A moving forward to Integration

INTEGRATION. Presidents agree to create two Brazilian-Venezuelan joint ventures and to assign the pipeline’s construction.


A moving forward to integration.

One of the two joint ventures created will operate a crude oil field in Venezuela and the other one a refinery in Brazil.

Michael Astor | AP

MANAUS –Brazil and Venezuela agreed to forge ahead with two joint ventures between their state-run oil companies and a natural gas pipeline that would stretch across the Amazon rainforest.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez on Thursday signed a series of accords to speed the projects that had been agreed upon earlier but had gotten bogged down in bureaucracy. "With these partnerships we are showing that South America can resolve its energy problems," Silva said.

Outlining the joint ventures between state oil companies, Chávez said one company would operate Carabobo I, an extra-heavy oil field in Venezuela's Orinoco Basin. Petróleos de Venezuela SA, PDVSA, will provide 60 percent of the capital for the Carabobo project, with the remainder coming from Petróleo Brasileiro SA, Petrobras.

Lula expressed his commitment to pursuit the approval of Venezuela's entrance into Mercosur. Another company would operate an oil refinery in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco with 60 percent of the capital coming from Petrobras and 40 percent from PDVSA.

In December 2005, Silva and Chávez laid the refinery's cornerstone but cooperation between the two companies stalled and Petrobras recently began talking about building it without Venezuelan help.

Chávez called the projects " the nerve of (South American) integration," adding that they would " shield (Silva) from an energy crisis." Silva also said they would soon select a company to develop a project for a natural gas pipeline from Venezuela to Brazil's northeast.

He expressed his willingness to work in order to assure that Brazil's congress would ratify Venezuela as a full member of the Southern Cone Common Market, or Mercosur.

"With these partnerships we are showing that South America can resolve its energy problems."

The two leaders are opponents of U.S.-backed efforts for a Free Trade Area of the Americas. But Venezuela's bid to join Mercosur is encountering resistance from lawmakers in Brazil who must ratify the expansion. So far, Argentina and Uruguay have ratified Venezuela's entry in the group while Brazil and Paraguay have not.

Foreign visitors are to be fingerprinted.

WASHINGTON – Foreign visitors arriving at U.S. airports or seaports beginning Jan. 1, 2004, will have their travel documents scanned, fingerprints and photos taken and identification checked against terrorist watch-lists.

Homeland Security undersecretary Asa Hutchinson released details on Monday of the department’s new U.S. Visitor and Immigration Status Indication Technology, or U.S. VISIT, that will check the comings and goings of certain foreign travelers. The checks will apply to people who arrive in this country carrying visas, which last year was about 60 percent or 23 million of the foreign visitors, said Hutchinson, who oversees Border and Transportation Security.

“In 99.9 percent of the cases, the visitor will simply be wished a good day or sent on their way,” Hutchinson said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank. “But with that small percentage of hits, our country will be made much safer and our immigration system will be given a foundation of integrity that has been lacking for too long.”

Also as part of the program, Hutchinson said the department has created an Office of Compliance that will analyze all the information collected from visitors and refer any requiring follow up to investigators.

(Taken from the Daily Journal)

The Iran option that isn't on the table

By Vali Nasr and Ray Takeyh
Thursday, February 8, 2007.


As Iran crosses successive nuclear demarcations and mischievously intervenes in Iraq, the question of how to address the Islamic republic is once more preoccupying Washington. Economic sanctions, international ostracism, military strikes and even support for hopeless exiles are all contemplated with vigor and seriousness. One option, however, is rarely assessed: engagement as a means of achieving a more pluralistic and responsible government in Tehran.

The all-encompassing nuclear debate comes as Iran's political landscape is changing once again. As America became reconciled to a monolithic Iran, represented by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his brand of rambunctious politics, the results from December's local elections suggest Iranians were doing otherwise. Ahmadinejad's defiant rhetoric and populist posturing did not impress the Iranians who turned out in large numbers to elect city councils and members of the Assembly of Experts. Voters favored pragmatic conservatives and reformers who oppose their president's policies abroad and his economic programs at home. Despite this show of dissent, though, it would be a mistake to assume that Iran's regime is about to fall or that a democratic spring is looming.

Iran has long appeared ready for democracy. It has a literate, youthful population that is immersed in world culture, is at home on the internet, is keen to engage the West and is above the anti-American anger that dominates the Arab street. No other Middle Eastern country has as much civic activism or a population that has voted as often in elections at various levels. But positive social and cultural indices have so far not translated into a political opening. Iranian society may be ready to embrace democracy, but Iranian politics is not ready to accommodate it.

Iran does not have an organized pro-democracy movement. The reformers who were swept to power in 1997 never coalesced around a coherent platform, nor did they produce a political party. Their movement inspired activism and student protests, and it changed the style and language of politics, but its lack of organization ultimately cost it the presidency in 2005. Reformism was popular but politically ineffective.

The clerical regime has also proved to be enterprising in facing demands for reform, particularly by using elections to manage opposition within the bounds of the Islamic republic. Economic isolation, supported by international sanctions, has kept the private sector weak, which has in turn denied supporters of change levers they could use to pry open the regime. The public sector accounts for more than 80 percent of the Iranian economy, and the constitution gives the clerical leadership most of the power. The problem facing democracy is not so much the state's theocratic nature as it is the enormous domination it enjoys over the economy, society and politics. For democracy to succeed, the state's domination of the economy and society must be reduced.

For too long, Washington has thought that a policy of coercion and sanctions applied to Iran would eventually yield a responsible and representative regime. Events in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe suggest that containment eventually generates sufficient pressure to force autocratic elites to accommodate both international mandates and the aspirations of their restless constituents. Ironically, though, U.S. policy has buttressed the Iranian regime, which has justified its monopoly of power as a means of fending off external enemies and managing an economy under international duress.

More than sanctions or threats of military retribution, Iran's integration into the global economy would impose standards and discipline on the recalcitrant theocracy. International investors and institutions such as the World Trade Organization are far more subversive, as they would demand the prerequisites of a democratic society -transparency, the rule of law and decentralization- as a price for their commerce.

Paradoxically, to liberalize the theocratic state, the United States would do better to shelve its containment strategy and embark on a policy of unconditional dialogue and sanctions relief. A reduced American threat would deprive the hard-liners of the conflict they need to justify their concentration of power. In the meantime, as Iran became assimilated into the global economy, the regime's influence would inevitably yield to the private sector, with its demands for accountability and reform.

It is important to appreciate that Iran has a political system without precedent or parallel in modern history. The struggle there is not just between reactionaries and reformers, conservatives and. liberals, but fundamentally between the state and society. A subtle means of diminishing the state and empowering the society is, in the end, the best manner of promoting not only democracy but also nuclear disarmament.

Glossary

Argument:   It has to do with the author’s intention in a paragraph, it is his reason and it is beyond what is merely and explicitly said.

Elimination:   It is a technique to get a specific argument in a paragraph. By applying this technique, you can omit unnecessary and irrelevant information to get to the essence of a text.

Substitution:  It is a technique that allows you to paraphrase and reformulate a specific argument suggested in every paragraph. This technique as well as the elimination one is also used when getting the overall argument or central theme.

Key words:  It is a technique used to concentrate on the most important information in a text, given through the form of content words or linguistic words that convey meaning. By adopting this technique, you necessarily obtain the specific argument and it also contributes to get the central theme or argument of the whole text.

Central Theme:  Once specific arguments have been obtained, you elaborate on one single statement the overall argument shown in a recurrent way and that represents the whole core of the text. There are 3 simple strategies to get it: the communicative function of the text, the discourse organizer and that recurrent argument that encapsulates the whole problem or thesis in the text.

Communicative Function:  It has to do with the author’s explicit intention in conveying his meaning. An author may expose, argue, compare, contrast, point out causes and effects and so forth arguments or reasons in the kinds of text we are dealing with in this book.

Controlling idea:  It is a sentence or a group of sentences below the title that lead you to start searching for the main idea in this type of texts. This sentence (or these sentences) is (or are) out of the text. It may consist of one, two or three sentences joined by punctuation mark. It can also take the form of questions. It is also referred to as the title of the first level. It can give light about the main communicative function of the text.

Main Idea:  It is a single one sentence inside the text that contains the core being treated in the text. It is obtained by following certain strategies. 

Main Secondary Idea: It is a single sentence that generally follows the MI and its function is to complete, support, clarify, add, confirm and so on the previous MI.

Secondary Secondary Idea:  It is a sentence inside the text that, at a deeper level, shows the author’s presence, intention or reflection about the MI of the text. It can appear before the MI, after; in the middle of a text. Its function is a kind of ‘breaking the line of thought’ or argumentation regarding a specific problem. There are some sentences that appear below a picture, at the bottom of the article as if they were different (subtitles of second and/or third level).

Linguistic Deviations (or Semantic deviations):  These are the words present in the main idea inside the text that are different from the ones announced in the controlling idea or title. These words appear as deviations or distractors to confuse you in finding the MI. Actually, they do complete its meaning. When the MI inside the text is the same controlling idea below the title, i.e. every single word is the same as it were taken identically out of the text, then, we say there are no linguistic deviations.

Synonyms:  A strategy used to search for the MI in the text taking as a point of departure the CI. You look for the similar words that express the same meaning.

Antonyms:  A strategy used to search for the MI in the text taking as a point of departure the CI. You look for completely distinct and different words that express just the right opposite meaning.

Context: Here, it refers to both linguistic and the socio-cultural situation.

Raúl Castro’s big gamble

He is betting that he can improve living standards while also keeping the lid on political dissent.
By Jorge G. Castañeda NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated May 5, 2008

As predicted by many observers of the Cuban scene, including Brian Latell, author of "After Fidel," and this writer, the island's new president, Raúl Castro, has hit the ground running—sort of. During his first weeks in office, though not necessarily in power, he has either implemented or announced important changes in the everyday lives of ordinary Cubans, while simultaneously retaining, and even strengthening, the limitations on political dissent. For instance, he cracked down on a demonstration in Havana last week of the Damas de Blanco, the spouses of the 75 political prisoners arrested in 2003.

This suggests Raúl is applying the so-called Vietnamese solution: initiating promising economic reforms without offering an inkling of political change. It is also similar to what Mexicans back in the 1990s called perestroika without glasnost, when their country experienced significant economic changes under President Carlos Salinas but continued to face the same one-party political system that had ruled since the 1920s. Raúl Castro is allowing Cubans, for the first time, to own cell phones, DVDs and computers (so long as they're not connected to the Internet), as well as access to hotels previously restricted to foreign tourists. Perhaps he will soon also allow them to leave the country without exit permits. True, it is something of an exaggeration to compare this even to Mexico's modest political liberalization of the '90s. Cuba's reforms hardly represent a major opening of the island's society, and scarcely resemble the type of transformations Mikhail Gorbachev initiated in the former Soviet Union. In fact, many argue that Raúl's reforms are merely cosmetic, because they are limited to "exotic" consumer goods, and because the typical Cuban on the street lacks the resources to take advantage of them.

Nonetheless, the reforms should not be dismissed out of hand. No one really knows how much convertible currency average Cubans have stashed away under their mattresses, whether in dollars, euros or CUCs (freely exchangeable Cuban pesos, which are different from regular pesos). The long queues of people lining up to purchase cell phones on the first days the stores opened suggest that there may be far more money circulating in the island's underground economy than many, including the authorities, may have imagined. Whether this money comes from tips earned in the tourism industry, gifts brought or sent from Miami to family members on the island outside traceable channels or through Cubans moonlighting for foreign residents as drivers, housekeepers or other older but less respected professions in exchange for hard currency, Cubans' pent-up demands for these types of consumer goodies could well surpass expectations, as well as the authorities' capacity to satisfy or manage them.

Authorities may also struggle with the consequences of loosening restrictions on travel abroad. Cubans today need a "white card" to leave, as well as an invitation from a foreign country, together with an entry visa to that foreign country (if that other state requires it). Eliminating the first two requirements—even if the reform didn't apply to doctors, teachers, people who have not completed their military service or who serve in the armed forces or the security apparatus—could unleash an exodus like those Cuba experienced in the '60s, '80s and '90s, or that took place in Eastern Europe in 1989. Already Cubans are leaving their country at a breakneck pace: 15,000 of them, without papers, left for Mexico last year, and the number traveling one way or another to the United States, Spain, the Dominican Republic and Central America is growing. Opening up the floodgates could unleash a whole new wave of emigrants, leaving the country without many of its best minds, and with many frustrated Cubans left behind.

Therein lies the danger of the younger Castro's gamble. He is betting he can more or less at the same time satisfy Cuban citizens with these gestures, improve their living standards somewhat by freeing up agricultural production and allowing wages to rise in the "foreign" sector of the economy, while keeping the lid on political dissent, exile and a slew of imponderables, including, crucially, Hugo Chávez and his increasingly precarious position in Venezuela. All of Castro's plans would be dashed if Cuba were forced to suddenly start importing the roughly 80,000 barrels of oil per day it consumes at a market price of $118 per barrel, without Caracas's subsidies. But the Venezuelan president's fate is not in Havana's hands. Nor can Havana prevent Cubans from using their new cell phones to conspire against the regime, or set up makeshift Internet connections to communicate with the world. Foreign travel will lead many Cubans to finally understand how dramatically they have been deceived by their government.

Either Raúl shares his brother's luck and immense political acumen or he's so worried about the current situation that he feels the risk of fiddling with it and losing control is smaller than that of doing nothing. He may well lose control regardless, however—particularly if the rest of the world is willing to help in the right ways, namely by removing sanctions and embargos that have only kept the authoritarian regime in place, but demanding that any Cuban return to the Latin American concert implies playing by its rules: free elections, free media, free labor unions and respect for human rights.

Castañeda is a former foreign minister of Mexico and Global Distinguished Professor at New York University.

Latin America's new proxy war.

Washington has gone all-out to stop Chávez from winning [a Security Council seat]. He's been personally campaigning for months.

By Jorge G. Castañeda
Newsweek International

The summit of non-aligned countries held last week in Havana was an occasion for all sorts of things: speculating on Fidel Castro's health, supporting all the "worthwhile" causes in the world —from Iran's nuclear program to Bolivia's stalled natural-gas nationalization — and predictably, bashing George W. Bush. This last contact sport is beginning to give traditional anti-Americanism a bad name; it is vicious, uninterrupted and, unfortunately, not often easy to rebut. But the summit also provided a marvelous opportunity for one of the stars of the show—Venezuela's Hugo Chávez—to lobby strong and hard for his cause of the day, getting his country elected as one of Latin America's two nonpermanent members of the United Nations Security Council for the 2007-08 term.

The Non-Aligned Movement has well over 100 members; all of them vote in the U.N. General Assembly, which, sometime next month, will elect Argentina's replacement as one of Latin America's two representatives on the Council. Chávez wants the seat badly. Next year there is another dramatic battle shaping up: Turkey, Iceland and Austria will compete for two of the three European slots. But the main event this year is the contest between Venezuela and Guatemala for the Latin American post. This is, in fact, a proxy battle between Bush and Chávez. Washington has gone all-out to stop Chávez from winning. The Venezuelan has been personally campaigning for months all over the globe, doling out petrodollars, oil and gas projects, schools and hospitals as he jets from capital to capital in Africa, Asia and his home region.

A two-thirds majority is needed to win; that's 128 votes to triumph, or votes to defeat one's rival. The voting goes on until a candidate reaches the magic number; there is an unwritten rule that after three rounds, previous commitments are withdrawn and everything goes. Actually, everything goes most of the time: promises are broken, votes are bought and sold and betrayal is ever-present. All of this occurs, of course, because the stakes are high, and higher in Latin America than at any time since 1979, when Fidel Castro attempted to win the regional seat, claiming that Cuba, being chairman then—as now—of the Non-Aligned Movement, was entitled to membership. The United States blocked Castro, using Colombia as a stalking horse, and Mexico was elected as a compromise candidate. This time, things might be more complicated.

He would use that magnificent pulpit to glorify his Bolivarian Revolution.
The risk for the United States is real. Chávez would probably occupy the seat personally for extended periods at a time, in lieu of his permanent representative or his foreign minister. He would use that magnificent pulpit to glorify his Bolivarian Revolution, to help his friends in 50Latin America and to thwart his enemies—Bush, incoming president Felipe Calderón in Mexico, and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. Most significant, he would get directly involved in many of the issues the Security Council will have to address in the next two years, including sanctions against Iran. No wonder Washington and other capitals are terrified at the prospect.

But it is not clear that there is much they can do about it. Guatemala claims it has 90 committed votes. Attrition—a euphemism for promises unkept—and Chávez's oil-fueled largesse mean that number is likely to shrink. The only chance to keep Chávez out of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza is to lock in a blocking third of the votes indefinitely, and hope that, like 37 years ago, the Latin American group will seek a compromise.

It won't be easy: Cuba, Brazil and Argentina all support Venezuela. Even Chile probably will, and the only major countries behind Guatemala are Mexico and Colombia. Chávez has not helped himself by wondering out loud in Havana whether Mexico's elections were free and fair, and whether he will recognize Calderon's victory. The question is, though, if anyone else in the region wants 72to face his wrath and meddling by finding a way out of the quagmire. Right now only Uruguay and the Dominican Republic qualify as acceptable alternatives; but the last thing Presidents Leonel Fernández or Tabaré Vázquez probably want is to mess with Hugo.

So, the betting right now is on Venezuela, and against Washington. It would be an uphill fight for the United States under any circumstances, but it's almost an impossible one given George Bush's unpopularity in what was once known as the Third World. Most of its members just met in Havana, and they don't like 43; they don't like Israel, they don't like Tony Blair and they certainly don't like U.S. policy in Iraq and Iran. U.S.

Abbreviations

A:

AAP:  Africa Action Plan.

ABAC:  APEC Business Advisory Council.

ABL:  Airborne Laser.

ABM:  Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

ACD:  Asia Cooperation Dialogue.

ACP:  Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Group.

ACSA: Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement.

AD:  Antidumping.

ADB:  Asian Development Bank.

AE:  Associate Expert.

AEC:  ASEAN Economic Community.

AFTA:  ASEAN Free Trade Area.

AG:  Australia Group.

ANBP:  Aphganistan’s new beginnings Programme.

APEC:  Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.

ARF:  ASEAN Regional Forum.

ASC:  ASEAN Security Community.

ASCC:   ASEAN Socio-cultural Community.

ASEAN:  Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

ASEAN+3:   ASEAN plus Japan, China and the Republic of Korea.

ASEM:  Asia-Europe Meeting.

ASTOP:  Asian Senior-level Talks on Non-Proliferation.

AU:  African Union.


B:

BDRT:  Business Dialogue Round Table.

BEGIN:  Basic Education for Growth Initiative.

BIMP-EAGA:  Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area.

BMD:  Ballistic Missile Defense.

BSE:  Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy.

BWC:  Biological Weapons Convention.

C.

CAFTA:  Central American Free Trade Agreement.

CAP:  Collective Action Plan.

CARICOM:  Caribbean Community.

CBRN:  Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear.

CCW:   Convention on Conventional Weapons.

CD:  Conference on Disarmament.

CDM:  Clean Development Mechanism.

CE:  Council of Europe.

CEA:   Council of Economic Advisers.

CEPA:   Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement.

CFSP:  Common Foreign and Security Policy.

CG:   Consultative group.

CIA:   Central Intelligence Agency.

CICP:  Centre for International Crime Prevention.

CIS:   Commonwealth of Independent States.

CNRT:  National Council of Timorese Resistance.

COP:  Conference of the Parties.

COP9:  Ninth Session of the Conference of the Parties.

CPA:  Coalition Provisional Authority.

CSCAP: Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific.

CTAG: Counter-Terrorism Action Group.

CTBT: Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

CTC: Counter-Terrorism Committee.

CTTF: Counter Terrorism Task Force.

CWC: Chemical Weapons Convention.

D.

DAC: Development Assistance Committee.

DDR: Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of ex-combatants.

DDRR: Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration.

DDT: Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane.

DOMREP: Mission of the Representative of the Secretary-General in the Dominican Republic.

DSU: Dispute settlement understanding.

E:

EAC: East African Community.

EASG: East Asia Study Group.

EBRD: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

EC: European Community.

ECA: Economic Commission for Africa.

ECB: European Central Bank.

EcoISD: Environmental Conservation Initiative for Sustainable Development.

ECOWAS: Economic Community of West African States.

EEA: European Economic Area.

EFTA: European Free Trade Association.

EFTA: European Free Trade Association.

EMU: Economic and Monetary Union.

EMU: European Monetary Union.

EPA: Economic Partnership Agreement.

ESCAP: Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

ESDP: European Security and Defense Policy.

ETTA: East Timor Transitional Administration.

EU: European Union.

EVSL: Early Voluntary Sectoral Liberalization.

F:

F/S: Feasibility Study.

FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

FARC: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

FASID: Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development.

FATF: Financial Action Task Force.

FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation.

FEALAC: Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation.

FGM: Female Genital Mutilation.

FNL: National Liberation Forces.

FOMC: Federal Open Market Committee.

FRB: Federal Reserve Board.

FTA: Free Trade Agreement.

FTAA: Free Trade Area of the Americas.

G.

G7: Group of Seven.

G8: Group of Eight.

GAM: Free Aceh Movement.

GATT: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

GCA: Global Coalition for Africa.

GDP: Gross Domestic Product.

GFATM: Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

GII: Global Issues Initiative on Population and AIDS.

GNP: Gross National Product.

H:

HCOC: Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation.

HIPCs: Heavily Indebted Poor Countries.

HIV/AIDS: Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

HSBC: The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.

I:

IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency.

IAI: Initiative for ASEAN Integration.

IAP: Individual Action Plan.

ICAO: International Civil Aviation Organization.

ICC: International Criminal Court.

ICJ: International Court of Justice.

ICOC: International Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation.

ICPO: International Criminal Police Organization.

ICRC: International Committee of the Red Cross.

ICT: Information and Communications Technology.

IDA: International Development Association.

IDEA: Initiative for Development in East Asia.

IDI: Okinawa Infectious Diseases Initiative.

IEA: International Energy Agency.

IEF: International Energy Forum.

IGAD: Inter-Governmental Authority on Development.

IGC: Inter-Governmental Conference.

IGS: Information Gathering Satellite.

IHO: International Hydrographic Organization.

ILO: International Labour Organization.

IMF: International Monetary Fund. .

IMN: Iraqi Media Network.

IMO: International Maritime Organization.

IMS: International Monitoring System.

IODP: Integrated Ocean Drilling Program.

IOM: International Organization for Migration.

ISAF: International Security Assistance Force.

ISS: International Space Station.

ISTC: International Science and Technology Center.

IT: Information Technology.

ITER: International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.

ITLOS: International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

ITU: International Telecommunication Union.

IUU: illegal, unreported and unregulated.

IWC: International Whaling Commission.

J:

JBIC: Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

JET: Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme.

JETRO: Japan External Trade Organization.

JI: Jamaah Islamiya.

JICA: Japan International Cooperation Agency.

JPF: Japan Platform.

JPO: Junior Professional Officer.

JSEPA: Japan-Singapore Economic Partnership Agreement.

JTPP2: Japan-Thailand Partnership Programme in Technical Cooperation Phase 2.

K:

KDP: Kurdistan Democratic Party.

KEDO: Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization.

KFOR: Kosovo Force.

KR: Khmer Rouge.

L:

LAN: Local area network.

LDC: Least developed countries.

LTTE: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

M:

M&A: merger and acquisition.

MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction.

MANPADS: Man Portable Air Defense System.

MAP: Membership Action Plan.

MD: missile defense.

MDGs: Millennium Development Goals.

MILF: Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

MINUGUA: United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala.

MINURCA: United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic.

MINURSO: United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara.

MIPONUH: United Nations Civilian Police Mission in Haiti.

MNLF: Moro National Liberation Front.

MONUA: United Nations Observer Mission in Angola.

MONUC: United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

MRA: Mutual Recognition Agreement.

MTCR: Missile Technology Control Regime.

N:

NAFTA: North American Free Trade Agreement.

NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

NEACD: Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue.

NEPAD: New Partnership for Africa’s Development.

NERICA: New Rice for Africa.

NGO: non-governmental organization.

NIH: National Institutes of Health.

NIOC: National Iranian Oil Company.

NIRA: National Institute for Research Advancement.

NIS: New Independent States.

NLD: National League for Democracy.

NPT: Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

NRC: NATO-Russia Council.

NRF: NATO Response Force.

NSF: National Science Foundation.

NSG: Nuclear Suppliers Group.

O:

OAA: Osaka Action Agenda.

OAS: Organization of American States.

OAU: Organization of African Unity.

ODA: Official Development Assistance.

OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

OIC: Organization of the Islamic Conference.

OIE: Office International des Epizootoes.

ONUC: United Nations Operation in the Congo.

ONUCA: United Nations Observer Group in Central America.

ONUMOZ: United Nations Operation in Mozambique.

ONUSAL: United Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador.

OPCW: Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

OPEC: Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

ORHA: Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance.

OSCE: Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

OSI: on-site inspection.

P:

PCB: polychlorinated biphenyl.

PCC: Prague Capabilities Commitment.

PECC: Pacific Economic Cooperation Council.

PIF: Pacific Islands Forum.

PKF: Peacekeeping Forces.

PKO: Peacekeeping Operations.

PLO: Palestine Liberation Organization.

PM: Politico-Military.

PMC: ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference.

POPs: persistent organic pollutants.

PP: Political Party.

PRT: Provincial Reconstruction Teams.

PSI: Proliferation Security Initiative.

PSOE: Partido Socialista Obrero Español.

PUK: Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

R:

RAMSI: Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands.

RISDP: Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan.

S:

S&D: special and differential treatment.

SAARC: South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

SACO: Special Action Committee on Okinawa.

SADC: Southern African Development Community.

SAPTA: Agreement on SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement.

SARS: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

SCC: Japan-US Security Consultative Committee.

SCIRI: Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

SEC: Securities and Exchange Commission.

SHAPE: Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.

SLORC: State Law and Order Restoration Council.

SPD: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands.

SPDC: State Peace and Development Council.

SPLM: Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.

SSC: Security Sub-Committee.

START: Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

T:

TAC: Treaty of Amity and Cooperation.

TCOG: Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group.

TICAD III: Third Tokyo International Conference on African Development.

TICAD: Tokyo International Conference on African Development.

TMD: Theater Missile Defense.

TNC: Trade Negotiations Committee.

TPRM: Trade Policy Review Mechanism.

TRIPS: Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.

U:

UN: United Nations.

UNAMA: United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan.

UNAMET: United Nations Mission in East Timor.

UNAMI: United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq.

UNAMIC: United Nations Advance Mission in Cambodia.

UNAMIR: United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda.

UNAMSIL: United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone.

UNASOG: United Nations Aouzou Strip Observer Group.

UNAVEM I: United Nations Angola Verification Mission I.

UNAVEM II: United Nations Angola Verification Mission II.

UNAVEM III: United Nations Angola Verification Mission III.

UNCITRAL: United Nations Commission on International Trade Law.

UNCPSG: United Nations Civilian Police Support Group in Eastern Slovenia.

UNCRD: United Nations Centre for Regional Development.

UNCRO: United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia.

UNCTAD: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

UNDCP: United Nations International Drug Control Programme.

UNDOF: United Nations Disengagement Observer Force.

UNDP: United Nations Development Programme.

UNEF I: First United Nations Emergency Force.

UNEF II: Second United Nations Emergency Force.

UNEP: United Nations Environment Programme.

UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

UNFICYP: United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus.

UNFPA: United Nations Fund for Population Activities.

UNGOMAP: United Nations Good Offices Mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

UN-HABITAT: United Nations Human Settlements Programme.

UNHCHR: United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

UNHCR: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

UNICEF: United Nations Children’s Fund.

UNIDO: United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

UNIFIL: United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

UNIIMOG: United Nations Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group.

UNIKOM: United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission.

UNIPOM: United Nations India-Pakistan Observation Mission.

UNMEE: United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

UNMIBH: United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

UNMIH: United Nations Mission in Haiti.

UNMIK: United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo.

UNMIL: United Nations Mission in Liberia.

UNMISET: United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor.

UNMOGIP: United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan.

UNMOP: United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka.

UNMOT: United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan.

UNMOVIC: United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission.

UNODC: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

UNOGIL: United Nations Observation Group in Lebanon.

UNOMIG: United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia.

UNOMIL: United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia.

UNOMSIL: United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone.

UNOMUR: United Nations Observer Mission Uganda-Rwanda.

UNOSOM II: United Nations Operation in Somalia II.

UNOSOM: United Nations Operation in Somalia.

UNPREDEP: United Nations Preventive Deployment Force.

UNPROFOR: United Nations Protection Force.

UNRWA: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

UNSCOM: United Nations Special Commission.

UNSF: United Nations Security Force in West New Guinea (West Irian).

UNSMIH: United Nations Support Mission in Haiti.

UNTAC: United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia.

UNTAES: United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium.

UNTAET: United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor.

UNTAG: United Nations Transition Assistance Group.

UNTMIH: United Nations Transition Mission in Haiti.

UNTSO: United Nations Truce Supervision Organization.

UNU: United Nations University.

UNYOM: United Nations Yemen Observation Mission.

V:

VJC: Visit Japan Campaign.

W:

WA: Wassenaar Arrangement.

WAN: wide area network.

WEHAB: Water, Energy, Health, Agriculture and Biodiversity.

WEU: Western European Union.

WFP: World Food Programme.

WHO: World Health Organization.

WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organization.

WSIS: World Summit on the Information Society.

WSSD: World Summit on Sustainable Development.

WTO: World Trade Organization.