Sir, - Rather than rail against the evils of the world, the arms race and the gross abuse of human rights, which are not matters of dispute between myself and the team from AfrI, I prefer to seek real and sustainable solutions to global problems.
Dependence upon the UN for effective intervention in modern conflicts is obviously ineffective. Giving a veto to China, the greatest abuser of human rights in the world, is a strange way to guarantee security. How can anybody recall the inaction of the UN and the EU over events in Gorazde, Srebenica and Sarajevo and yet not develop their thought processes one iota from 1989? International law, however, does provide for regional factors to guarantee regional security, as advocated by Kofi Anan in the Economist recently. It is no accident that it is Australian forces which are taking the lead in East Timor, Nigerians in West Africa and Europeans (eventually) in Bosnia.
Joe Murray (September 22nd) and Andy Storey (October 4th) fail, of course, to answer the one point that matters: how do we prevent or intervene early in situations like Bosnia and Kosovo? Bringing together former enemies from the West, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union is, I contend, a positive step. This involves the regulation, not promotion, of the arms industries, a first practical step to limiting arms dealing which is more effective than any march. We should ask ourselves what is our response, rather than pointing the finger at others' wrongdoing. The training and military co-operation which PfP sponsors undoubtedly makes European conflicts less likely, and would enhance Ireland's contribution to European and thus global security. I have yet to hear a convincing argument to the contrary. - Yours, etc.,
Michael McLoughlin, The Maltings, Island Street, Dublin 8.