Zimbabwe's Crucial Election, NATO's Summit

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Zimbabwe's Crucial Election, NATO's Summit
March 28, 2008
Christian Science Monitor
- In an editorial on Saturday’s elections in Zimbabwe, the paper says the West should send clear signals of willingness to help – economically and politically – in a transition if Zimbabwe is ready to move toward reform.
Daily Telegraph
- In an editorial, also on Zimbabwe, the Telegraph says Zimbabweans have few illusions about the election result. Victory, it says, will be assured for Robert Mugabe and his Zanu-PF, mainly by rigging the vote, but also because the opposition is divided.
Economist
- In an editorial on American foreign policy, the Economist warns that while millions of people in America and around the world are gasping to see the back of George W. Bush, United States foreign policy will not change much under his successor.
- In a further editorial, on the protests against the Beijing Olympic Games, the paper says that for governments to heed calls for a boycott would at the moment be misguided.
- The Economist also writes in support of government regulation of the banking sector, in the light of the Bear Stearns affair, but warns that this must be done carefully.
Financial Times
- Columnist Philip Stephens, writing on next week’s NATO summit in Bucharest, says that the message from Bucharest must be that, yes, the U.S. and Europe want a better relationship, but no, they are not about to concede the restoration of Russian primacy in the former Soviet sphere.
- In an editorial on the current battle for Basra, the FT says this could be the prelude to a deadly new phase in Iraq’s multi-cornered civil war.
- Martin Feldstein of Harvard University, writing on the fall of the dollar, says that because of the potential weakness of the U.S. economy in the coming months, the dollar decline and the resulting reduction in the trade deficit have actually come at a good time.
Guardian
- In an editorial on Zimbabwe, the paper says it is a measure of how little faith Zimbabweans have in the electoral process that both Mugabe and the opposition are gearing up for a post-election showdown.
- Columnist Mark Lawson, writing on Hillary Clinton’s “misspeaking” about a visit to Bosnia, says that in fact she inadvertently spoke the truth: she is someone pretending to have far more governmental experience than she has, he judges.
- Writer Kishore Mahbubani says that the west is squandering authority on democracy and human rights and is failing to practise as it preaches.
Herald (Zimbabwe)
- Political analyst Udo W. Froese writes in the state-controlled Herald on the eve of Zimbabwe’s election that Robert Mugabe has become the beacon of hope for African countries if they want to free themselves, create a future for their children, and become equal partners in the global economy.
Hindu
- In an editorial, the paper writes on this week’s acquisition by Tata Motors of Jaguar and Land Rover that it is in the fitness of things that one of India’s most admired industrial groups should take over the premium brands.
Independent (London)
- Columnist Dominic Lawson, writing on Hillary Clinton's fantastically careless reconstruction of her past, says this is a crushing blow to what remained of her chances to defeat Barack Obama.
International Herald Tribune
- In an editorial, the paper says the elections in Zimbabwe raise hopes that Robert Mugabe's astoundingly destructive rule can be brought to an end, despite the certainty that the vote will be neither free nor fair.
Mail and Guardian (South Africa)
- In an editorial, the paper says Saturday gives the people of Zimbabwe an opportunity to remind the political and military elites that in democracies it is up to the people to determine who gets to be saluted.
New York Times
- In an editorial the paper expresses concern at the new leaders’ of Pakistan’s intention to review their country’s role in the Washington-led war on terrorism.
- In a further editorial, on the discovery of a major fracture in an Antarctic ice shelf, the Times says humans can radically change the way they live and do business, knowing that it is the one chance to find a possible limit to radical change in the natural world around us.
Times of India
- In an editorial, the paper says the acquisition by Tata of Jaguar and Land Rover reflects the coming of age of Indian companies.
Times of London
- Columnist Gerard Baker calls Hillary Clinton the fibber in chief and says her blatant deceit over her visit to Bosnia is about the last nail in her coffin.
- In an editorial on the current battle between Iraqi government troops and militias in Basra, the Times says that Britain should suspend the withdrawal of its troops from southern Iraq.
Wall Street Journal
- In an editorial on a speech this week by John McCain on American foreign policy, the Journal says it is worth blowing apart the myth of George W. Bush’s "go it alone" presidency. The truth is that, with a couple of exceptions, he's been the model of a modern multilateralist, the paper says.
- Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, writing about next week’s NATO summit in Bucharest, says there is no better way for the alliance to move forward than by extending full membership invitations to Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia, and by beginning the process to bring Georgia and Ukraine into the alliance.
- On Zimbabwe, the Journal says it is crucial that Zimbabwe's neighbors, particularly South Africa, at long last disown Robert Mugabe, adding that a signal that Mugabe no longer enjoys the blessing of South Africa would give many Zimbabweans the confidence to stand up to him.
- Wang Lixiong, a Beijing-based writer, says the ultimate solution to the Tibet problem must be democratization of the Chinese political system itself. True autonomy cannot come any other way, he believes.
Washington Post
- Op-ed columnist Jim Hoagland, writing on the NATO summit, predicts middling outcomes for the meeting, which he says once loomed as a diplomatic train wreck.
- Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Michael Gerson, writing from London, says that as Republicans prepare for the coming presidential election and take stock of their ideological commitments, British conservatives may have some lessons to offer.
Washington Times
- Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA), in an op-ed on the award of United States defense contracts to foreign competitors, says the deterioration of domestic defense industries represents one of the greatest challenges to the security of the United States and the future success of its military forces.
Zimbabwe Independent
- In an editorial, this business weekly says that from his pronouncements in the past two weeks Robert Mugabe has simply set the scene for further economic decline if he wins the election on Saturday.
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