political game. But when one of the interlocutors is the pope every summit gets a different aura, for the pontiff speaks out of a legitimation well rooted in the spiritual authority deriving from being the religious leader of the Roman Catholic Church, an �organization� more than one billion strong.
So when the pope travels, and this one does it a lot, it�s because he wants to see people�s problems, wants to know first hand what�s troubling our Lord�s flock, wants to be able, then, to be correct and precise in his denouncing such situations to the mighty ones of the planet. And, of course, wants to offer comfort, setting the pace and the example so that others might follow.
In fact, what Karol Woytila�s action spells is solidarity, a 360� frantic activity to help the less fortunate, the humbles, the suffering ones the world over.
Not by chance soon after he ascended St. Peter�s throne, back in 1978, Poland, his country, has risen her head and a group referring to the values heralded by the former bishop of Cracow, came into existence: Solidarn�sc, Solidarity. The end of the communist nightmare has started then, when Solidarn�sc implicitly acknowledged that in the �workers� paradise� there were human dignities to be rescued, that needed solidarity, the one commodity that that paradise without saints, only martyrs, was not able to supply.
Everyone knows what Solidarn�sc and this physically frail pope have done to blast off from its very foundations the house of communism. Rethorics has turned into action and in the short space of a decade, slavery into freedom.
This Polish pope is the pope of humanitarian crusades: he has won the first against the totalitarian regimes of the Warsaw Pact, giving back dignity to peoples long waited for into the international community. Now John Paul II is undertaking another crusade, this time against �soulless� capitalism. Once more the pope by the iron will is fighting against injustice. That�s why he has crossed the Atlantic once more, and once more has met president Clinton.
The �odd couple� has convened and while old Woytila has touched the cords of sentiments by heralding dialogue among nations, claiming rights for the unborn, condemning the culture of death, Clinton epitomizes � without reference to his own moral conduct � the stereotype of the generation looking for immediate gratification, which justifies globalization processes (that almost inevitably mean lost of jobs) in order to obtain high dividends back home.
John Paul has behind him the Old Continent that in these recent years has rediscovered its socialdemocratic roots, partially because of the opening to the eastern countries that need to be counselled, helped and some even guided.
Bill Clinton is followed by a nation more and more individualistic because this is the trend that gives, at this very moment, the best of benefits: deregulation, cuts in social spending, wild liberism. A nation that, blessed by an economic bonanza, pretends not to see the lack of morality of its leader.
Wide, open differencies between the two men which mark also the distance between the two continents that after the collapse of communism have drifted away into opposite directions, embracing social cultures that couldn�t be more different. An entire continent, Europe, following a leader, John Paul II, on one side, and on the other side a leader, Clinton, that by following the people doesn�t lead anymore.
by Matthew Lee
BEIJING, March 2 (AFP)
Despite public and intense disagreements with China, particularly over human rights, the United States is accepting Beijing�s increasingly powerful role in the international arena.
Far from the spotlight of the human rights debate, senior US officials, including Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who ended a two-day visit Tuesday, say they are dealing with a far more globally engaged China than ever before.
�China does see itself, as it modernises and gets stronger and grows economically ... ready or willing or eager to assume a larger role on the world stage,� said a senior state department official accompanying Albright.
The secretary herself noted the change and that it meant �strategic dialogue� � Washington�s term for non-bilateral foreign policy issues � with the Chinese was becoming increasingly important.
�I think that we do recognise the importance of having a strategic dialogue with them,� Albright said.
�Our perspectives often differ but our efforts to identify areas of agreement and minimise conflict have yielded dividends for both the region and the world,� she said.
From the Middle East peace process to crisis in the Balkans and more regional security issues such as North Korea and the South Asian arms race, US officials say China is showing greater interest if not a greater interest in getting involved.
�One of the most interesting things about (strategic dialogue) is the breadth of subjects that we now cover and that is not by any means limited,� the senior state department official said.
�We once used to talk about strategic dialogue as North Korea and Cambodia (only), then we�d move on to the bilateral issues,� the official said after Albright�s meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen.
�But (in this) discussion, the secretary briefed at some length at Vice Premier Qian�s request, on the Arab-Israeli peace process and about the situation in Jordan.�
�You�re talking about leaders who basically cover the entire spectrum of world issues,� the official said, adding: �I think that is quite helpful.�
But while US officials regard China�s increasing interest in world affairs as a generally positive development � especially in reducing tension in South Asia and the Korean peninsula � Beijing has angered Washington with its peculiar brand of diplomacy.
Its recent veto in the UN Security Council of the extension of the peacekeeping force in Macedonia is a case in point, officials said.
The Chinese insist their veto was unrelated to the fact that Macedonia established diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a claim Washington clearly does not acccept at face value.
They said �it had served its purpose, a view which we do not share at all,� State Department spokesman James Rubin said, noting the continuing instability on Macedonia�s borders. �We regret that decision.�
Albright appeared to indicate she believed the Chinese veto was irresponsible for a nation which values its permanent position on the security council.
�I hope very much that China (will see) its role as a permanent member of the UN security council as one in which there are responsibilities that come with it,� she said.
China�s size, growing economy and security council membership make it a natural candidate for an international leadership role and one that the US must take seriously, the senior official said.
�It makes perfect sense for the United States to be having these kinds of discussion about issues in which China is going to be involved through its UN role.�
by Anne Penketh
UNITED NATIONS,
March 4
(AFP)
A stream of allegations that Washington used the UN disarmament regime in Iraq for spying purposes could have a serious impact on monitoring efforts elsewhere, arms control experts say.
Allegations published by the Washington Post, which have not been officially confirmed or denied, said that Washington used a UN electronic surveillance system in Iraq to spy on the Iraqi military for almost three years.
The paper reported on Tuesday that the top UN weapons inspector for Iraq, Richard Butler, and his predecessor Rolf Ekeus, were kept in the dark about the clandestine monitoring installed by US agents.
Tuesday�s report was the latest in a series of allegations in recent months that the United States � and other countries � �piggy-backed� on the UN weapons inspections for their own spying purposes.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan acknowledged Tuesday that �there is no doubt that these allegations will make disarmament regimes or future efforts difficult if governments believe that this kind of thing can happen.�
UNSCOM chief Richard Butler also expressed concern to reporters during an exchange at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Wednesday.
Butler said that once the scientific objectivity of international arms inspections was questioned, confidence in the means of verification would be jeopardized �and you�ve got a serious political problem.�
�The idea of piggy-backing on such means might be such jeopardy, and that causes me, and others who think deeply about such things, very serious problems,� Butler said.
The director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association, Spurgeon Keeny, said in an interview with AFP that the allegations could be �a major setback for on-site inspection regimes in a number of contexts.�
�I hope it�s been blown out of all proportion,� Keeny said, noting that the reports have not been officially confirmed. �But it�s certainly set off a lot of alarm bells.�
He noted that �countries already opposed to intrusive monitoring will have reason to be fearful, and a rationale for opposing measures.�
A North Korean delegation is currently holding talks in New York on US demands to inspect an underground suspect nuclear site.
The Washington Post report �doesn�t come at an opportune time,� Keeny commented.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, implementing a ban on the production, use and stockpiling of the lethal agents, is among those with intrusive inspection regimes in states that are parties to the treaty eliminating the weapons.
The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty banning all underground nuclear tests also provides for inspections when it comes into force.
Russia and the United States meanwhile have �all kinds of intrusive monitoring� under strategic nuclear arms reduction treaties as well as a host of other informal arrangements, Keeny said.
Keeny noted that arms inspectors were inevitably drawn from specific countries and from the military and intelligence establishment because of their expertise.
He said that it was one thing to be debriefed by one�s government after serving on a mission, but �that is quite different from carrying out a major activity in that country unrelated to the disarmament tasks.�
All Over the Globe is published by IPA House.
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