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For a New Legitimacy of the G-8, by Shadow G-8 The sharp disruption of relations among leading G-8 countries, due to the Iraq war, dramatically emphasises the need for the G-8 to adopt a coordinated strategy for reviving global economie growth. Each of the major countries should thus commit to adopt specifie new policy measures to address its central economie problems. The G-8 should also address a number of other issues including the international water problem, development in Africa and other poverty-stricken parts of the world, global governance and the legitimacy of the G-8 itself. Perhaps the most urgent is to provide renewed political impetus to the Doha Round of international trade negotiations, which is faltering badly.The G-8 needs to take a decisive lead in this area once again, especially by agreeing to reduce their overall levels of support for agriculture and by further directing their remaining subsidies in this sector away from trade-distorting price supports toward income supports. Implementation of such a program would go far to enable the G-8 to start restoring effective, credible and legitimate leadership of the world economy.

Putting Globalisation to Good Use, by Frédérique SACHWALD Globalisation is often perceived as an anonymous force imposing change from the outside on various countries. Yet growing openness to trade and capital flows stems from choices made by governments, not only those of the rich countries, but also, and more recentïy, those of the poor ones, which have sought to take advantage of opportunities for integration into broader economie spheres. Globalisation forms part of the dynamics of modem economies, wnere innovation and the need for risk management have led governments to rely increasingly on market-based solutions. An analysis of two decades of globalisation shows that its impact is "filtered" by the national context, which itself reflects collective choices. National policies there-fore remain instrumental in leveraging the benéficial effects of globalisation and in anticipating and offsetting its negative effects. This is what emerges from the analysis of poverty reduction in the world and the evolution of inequalities in the industrialised countries.

From Doha to Cancun: The Stakes of a Negotiation Cycle, by Paul-Henry RAVIER This paper attempts to bring some answers to the following questions: why a new round of multilateral trade negotiations, what sort of round has been launched and for what future? The round corresponds to a necessity: politically, because the international community needs to demonstrate that cooperation between nations works better than confrontation, and, on an economie point of view, because all countries, rich and poor, are looking for growth, and trade liberalisation remains one of the strongest engines of growth or poverty reduction. The round launched at Doha covers a broad range of subjects, some of which traditional (agriculture, tariffs, antidumping), some of which new (environment, investment, competition). So far, little progress has been achieved, and the risk runs high to see the next WTO Ministerial Conference to be held in Cancun (Mexico), next September, crash under its own weight unless some political momentum cornes and fuels the process. This political will must corne from a deeper transatlantic cooperation, but also from the willingness of rich countries to take on board a growing number of developing countries by granting them genuine access to their markets, specifically in the most sensitive sectors, like agriculture and textiles and other industrial goods.

International Financial Architecture and State Bankruptcy, by Jérôme SGARD In April 2003, the proposition by the IMF to create an international bankruptcy court for sovereign States has finally been abandoned. The main reasons for its eventual rejection were the resistance to public intervention into financial contracts and the supra-national character of the body that would have been endowed with such a right. The proposed innovation was however not negligible, as it would have separated the two main functions included in ail previous debt-renegotiation frameworks: conditionality, and the regulation, sometimes the arbitration, of the financial negotiation between the sovereign debtor and the private investors. While the former function would have remained within the realm of an un-reformed IMF, the latter would have been transferred to a new, ostensibly de-politicised, "proto-judiciary" entity. This failure has had unanticipated conséquences: local regulators have strongly re-emerged, under the form of respectively national judiciaries and central banks. If global institutions fail, globalisation may then lead to institutional "re-localisation". Such a trend underlines the risk of a possible, immediate collapse of collective action against financial crisis.

Evolution of Conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa, by Tom PORTEOUS The evolution of conflicts in Africa is inséparable from the political processes of transition and transformation that have been taking place in African societies since decolonisation. In the 1990s, the withdrawal of Cold War super-power patronage and international pressure on Africa to libéralise both economically and politically led to a spate of new conflicts which were above ail symptomatic of the weaknesses of African states now exposed to fresh shocks and pressures. The principle characteristics of these wars include the extraordinary regionalization of conflicts, the multiplicity of belligerents and other actors, the range and mutability of political and economie motivations, and the brutal strategies employed. But conflict resolution has not been helped by a tendency to see conflict in the narrow context of development and humanitarian goals. A broader political perspective is required. There are signs of a reduction of conflict in Africa over the past couple of years, a consequence of a new détermination by some African and Western leaders to take a more holistic approach. But real challenges lie ahead, including the impact of HIV/AIDS, and shifting Western policy in the wake of 9/11 and the war in Iraq.

The Conflict in Côte d'Ivoire: Régional Implications and Peace-Keeping in Africa, by Hugo SADA The crisis that began in Côte d'Ivoire in September 2002 has further weake-ned Africa, which was already suffering from its many conflicts, the weakness of its states, and its poor economie performance. Affecting a country that was more or less a model of stability since its independence, this crisis has nevertheless managed to consolidate efforts to organise a collective security System at a regional level, led by the Economie Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It has shown that conflict management in this context could not succeed long term without considerable support from the main Western powers concerned (France, Great Britain, the United States) and the international community. And it requires that the rest of the world fulfils its responsibilities to the continent and puts in place collective actions that would allow Africa to escape the marginalization of which it is victim.

NEPAD - Partnership or Conflict Management, by Philippe HUGON The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), which was founded in 2001, concerns all the African continent. It has several original features: set up to endure, NEPAD promutes the private sector, and the regional context is the base reference for the projects that will be initiated. It emphasises the appropriation by Africans of the development process, and aims at a new partnership founded on shared responsibility and mutual interest. But the question remains as to what extent and under what conditions this ambitious project, which is somewhat aloof from the realities of "deepest" Africa, will allow the continent to overcome the difficulties that it faces, particularly in terms of economies, demographics and politics - and if it will favour an improved standing of Africa in the world economy, and support its global, integrated and sustained development.

China on its Way towards Reforms: Economie Metamorphosis or Political Suicide, by Jonathan STORY China is sleep-walking towards becoming a market democracy. The argument here is that the CCP is in metamorphosis, verbally committed to continuity, but in effect committing slow political suicide by changing its inner nature while discarding its outer skin. Membership in 2002 of the WTO in effect places Western norms at the heart of China's business System, while we may expect the introduction of discrete changes in political norms of the CCP in the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Non-Governmental Humanitarian Assistance Coping with War, by Béatrice POULIGNY Emergency humanitarian assistance is at a turning point in its history. A critical examination has begun within many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to overcome the contradictions and mission-drift that are inseparable from their war-time operations: collateral damage affecting civilians, misappropriation of aid or the use of humanitarian assistance by the belligerents or ioreign powers to achieve strategie goals. Furthermore, humanitarian assistance is becoming more and more selective, even discriminatory, to take into account political preferences of governments, which have their own agendas on where and how to assist. Media preferences have also become a factor, with not always positive results. Finally, many NGOs have become agents of Western diplomacy, which is contributing to an abuse of the humanitarian "brand name". This critical examination, which is becoming ever urgent, could usefully a result in redefinition of the political, economic, and ethical content of humanitarian intervention .

Biodiversity and Globalisation: A Worldwide Challenge, Local Answers, by Michel TROMMETTER and Jacques WEBER The globalisation of the world economy is increasing the interdependence of the ecosystems of the planet, and therefore that of its biological resources, too. Thèse are essential both for the local populations that live off them and for humanity as a whole. The difficulty is that global public goods as critical as health, food and the environment can potentially be affected by the public or private use that is made of biological diversity. It is then that the question of regulating access to and the use of these resources is posed. This issue must be handled at a global level, associating the countries and populations concerned. Consultation and discussion between North and South have become even more necessary on this issue both to put in place an effective management System of biodiversity, and to offer to the local population a genuine and equitable access to national and/or world markets. ■

The War in Iraq, the Strategy of the Weak in the Face of the American Superpower, by David BARAN The recent conflict in Iraq has produced an uncertain vision of the real unfolding of events and of the Iraqi adversary. The Iraqi resistance was the object of a political and media campaign of disinformation aimed at projecting the image of a rapid war of liberation. The resistance did in reality develop a subtle strategy, constructed around the victimisation of the regime, the conciliation of the population and the organisation of an armed resistance, but which ultimately revealed itself to be inadequate. The extent of the disym-metry between Iraqi and American forces provoked a strong sense of helplessness within the Iraqi population which reinforced its apathy and the incoherence of its reactions: pockets of civilian resistance facecf the American offensive while an ultimate wave of defiance towards the regime provoked its betrayal by the military. Iraq did not believe in victory, while not believing in a "liberation" by saviours either, official déclarations having relentlessly assimilated the conflict to a war for Iraqi oil and against Islam. It is nevertheless on the forces of occupation that tne country is now banking in order to fulfill the hopes of the Iraqi people.

Iraq: What if France Went too Far?, by Pascal CUCHE The diplomatie approach adopted by France during the Iraqi crisis has met with severe defeat. France did not have enough "clout" to support its policy. The position adopted by France has therefore contributed to weakening not only transatlantic relations but also multilateralism, and has brought to light the "cracks" within Europe itself. In reality, the Iraqi crisis constitutes an acute demonstration of a profound divergence between the two sides of the Atlantic, in their way of apprehending the government of the world, which must lead one to rethink the transatlantic relations and multilateralism. In a context of an asymmetry of power, the multilateral System cannot work efficiently when strategies are out of step. If Europe and the United States continue to follow strategies which are out of step one with the other, only an increase in Europe's power could help to keep the United States in the multilateral game.