World Affairs
Vol. 3, Number 1 (Jan.–Mar. 1999)

Letter from the Executive Editor

By Harish Kapur

 

The broad framework of this issue is full of thematic diversity. It begins with regional cooperation, delves into the increasing importance of religion in governance, peers into the horrendous ramifications of unipolarity in the Balkans and examines the emergence of new European Union strategy in Asia.

In our efforts to understand regional cooperation—a crucial phenomenon in post-cold war international relations—we decided to focus, first of all, on South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and on the foreign policy of some of its members. We chose South Asia as the first focal point of our attention, not so much for its brilliant successes as for its paradoxical developments—developments that have resulted in nuclearisation of weapons, and, at the same time, the appearance of some benign signposts of peace, as exemplied by the Indo-Pakistan Lahore Declaration.

The article on governance and religion is important in the context of our epoch where there are disquieting signs of global religious fundamentalism. The one on the Balkans, which focuses on Kosovo, highlights how the disappearance of any international balance of power in the post-cold war era, and the growing rampancy of ethnic nationalism are generating new forms of instability and turmoil.

The analysis of new European strategy towards Asia, projected in this issue, is an indication that we may well be witnessing the emergence of a new Europe as a possible counterweight to unipolar America after the cold war. Whether this new configuration—looming on the international horizon—will finally result in the immutable emergence of a transformed international system still remains an open question.

The review section is equally diverse. The essay deals with the British departure from Hong Kong. The reversal to China of the last major bastion of the British empire has brought to a close the era of classical colonialism. If the book on Hong Kong by Chris Patten, the last Governor of Hong Kong, is anything to go by, it would seem that last minute efforts were made to derail the “through train” to Hong Kong.

A variety of other recent publications have also been reviewed: publications on the Cultural Revolution, on the painful transition of the Chinese economy, on Islamic fundamentalism, on human rights in South Asia and on the history of one of India’s major multinationals.

We terminate this issue with three documents: The Lahore Declaration, a possible precursor to peace in South Asia, The Korea-China Cooperative partnership, a landmark agreement on a wide array of issues that pertains to the Korean Peninsula, and a Joint US-Russian Statement on common security challenges at the threshold of the twenty-first century—a statement that underlines the importance of Russo-American efforts “to eliminate threats inherited from the cold war”.

Harish Kapur
Geneva
March 1999