THINKING GLOBALLY
In less than a week, 135 trade ministers and government envoys from around the globe, scores of international labor, grassroots, and NGO representatives, thousands of journalists, and even more protesters will be in Seattle for the World Trade Organization ministerial. Members of the WTO will begin negotiating the rules that govern global trade and commerce for the next decade. These rules, in turn, will impact the global environment, labor rights, human rights, international health and safety standards, and determine corporate accountability standards. In short, they will affect practically all of the world’s citizens. Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF) Co-Director Tom Barry, and Communications Director Tim McGivern—the IRC staff that work full time on foreign policy issues—will be in Seattle to follow developments within the WTO meetings and work alongside many of FPIF’s contributors. On Monday, November 29, FPIF will sponsor a panel discussion: “Rules for International Trade and Investment: Where Does the Global Environment Fit it?” The panel will address the role of the WTO’s newly formed Committee on Trade and the Environment (CTE) and also discuss the current rules structure that allows appointed WTO officials to settle trade disputes without public input. The panel will be part of an afternoon of workshops dealing with environmental themes organized by Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club. For those planning to be in Seattle, visit our webpage (www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org) and follow the link “Join the In Focus Project in Seattle” for more information on time and location. In addition, our ezine Progressive Response will feature comments, editorials, and analysis of the WTO each week leading up to the ministerial. Our aim is to provide opinions from a diverse group of foreign policy experts on many of the contentious issues such as the WTO dispute resolution process and its effect on developing countries, intellectual property rights, and Environmental Protection Agency standards in the United States, among others. In other news, our series of special reports continues with United States and Africa: Starting Points for a New Policy Framework, an in depth analysis of U.S. policy toward Africa by Bill Minter of the Africa Policy Information Center in Washington. Also to be circulated before the end of the month is Continuing Storm: The U.S. Role in the Middle East, an analysis of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East by Stephen Zunes of the University of San Francisco. Foreign Policy In Focus website: http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/
U.S.-MEXICO BORDERLANDS
The Border Information and Outreach Service has been on the road during much of October and November to participate in a number of exciting border-related fall conferences and events. Outreach Coordinator Debra Rose participated in the 1999 Texas Planning Conference and Short Course on October 6-9. The conference featured a series of workshops on colonias, affordable housing initiatives, and Rural Empowerment Zones. Debra also met with individuals working on housing issues along the Texas-Tamaulipas border. At the invitation of The Student Association for Latin American Studies at New Mexico State University, IRC Research Associate Tina Faulkner spoke on “The Drug War: U.S. Militarization of the Border Region” on October 21. Information Manager Julie Schneider collaborated with the World Wildlife Fund to provide contact and other information in preparation for the Workshop On Commission for Environmental Cooperation Citizen Submissions in San Antonio, Texas, on October 27-29. Julie also spoke at the workshop about information needs and resources related to border environment issues. Debra Rose participated in a Global Exchange Tour of Tijuana focused on immigration and trade issues on October 29-31. Debra remained in the Tijuana/San Diego area until November 4 in order to meet with a variety of organizations working on occupational and environmental health issues. November 2-4, Julie attended the Border XXI Environmental Information Resources Workgroup Semi-annual Meeting in El Paso, Texas. The EPA presented border environmental education activities, environmental indicators, and tribal and state issues. They also reported the Release/Exchange of Information Subworkgroup industry outreach strategy and discussed future workgroup activities. Tina and Debra attended the binational conference Divided Waters—Common Ground in Sonora and Arizona on November 7-10. The conference was designed to foster knowledge exchange and cooperation among scientists, resource managers, and resource users in the environmentally sensitive Upper San Pedro Basin of Sonora and Arizona, examine ecological and hydrological status and trends, and find ways of making science research results more applicable to the needs of resource managers and users. On November 17-19, Tina attended the 1999 Technical Exchange Conference of the Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Policy (SCERP) at New Mexico State University. The objective of the conference was to share ongoing research on natural resources, human health, economics, air quality, energy, watersheds, and tribal programs. The December issue of borderlines takes a look at Native American communities on the U.S.-Mexico border, with articles analyzing the environmental and social problems that border growth and militarization have created for indigenous peoples living in the region. It also describes how tribes are making cross-border alliances to confront these problems. Advance copies of the issue were provided to participants in Building American Indian Nations for the 21st Century: Twenty-five Years of Self-Determination and Economic Development, organized by the Morris K. Udall Foundation and the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy of the University of Arizona, and co-hosted by the Tohono O’odham Nation, in Tucson, Arizona, on November 11-13. Copies of the January 1999 issue of borderlines—highlighting water management and conservation issues for the Colorado River Delta and the Salton Sea—were provided to participants at the workshop Water Issues in the Colorado River Basin Border Region, held in Mexicali, Baja California, on November 18-19.
Office Contact Information
Albuquerque Box 4506 Albuquerque, NM 87196-4506 Voice: (505) 842-8288 Fax: (505) 246-1601	Silver City Box 2178 Silver City, NM 88062-2178 Voice: (505) 388-0208 Fax: (505) 388-0619 Email: irc@irc-online.org