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THERE HAS BEEN SLOW AND UNEVEN PROGRESS TOWARDS RESOLUTION OF THE LONG-STANDING CONFLICT IN THE WESTERN SAHARA. THE MANY IMPEDIMENTS PLACED, LARGELY BY MOROCCO BUT WITH THE ACQUIESCENCE OF THE UN, IN THE WAY OF THE UN'S 1991 PEACE PLAN, HAVE PLAYED A PART IN THE DRAMA. THIS ARTICLE REPORTS ON THE CURRENT DELAYS IN THE PEACE PROCESS AND ON THE REFERENDUM WHICH HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL THE YEAR 2000.

THE FRANCOPHONIE--THE GROUPING OF MAINLY FRENCH SPEAKING COUNTRIES--HELD ITS SUMMIT IN VIETNAM IN 1997 AND APPOINTED BOUTROS BOUTROS GHALI AS ITS NEW SECRETARY-GENERAL. IN ADDITION, MEMBERSHIP IN THE FRANCOPHONIE IS NO LONGER LIMITED TO STRICTLY FRANCOPHONE COUNTRIES AND CERTAIN EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. THE MEMBERS OF THIS FRENCH-SPEAKING COMMUNITY ARE STILL NOT PREPARED TO ALLOW INTERFERENCE IN THEIR INTERNAL AFFAIRS OR THE IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS IN CASE OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS. THE FRANCOPHONIE HAS, HOWEVER, ESTABLISHED A DEMOCRACY OBSERVATORY WHICH WILL MAINTAIN A WATCHING BRIEF ON HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES.

JAPAH'S FOREIGN AID BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 1998 INDICATES A REDUCTION OF 10 PER CENT. GOVERNMENT SOURCES EXPLAIN THIS CUT IN TERMS OF THE NEED TO RESTRUCTURE JAPAN'S HIGH DEFICIT BUDGET AND REDUCE ITS SIZEABLE PUBLIC DEBT. IN ADDITION, THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT IS REACTING TO INCREASING CONCERN THAT IS BEING EXPRESSED REGARDING ITS HIGH LEVELS OF OVERSEAS AID SPENDING. THE MOST DRASTIC CUTS AFFECT JAPANESE INPUTS INTO UN ORGANIZATIONS, AND AFRICAN GOVERNMENTS WHICH HAVE SEEN AN INCREASE IN JAPANESE LENDING OVER RECENT YEARS WILL FIND THEMSELVES HAVING TO NEGOTIATE HARDER FOR JAPANESE ASSISTANCE IN THE COMING YEARS.

IN SEPTEMBER 1991, THE UN BEGAN WHAT WAS SCHEDULED TO BE A SIX MONTH OPERATION TO SUPERVISE A REFERENDUM ON THE FUTURE OF THE WESTERN SAHARA. FIVE YEARS LATER, NO REFERENDUM HAS BEEN HELD. THE ORIGINAL UN PLAN WAS CLEAR ON WHO COULD VOTE, YET MUCH OF THE DELAY IS DUE TO DISAGREEMENT AND CONFUSION OVER VOTER IDENTIFICATION AND ELIGIBILITY. THIS ARTICLE NOTES THAT THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT THE POSITION OF THE UN ON VOTER IDENTIFICATION AND ELIGIBILITY IS STRONGLY BIASED TOWARDS THE MOROCCAN POSITION.

OUTPUT GROWTH FOR AFRICA IN 1994 WAS BETTER THAN IN 1993, BUT THE DECLINING TREND OF PER CAPITA INCOME WHICH STARTED IN 1990 CONTINUED. THIS ARTICLE ARGUES THAT MUCH DEPENDS ON EXTERNAL FACTORS--THE STRUCTURE OF GROWTH IN WORLD OUTPUT AND TRADE, DEMAND FOR AND PRICES OF PRIMARY COMMODITIES AS AGAINST MANUFACTURES, AND PERHAPS ESPECIALLY, FINANCIAL FLOWS. THE TERMS OF TRADE DO NOT CONTINUE TO IMPROVE AND NONE OF THE FORECASTERS APPEARS TO EXPECT A LARGE INFLOW OF CAPITAL. THE PRINCIPAL SOURCE OF IMPROVED GROWTH, FOR MANY OF THE FORECASTERS, APPEARS TO BE "IMPROVEMENTS IN DOMESTIC POLICIES."

AS FAR AS AIDING SOUTH AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT IS CONCERNED, THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU) SEEMS TO BE CONFUSED AS TO WHETHER SOUTH AFRICA IS TO BE REGARED AS A "DEVELOPING COUNTRY" REQUIRING PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT AND SPECIAL ASSISTANCE OR AS AN INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRY WHICH MUST BE SUBJECT TO THE RULES OF THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE (GATT). IN MARCH 1995 THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT FACED CONFLICT WHEN ATTEMPTING TO IMPLEMENT AN EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK LOAN TO SOUTH AFRICA BECAUSE OF DIFFERENCES OF OPINION OVER SOUTH AFRICA'S STATE OF DEVELOPMENT. IN JUNE 1995 THE EU AGREED TO A NEGOTIATING MANDATE ON TRADE AND COOPERATION BETWEEN THE EU AND SOUTH AFRICA WHICH WOULD LEAD TO A FREE TRADE AREA. THIS FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WOULD REMOVE TARIFFS WHICH IS SEEN BY SOME IN EUROPE AS A RELATIVELY PAINLESS FORM OF DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE TO SOUTH AFRICA, ASSISTANCE WHICH CAN ALSO BE SEEN AS A COMPROMISE BETWEEN THE TWO SIDES OF SOUTH AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT DEBATE. RECONCILING ANY NEW AGREEMENT WITH GATT RULES IS A PROBLEM THAT STILL MUST BE FACED BY THE EU AND SOUTH AFRICA.

The relationship that mountain communities have with global capitalism are complex, being mediated by a diverse topography and ecology, both of which provide opportunities for capital accumulation, while also isolating older, "pre-capitalist" modes of production. This paper takes a case study valley from Nepal's eastern hills, tracing over two centuries of agrarian change and evolving interactions between "adivasi" and "semi-feudal" economic formations with capitalism. In recent years, the expansion of markets, rising demand for cash, and climate stress have solidified migrant labour as a core component of livelihoods, and the primary mechanism of surplus appropriation from the hill peasantry. Through a focus on three altitudinal zones, however, it is demonstrated how the trajectory of this transformation, including the interactions with persisting pre-capitalist formations, is mediated by both political–economic processes and the local agro-ecological context.

Crucial to the success of the proposed Framework Convention on Tobacco Control will be an understanding of the political and economic context for tobacco control policies, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries. Policy studies in Thailand and Zimbabwe employed the analytical perspective of political economy and a research strategy that used political mapping, a technique for characterizing and evaluating the political environment surrounding a policy issue, and stakeholder analysis, which seeks to identify key actors and to determine their capacity to shape policy outcomes. These policy studies clearly revealed how tobacco control in low-income and middle-income countries is also being shaped by developments in the global and regional political economy. Hence efforts to strengthen national control policies need to be set within the context of globalization and the international context. Besides the transnational tobacco companies, international tobacco groups and foreign governments, international agencies and nongovernmental organizations are also playing influential roles. It cannot be assumed, therefore, that the tobacco control strategies being implemented in industrialized countries will be just as effective and appropriate when implemented in developing countries. There is an urgent need to expand the number of such tobacco policy studies, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries. Comprehensive guidelines for tobacco policy analysis and research are required to support this process, as is a broader international strategy to coordinate further tobacco policy research studies at country, regional and global levels.

Nature‐based solutions (NbS) to climate change currently have considerable political traction. However, national intentions to deploy NbS have yet to be fully translated into evidence‐based targets and action on the ground. To enable NbS policy and practice to be better informed by science, we produced the first global systematic map of evidence on the effectiveness of nature‐based interventions for addressing the impacts of climate change and hydrometeorological hazards on people. Most of the interventions in natural or semi‐natural ecosystems were reported to have ameliorated adverse climate impacts. Conversely, interventions involving created ecosystems (e.g., afforestation) were associated with trade‐offs; such studies primarily reported reduced soil erosion or increased vegetation cover but lower water availability, although this evidence was geographically restricted. Overall, studies reported more synergies than trade‐offs between reduced climate impacts and broader ecological, social, and climate change mitigation outcomes. In addition, nature‐based interventions were most often shown to be as effective or more so than alternative interventions for addressing climate impacts. However, there were substantial gaps in the evidence base. Notably, there were few studies of the cost‐effectiveness of interventions compared to alternatives and few integrated assessments considering broader social and ecological outcomes. There was also a bias in evidence toward the Global North, despite communities in the Global South being generally more vulnerable to climate impacts. To build resilience to climate change worldwide, it is imperative that we protect and harness the benefits that nature can provide, which can only be done effectively if informed by a strengthened evidence base.