World Affairs
Vol. 3, Number 4 (Oct.–Dec. 1999)

Letter from the Executive Editor

By Harish Kapur

 

In this issue the main thematic focus is on European integration. Continuing our 1999 programme of concentrating on regional cooperation, part of this last issue of this year and of this century is devoted to the European Union (EU) — perhaps the most advanced and most successful experiment of its kind.

Kimmo Sasi, Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade, representing the EU’s rotating Finnish Presidency for the second half of this year, has given an exclusive interview* on the evolution, and the major tasks ahead of this powerful, international, multilateral actor.What is perhaps the most interesting dimension of the interview is Sasi’s succinct explanation of the different facets of the EU’s activities, without of course ignoring the Finnish imprint stamped on the orientations of the organisation. The comments on the EU by three specialists trace the origins of the Common European heritage, analyse the new structural direction it is taking, and describe the policy that was shaped to stabilise the Balkans.

The main articles in this issue cover three themes: the ramifications on India of the highly controversial question of agricultural bio-technology and "genetic engineering" that surfaced at the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Seattle Ministerial conference, the domineering role that the US government is preparing for itself as we move into the twenty-first century, and Mongolia’s efforts to adapt itself to the demise of communism and to the onset of the post-cold war era.

The review essay is a real tour de force. It revisits Vietnam’s past through some new publications that throw more light on the tragic end of Ngo Dinh Diem, South Vietnam’s president. The author brings to the surface the inanities of US policies in Vietnam that finally opened the door for Ho Chi Minh to take over the whole country and that resulted in the humiliating departure of the United States.

In addition to the books reviewed and the letters to the editor, we have added a supplement with this issue that gives a 65-page "cosmic vision" of India, its past and possible future, including the myriad linkages that bind the country.

Harish Kapur
Geneva
December 1999