What We’re Reading 9/29/09

Sep 29th, 2009 11:19 AM UTC
By Robyn Mitchell

Financial Times: Not yet out of the Bretton Woods (Editorial)
A Financial Times editorial writes that the first order of business by G20 leaders who pledged to make the G20 “the premier forum” for coordinating policy for the global economy is to share power with emerging economies within the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. “The G20 countries should put their money where their mouths are. A good start is to give a real say to those (emerging economies) that the Bretton Woods institutions serve today.”

Reuters: WTO’s Lamy: give Doha negotiators more flexibility
World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy said Monday that G20 leaders must give their negotiators more flexibility to let them reach a global trade deal and conclude the long-running Doha round. The G20 leaders had backed an intensive program over the next three months to close the remaining gaps and then assess the possibility of wrapping up a deal next year. However, according to Lamy, renewed promises by leaders from the Group of 20 major economies to reach a deal “were not enough,” and that action must be taken.

Walta Info (Ethiopia): G-20 Summit brings attitudinal change towards Africa
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh has “reached consensus on ways of effecting the $20 billion pledge made by the G-8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy to address food insecurity in Africa.” Zenawi said the summit has accepted the request of Africans to get additional loans from the IMF which will help Africa to better deal with the global economic and financial crisis.

The Guardian: Copenhagen negotiating text: 200 pages to save the world?
Negotiators have released a 200-page draft version of a new global agreement on climate change, which is being discussed for the first time this week as officials from 190 countries gather in Bangkok for the latest round of UN talks. The draft text consolidates and reorders hundreds of changes demanded by countries to the previous version. It has no official status yet, and must be formally approved before negotiators can start to whittle it down.

The Washington Post: U.S. Envoy’s Outreach to Sudan Is Criticized as Naive
U.S. diplomacy with Sudan has remained mostly in the hands of Obama’s special envoy to Sudan, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. J. Scott Gration, who’s push toward normalized relations with the country has critics calling him, “dangerously, perhaps willfully, naïve.” However, some supporters, such as Eltyeb Hag Ateya, a Sudanese professor and critic of Bashir’s ruling party has said that Gration is “completely different” from previous envoys and has high hopes for further engagement in the future.

-Robyn Mitchell

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