The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2004

Minister Abdullah Gül warned the Kurds that, “it is dangerous to play with Kirkuk,” a thinly veiled warning against Kurdish muscle-flexing. Though Turkey has been pushed to come to terms with its own 12-mil- lion-strong Kurdish minority by the requirements for European Union membership, the task is by no means complete. On June 1 the Kurdish ter- rorist group KONGRA-GEL, the suc- cessor of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), announced it would end its five-year truce with the Turkish gov- ernment ( http://www.kurdistan forum.com/article88.html ). The earlier 15-year war between the Turkish military and the PKK resulted in over 37,000 deaths. Though KONGRA-GEL is dismissed by many Turkish Kurds as an extrem- ist group that does not represent their interests, the re-emergence of conflict at the very time when Kurdish efforts may have the best chance at success is not heartening. There are a number of Web sites that are helpful in following develop- ments affecting the Kurds, starting with their story from 1920 to the pre- sent ( www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/ frontline/shows/saddam/kurds ). Kurdish Media ( http://www.kurd ishmedia.com ) is a source of gener- al commentary on Kurd-related news. Kurdish Daily ( http://www.kurdish daily.com ) re ferences international media for stories from the region in and around geographic Kurdistan, while Kurdistan Forum ( http://www. kurdistanforum.com ) e mphasizes news from local sources. The Kurdistan Observer ( http://www. kurdistanobserver.com ) fe atures op-eds by expatriate Kurds and news from Iraq. Finally, the northern Iraq Regional Kurdish Government also has its own Web site ( http://www. krg.org ). — Kristofer Lofgren, Editorial Intern Is the G-8 Committed to Africa? As President Bush hosted leaders from the world’s leading industrialized democracies June 8-10 at Sea Island, Ga. ( www.g8usa.gov ), Af rican coun- tries wondered whether the G-8 Summit of 2004 would continue the progress outlined two years earlier at Kananaskis, Canada, when the G-8 formally endorsed the New Partner- ship for Africa’s Development ( www. nepad.org ). At Sea Island, African develop- ment took a back seat to the summit’s three broad themes: freedom, pros- perity and security. Development and the spread of HIV/AIDS played only a supporting role. So rather than push forward the African growth initiative on its own terms, the six African lead- ers invited to Sea Island found them- selves trying to convince G-8 leaders that African success could help advance the summit’s three themes. The G-8’s waffling on Africa is put into perspective in a new report by the Council on Foreign Relations, which offers a mixed assessment of the G-8’s dedication to NEPAD ( http://www. cfr.org/pdf/G8Africa.pdf ). T he report, written under the direction of Ambassador Princeton Lyman, applauds G-8 members for their efforts to raise Africa’s paltry 1-per- cent share of world foreign direct investment. The report, however, warned G-8 leaders against losing their focus in other areas: “The African political terrain is littered with good initiatives that floundered for want of sufficient funding from sub- scribing states.” High agricultural tar- iffs in G-8 countries were also cited as a limiting factor to African growth. The G-8’s focus in recent months on the Middle East and the world economy, moreover, has forced African leaders to frame their needs in a context that strikes a chord with the U.S. and its allies. The U.S. has already committed over $100 million to counterterrorism efforts in East Africa and an embryonic peace effort has developed in the Sudan. The Council report was critical of the G-8’s inconsistent promotion of political reform: “Although the U.S. government has traditionally consid- ered democracy a high priority on its global agenda, it has not placed con- sistent emphasis on funding programs that support democracy and good gov- ernance in Africa.” As Africa’s share J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 15 C YBERNOTES W hat to do now [about Iraq]? You know, there’s a rule that if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. The first thing I would say is we need to stop digging. — Gen. Anthony Zinni, USMC (Ret.), Remarks at Center for Defense Information Board of Directors Dinner, May 12, 2004, www.cdi.org