Government Of, By, and For the Corporations

Unsafe In Any Seed: U.S. Obstructionism Defeats Adoption of An International Biotechnology Safety Agreement

by Kristin Dawkins

CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA - With virtually all parties proclaiming that "no protocol is better than a bad protocol," global negotiations to regulate trade in genetically modified organisms (GMOs) collapsed in failure here on February 23.

Absent a global treaty, countries remain free to regulate, or not regulate, GMOs within their borders as they see fit. Adoption of a strong international "biosafety protocol" would have established minimal requirements for the safe handling and use of GMOs, and helped provide poorer countries with technical and financial resources to follow them. An international agreement would also help those nations choosing to regulate GMOs more stringently to resist challenges at the World Trade Organization (WTO) from those governments that consider biosafety regulations to be barriers to trade. MORE >>

The Nuclear Boys Return to Ukraine: The European Scheme to "Compensate" for the Chernobyl Shutdown

by Tony Wesolowski

Established in 1991 to assist the transition of former Eastern bloc economies, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is now considering a $190 million loan to Kyiv to finish construction on two nuclear reactors -- despite serious misgivings over Ukraine's ability to pay back the loan and whether the rusted gears of Ukraine's decimated economy even need the additional energy.

But Ukraine contends it will need the energy generated from the two reactors in western Ukraine, at Khmelnitsky 2 and Rivne 4 (known as K2/R4), to compensate for shutting down Chornobyl, the site of the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986. MORE >>

Corporate Soldiers: The U.S. Government Privatizes the Use of Force

by Daniel Burton-Rose and Wayne Madsen

After having privatized in whole or in part nearly all other government functions, the U.S. government is now outsourcing the use of force. The latest stage in the privatization of military functions is the contracting out of training of Third World armies. The U.S. military establishment is relying not just on rag-tag groups of mercenaries, or front groups that do the bidding of the CIA or other intelligence agencies, but on genuinely independent corporations.

The Department of State has turned to Arlington, Virginia-based Military Professional Resources, Inc. (MPRI), a self-described "corporation of former military professionals ... ranging from commanders to tank gunners" to carry out its African Crisis Responsive Initiative (ACRI). At State Department prodding, seven nations, spanning the African continent, have already signed up for the program. MORE >>

Domesticating Markets: A Social Justice Perspective on the Debate Over a New Global Financial Architecture

Guest Commentary by Walden Bello

The world media are awash with talk about reform of the global financial architecture. However, the published reports focus mainly on discussions taking place within the Group of Seven (G-7) or the larger Group of 22 (G-22), particularly on the debate between the finance authorities of the United States and those of Europe and Japan. Sometimes, there are some reports that come out on proposals from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) or from some government in the South. But little weight is attached to the latter by media commentators, even when substantively these views merit consideration. MORE >>