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UN Regional ORGANISATIONS HELP
Please note that email has changed: ekbensah@gemini-translation.com
RegionsWatch Diary RegionsWatch Headlines Trade News!
It cannot have escaped your attention that come May this year [2004], ten more countries will join the European Union in what will prove to become not only a gargantuan, or big, market -- an indisputable magnet for world trade -- but also a potential rival to the United States.
Now whilst all this welcome publicity for the EU is all well and good, it doesn't detract, in RegionsWatch's humble opinion, from the fact that once the EU becomes a power of 25, its considerable weight and power will virtually eclipse those of regionalisms round the world. This is highly problematic, in the light of serious discussions that are currently taking place at the EU level, and internationally, to, in effect, divide Africa into regional blocs for trading. This is euphemistically referred to as the EPAs, or Economic Partnership Agreement. A Brussels-based NGO, 11.11.11 is doing very good work monitoring the developments. You may want to check out their site. It's called EPAWATCH, and you can find it here.
Having said that, in as much as Africa comprises more regional organisations than on any other continent, it bears reminding that other regions necessitate monitoring. In Latin America, for example, there is the:
In Asia, the most prominent are: ASEAN; APEC; SAARC; SAFTA; AFTA--the latter are free-trade areas than regional organisations, but have elements that can conceivably constitute a region.
Finally, in Australia, there is ANZCERTA, or the Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Act
The question, then is not what does one do with all these regions, but how does one monitor all those without one's hair turning gray?
To this end, I would like to use this website to do the following:
How will I do this?
I have created an observatory page (http://regionsWatch.tripod.com/observatory/), where you will be able to see for yourself all the activities I will undertake every month around websites of regional organisations. This is with a view to bringing YOU not only the latest developments, but also a fresh critique of a difficult area of international politics.
Why do I want to do this?
In summary, the following points below illustrate my motivation for the establishment of this website:- * sustained monitoring if the UN is to be taken seriously in global governance.
Want a fresh view on global regional integration?
Thank You for your time!
RegionsWatch.
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*This page)--and much of the website-- is under heavy construction. If you have any queries, do not hesitate to get in touch -- see left hand side of screen. Thanks*--Ekb
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