Palestine and Israel are in a conflict over a territory, which they associate with their distinct cultures, histories and identities. Both regard sovereignty over the territory in conflict, as fundamental to their existence. Since 1948, the international community has attempted to resolve the conflict through various peace proposals and accords. Some of them include the Camp David Accord (1978), the Madrid Peace Process (1991), the Oslo Accord (1993), and Saudi Peace Plan (2004). However, all these initiatives have achieved little, because both the parties have failed to come together on a common platform.

Recently, the relation between the two has worsened by Israel’s blockade and attack on Gaza as well as its violent interception of the flotilla. Hamas for its part has encouraged militancy in the region. In the light of these developments, the first two articles published in this issue deal with some of the key issues involved in the conflict and their legal dimensions.

Brijesh Mehrish, in the paper, “The Right of Self-Determination: Legal and Human Rights Dimension of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict”, observes that, Palestine is devastatedly affected by the Israeli occupation as well as due to the factional rivalry between the Hamas and the Fatah. They pose a major obstacle to the institutional development and social reconstruction of Palestine. In order to resolve the conflict, the author recommends the US to play a leading role in the region.

Fred Aja Agwu, in the paper, “The Legality of the Israeli Blockade of Gaza”, argues about the Israeli blockade of Gaza exclusively from a legal framework, especially, the concept of ‘belligerent blockade’. The Israeli imposition of a naval blockade on Gaza and the flotilla attack (June 2010) attracted widespread condemnation from the International Community. Israel on its part, justified its military actions as a matter of self-defense and as a reaction to the Hamas’ offensive. The author suggests that the Gaza Siege, should be seen as a part of a larger problem rather than a vexed subject in isolation.

Zhang Jianping, in the paper, “New Features of the International Industrial Labor Division and Its Impact on China’s Economy”, argues that new features of international division of labor has a profound impact on China’s economy. On the positive side, it enhances China’s international competitiveness, the development of foreign trade and the comprehensive growth of national strength. On the negative side, it causes excessive growth of China’s trade surplus that affects its macroeconomic stability. The author suggests that China should make use of its foreign exchange reserve surplus for the restructuring of the domestic economy, as well as, the promotion of the multinational corporations.

Money laundering is the process by which illegal funds and assets are converted into legitimate ones. Saurabh Kumar, in the paper, “International Money Laundering Activities: Sports to Terrorism”, discusses the origin, the evolution and proliferation of the practice of money laundering. He discusses the methods and process of money laundering with some examples. Money laundering negatively affects the macroeconomic performance of the nations, their welfare systems and as well as their cross-border externalities. To counter this crime, the countries should have a unitary and rational approach to the problem and at the same time eliminate unfavorable policies which block global efforts.

Of all the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, Botswana is unique because of its uninterrupted electoral democracy. Christopher Ntau, Tidimane Ntsabane and Robert M Molebatsi, in the paper, “Democracy, Education and the Youth: Botswana’s Experience”, discusses Botswana’s democracy by deploying the tools in political sociology. The survey describes the process of political socialization of youth in the Tswana society of Botswana from pre-colonial period to the present day. Citing Botswana’s example, the authors suggest that, a country’s democracy should be founded upon the nurturing of democratic culture among its citizens, especially, its youth, as much as its democratically written constitution.

-- Kalluri Raj Reddy
Consulting Editor