Greg — Here is my question to all of you
Topic(s): 2004 Election | Comments Off on Greg — Here is my question to all of youDear Smart Colleagues: Here is my question to all of you who have puzzled over the events of last week:
Now that the four years of the ‘W’ administration are no longer an aberration it seems (and seemed in the months leading up to the election) that the Neo-Liberal/Globalist agenda is largely up for grabs if not totally off the table. In the world’s eyes we are now and will remain for the near future a morally bankrupt nation: openly homophobic, culturally insular, anti-scientific, democratically challenged and nostalgically fundamentalist. In sum we have bought into a regime that is telling the multi-cultural and technologically dependent corporate world-community that we (the US admin.) intends to remain right where it has been for the last four years: out of step with virtually all other contemporary industrial nations.
SO here is my question: Assuming the triumph of evangelical republican conservatism is NOT good for US business interests in the mid to long run, why have we not seen a more coordinated backlash against Bush from the (enlightened) capitalist class?
As an example: please note the article below from the Indian Times in which the largest democracy in the world –and no, its not the US– is poised to join economic forces with the EU. The package even includes ecological and social reforms! I suspect that this is only one example of the sort of heliotropic turn away from the darkness of Bush country and towards what looks like a more promising, brighter business partner in Europe and we in the states will get to see a lot more of this over the next four years. How does this served the interests of corporate America (USA)?
Can anyone explain this? –
most sincerely yours: gsholette@verizon.net
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Politics/Nation Two’s Company: India, EU to enter partnership
REUTERS: Printed from economictimes.indiatimes.com
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 08, 2004 12:46:33 AM]
BRUSSELS: India is all set to open talks on Monday to forge a strategic partnership with the European Union, a status so far restricted to just five big countries. “India is very interested in this partnership, it will give it the status of a big player,” said an EU official ahead of the bloc’s oneday meeting with prime minister Manmohan Singh and two of his ministers in the Hague. “It will put them in a club of EU special partners alongside the United States, Canada, Japan, China and Russia.” The EU, as a bloc is both the leading foreign investor in India and its biggest trading partner. But it ploughs 10 times as much investment into China, and its total trade with India is worth less than 20% of the vigorous flow of exports and imports between Europe and China. Fostering healthier economic relations is a key part of the strategic partnership, an action plan the two sides expect to approve at their next annual meeting in ’05. But they are also keen to improve cultural ties and cooperation in the battles against HIV/AIDS, terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Many Europeans also believe India – which is pressing for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council – could be a multilateralist ally in resisting what they see as the current US administration’s unilateralism.
“It is important that we start coordinating with India, not only to strengthen the UN, but also to make preparations together for international meetings such as those on the protection of women and climate change,” the EU official said. Shortly before leaving for Europe on Sunday, the Prime Minister said the two sides were “natural partners” and welcomed the new arrangement as “recognition of India’s growing stature and influence”. The perennial tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, will be discussed at Monday’s meeting. “At the summit, the EU will encourage India to make progress in agreeing on substantive confidence-building measures but we cannot expect rapid progress: a cautious, gradual approach is needed,” Dutch European affairs minister Atzo Nicolai said. Mr Nicolai, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said the bloc was encouraged by the “shifting parameters in India-Pakistan relations during the last few months”.
The Congress party has said that it may set up economic zones with advantageous taxes, tariffs and labour laws to encourage foreign investment. But the European Union will still press Manmohan Singh to cut the red tape and scrap rules that restrict foreign investors to minority shareholdings in sectors like civil aviation and financial services. The EU will also seek a commitment from India to participate in its multi-billion-dollar Galileo navigation satellite project, which is due to come on line in ’08 as an alternative to the US Global Positioning System (GPS). China has put up e230m to join. India has spoken of e300m, but EU officials said it has misgivings about the scope of its future commitments.
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