Suchergebnisse

Philippine support for the American-led global campaign against terrorism has reinvigorated Philippine-American relations. The two countries are presently involved in combating terrorism in the southern Philippines through a joint military exercise called Balikatan 20021. Reinvigorated PhilippineAmerican relations have implications for regional security because an American military presence is re-established not only in the Philippines but also in Southeast Asia. When the United States withdrew its military forces from the Philippines after the termination of the Military Bases Agreement in 1991, it created a power vacuum in the region. The United States now finds it imperative to re-establish its presence in Southeast Asia because of reported al-Qaeda activities in the region. However, China is wary of the U.S. military presence, arguing that it is intended to deter not only terrorism but also Chinas moves in Southeast Asia.(Contemp Southeast Asia/DÜI)

The nature of the European Parliament is studied. An overview of the parliament's distinguishing characteristics is provided, eg, its transnational democratic nature & close connection to the EU. Although the EU is not characterized as a centralized governmental system, it is stated that the EU does possess several federal qualities, eg, the prevalence of European law over national law. The development of the European Parliament's powers during the late 20th century is then considered; specific attention is directed toward examining international agreements that have augmented its authority & the European Commission's function in evaluating the executive. Various differences between the European Parliament & other democratic legislatures are noted; in addition, multiple explanations for decreased voter turnout in the 1999 parliamentary elections are offered. The need to recognize the European Parliament as a successful example of a multicultural & multilingual transnational governing body is stressed. J. W. Parker

Looks at the status of accession negotiations that define areas in which adaptation to acquis standards will continue after entry into the EU. The critical importance of being able to meet the negotiations timetable is discussed, along with the impact on negotiations of the state of the Polish economy, & the need to achieve domestic consensus on the negotiated agreements. Specific areas of negotiation examined include fisheries, transport policy, company law, taxes, competition policy, justice/home affairs, & agriculture. It is noted that the Polish government will soon produce an outline of its negotiating strategy that is aimed at spurring on progress in the negotiations, & streamlining the coordination of the negotiating processes. Coordination is a joint responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & the Office of the Committee for European Integration, while the oversight of legislation & institutional reforms is the responsibility of the foreign minister. J. Lindroth

The Bangladesh Resident Mission (BRM)-ADB's first resident office was established in July 1982 to facilitate ADB's operations in the country. Since then, BRM's role has grown and evolved with that of ADB itself. In a recent decision by ADB to decentral¬ize responsibilities, BRM was chosen for maximum delegation. BRM's functions are to Initiate and maintain dialogue with the Government of Bangladesh on issues that are of relevance to ADB operations in the country Strengthen project processing and portfolio management. Prepare the country strategy and program and its annual updates, and monitor the progress of the Partnership Agreement for Poverty Reduction with the Government of Bangladesh. Strengthen working relations with the Government, development partners, nongovernment organizations, civil society, and the private sector Plan and prepare ADB's substantive economic and sector work for Bangladesh. Promote external relations and disseminate information about ADB and its operations.

In this article the author analyses some problems related to defining of biomedicine and bioethics through international law. As he says, numerous rules in this field are literally scattered around and can be found in various international documents. The author presents in detail the first international agreement that defines this subject - it is Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regards to the Application of Biology and Medicine: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, adopted by the Council of Europe in 1996. He is of the opinion that very rapid and complex development of scientific knowledge in the field of biomedicine produces new problems. For that reason there should be soon adopted a convention or charter of universal character that would codify as precisely and fully as possible the rules in the fields of biomedicine and bioethics.

In 2001, the Greek Parliament brought about extensive amendments to the 1975/1986 Constitution. It is not clear why it was thought necessary to proceed to an amendment on such an unusual scale, since the two largest political parties supporting the amendment, the ruling socialist party PaSoK & the conservative New Democracy, were in agreement that the 1975 constitution had worked smoothly throughout its history. It appears that the original plans for an amendment, as conceived by the aging leaders Andreas Papandreou & later Constantinos Mitsotakis, were driven by their separate but parallel intentions to strengthen the Executive over any other sources of power including Parliament & the courts. It is an interesting feature of the Greek political system that these plans largely failed. Parliamentarians of both parties ensured that the amended constitution did not alter the constitutional practice of the last 25 years. Adapted from the source document.