The second round of Zimbabwe's presidential elections will be heldon June 27 according to Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission. The runoffpits the first round winner, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)leader Morgan Tsvangirai, against President Robert Mugabe. Mountingstate-sponsored political violence leads even Mugabe's staunchestsupporters to question whether elections held under currentconditions could produce a result with even a modicum oflegitimacy. With the United Kingdom serving as the currentPresident of the United Nations Security Council and the UnitedStates poised to take over in June, these countries should usetheir position on the Council to bring increased U.N. pressure andattention to Zimbabwe.
Sudan's radical Islamic regime has created one of the world's worsthuman rights situations and one of its largest humanitarian crises.But approaching Sudan's internal crisis as purely a humanitarianissue is self-defeating.
Pyongyang's June 26 delivery of a data declaration regarding itsnuclear weapons programs and the anticipated destruction of thecooling tower at the Yongbyon nuclear reactor represent commendableprogress towards North Korean denuclearization. However, seriousquestions remain as to whether North Korea will fully dismantle itsnuclear weapons and programs.
The Bush Administration and Congress have made progress in someareas of public diplomacy, but the United States will lag inforeign outreach unless bureaucratic structures are streamlined,better coordinated, and focused on tasks at hand.