The "sovereign debt restructuring mechanism" (SDRM) is worlds away from what is needed to resolve the continuing global debt crisis, but the very fact that it is being considered is something of a breakthrough. It represents the first time that the IMF, World Bank, or the major wealthy countries are officially considering some form of arbitration to address the debts that have hamstrung governments for decades.

In his January 28th "State of the Union" address, U.S. President George W. Bush announced a new plan to increase funding to fight AIDS in Africa, and suggested a change in the direction of U.S. policies toward the global fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Within weeks, however, the White House had reneged on the promises that the President made.

The recent election of president Luis In‡cio Lula da Silva in Brazil was the result of two decades of grassroots struggle to end inequality in the country. The Brazilian people elected Lula because they hope the Workers Party will build a different economic system, based on social justice. Like many Third World countries, Brazil has suffered the effects of structural adjustment policies -- imposed by the conditions of IMF bailouts -- such as the rise of unemployment and economic vulnerability. This situation has created very serious challenges for the Workers Party administration, which has been unable to make significant changes in economic policies due to the pressure being placed on them by external forces like the IMF.

Why are women, throughout the world, having to set up their own Women's Banks, or otherwise relying on microcredit institutions like the Grameen Bank, rather than using commercial banks?

The third annual World Social Forum, held during the last week of January in Porto Alegre, Brazil, brought together close to 100,000 representatives of social movements, unions, and other organizations from all over the world. The United States, with about 1200 registered delegates, tripled its presence from the previous Forum, and ranked a startling second, behind Brazil, in numbers of registrants.

Arguably one of the most important books for global economic justice advocates in the last 20 years, Ha-Joon Chang's Kicking Away the Ladder hits the International Monetary Fund and World Bank where it hurts them the most -- the foundation of their ideas. Chang clearly and concisely dredges up the vital facts and forgotten history of just how all of the rich, industrialized countries developed so successfully over the last few centuries.

So long as the World Bank and other Northern institutions maintain their powerful political status and continue to determine the value of knowledge, information and systems in development, the South, lured by the promise of Information and Communication Technologies as a path to development, will remain firmly under the control of northern economic and ideological powers. This reality promises little in the way of increased self-reliance and self-determination for the developing world.

The process of emerging from conflict is never simple, but countries who have recently ascended out of conflict often see their efforts to reemerge from crisis undermined by external forces. Countries such as East Timor, Mozambique, Bosnia, and Afghanistan, among others, face challenges to their national sovereignty as international institutions like the World Bank and the IMF try to guide them out of ruin on their terms, rather than, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the terms of the people. Sri Lanka is a case in point, having suffered one of the world's longest and most brutal civil wars.