UN Chronicle : Issue 3, 1998 : Contents

Volume XXXV
Number 3 1998

In this Issue ...

Intervention and Indifference. Breaking the Barrier.

The Secretary-General recalls (2) the General Assembly's assertion of the right of people in desperate situations to receive help and the right of international bodies to provide it. Just two months before the fiftieth anniversary of the Genocide Convention (5), an International Tribunal delivers judgements in trials of two former political figures in Rwanda, even as the world decides to establish a Permanent International Criminal Court (10).

We have four distinguished perspectives on the Court from: Professor Giovanni Conso, President of the Rome Conference which approved its establishment (11); Justice Louise Arbour, Chief Prosecutor of the Tribunals for Rwanda and for the former Yugoslavia, with Legal Officer Morten Bergsmo (12); Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj of Trinidad and Tobago, which originally proposed such a Court (13); and Miguel Angel Martinez, President of the Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (14).
In two Guest Columns, Sir Sigmund Sternberg argues that "healing ... cannot be left to politicians and generals alone" (8) and Sir James Mancham urges creation of "an institute for national reconciliation between and within nations" (9).
In Womenwatch (15), Rasna Warah looks at the remarkable role of women in situations of internal strife. In the Chronicle Interview (36), Sir Brian Urquhart, the "Mr. Peacekeeping" of the Organization's formative years, looks back on the history and prospects of such operations. And, as United Nations peacekeeping completes a half century (39), Milos Strugar looks at the very first operation, UNTSO (43), and Ambassador Danilo Turk of Slovenia elaborates upon a new dimension of regional cooperation in United Nations peacekeeping (45). And in our centrespread (40-41), we illustrate the geography and mandates of UN peacekeeping operations, while our inside back cover offers a Stampwatch of new philatelic issues to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of their inception.

Plus ... Special Section ...
A Question of Communication

Essay: Dr. Jürgen Scheffran on "Nuclear Disarmament: the Responsibility of the Informed Citizen" (60).
Conference Room Papers: An assessment of the Special General Assembly Session on Drugs by UNDCP Deputy Executive Director Bertrand Juppin de Fondaumière (66), plus regional perspectives from Ambassador Patrick A. Lewis of Antigua and Barbuda (68) and Ambassador Hersey Kyota of Palau (69).
Opinion: Benjamin Weil on the value of conferences and papers in addressing the HIV crisis (70).
NGOwatch: Tony Hill, Coordinator of the UN-NGO Liaison Service in Geneva, on strengthening partnerships (72).
Rightswatch: Federico Mayor, UNESCO's Director-General, considers the ethics of cloning (33).
Perspective: Ambassador Ion Gorita looks at the reorganized Department of Economic and Social Affairs (64).
Developmentwatch: The moral dimension (34).
Globeglance: Is the world warmer or is it just your imagination? J.M. Miller of WMO on monitoring global warming (74).
Heartbeat: Tributes to the late Mahbub ul Haq from Nitin Desai and Inge Kaul (35).
Whose Culture Is It Anyway? Jan Hladik of UNESCO on protection of the rights of nations to cultural property (76).
Systemwatch: The United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies pioneers a new networking language; its Director, Tarcisio Della Senta, shares its details (17).
The UN and Y2K: Eduardo Gelbstein, Director of the International Computing Centre, looks at the problem (18).
ICTs: Bearers of a new civilization? Dr. Cees J. Hamelink argues the case for people-centred technologies (20).
Does Real Mail Have a Future? Yes, says Thomas Leavey, Director-General of UPU's International Bureau (22).
Satellites propel UNHCR effort for aid (24).
Reaching Out under Water: A venture in Africa (28).
Healthwatch: Are computer monitors bad for you? (29).
Does the State Have a Future in Communications? A UNESCO report offers possible answers (30).
DEPARTMENTS:
Counterpoint (23)
Chronicle Library Shelf (63)
Peacewatch (46)
Quote-UNquote (65)
UNreported (59)
Passing By (80)

Front cover: Photograph by Y. Nagata
Back cover: Photograph by Indira Menon
Cover design: Felicity Yost

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