Opinion in 1993

The defection of North Korea from membership of the Non-Proliferation Treaty is a conundrum for the review conference two years from now. Built-in sanctions are now required, as are ways of enforcing membership.

The British government seems to be hankering after direct control of the universities whose costs it meets.

Britain is out of step with the rest of Europe even on matters such as summer time. But that may change.

The case for providing financial assistance to the Russian government is still strong, even if President Boris Yeltsin is less secure now than he was a year ago.

The impending reorganization of British research should be coloured by the causes of industrial decline.

President Bill Clinton needs to make up his mind on trade even if he offends some of his supporters in the process.

The new member of the European Commission with responsibility for research, Professor Antonio Ruberti, has taken a sensible step towards a rational definition of what the European Communities should be looking for.

Britain's newly diverse universities will be more vigorous rivals for each other's funds in years to come.

Most governments have taken fright at the growing cost of welfare and, perhaps inevitably during a recession, are canvassing mean devices for containing costs. But welfare is inescapable in a modern state.

The Mitterrand government seems to be nearing its end, but the president himself may soldier on.

The London Zoo, in the nick of time, has found a recipe that may help it to survive. Let us hope it works.

Britain's prime minister, Mr John Major, has much to learn from President Bill Clinton's State of the Union message last week, the differences between the two economies notwithstanding.

The British government's call for advice on science policy raises the question of what government's role should be.

The plight of IBM and General Motors should be a lesson to successful technical companies everywhere.

The Institute of Medicine in the United States has described a chilling tale of how the military used service people in tests of the effectiveness of poison gases against humans.

President Bill Clinton deserves a longer respite from his most severe critics than he is getting.

A meeting of research council heads will put pressure on Brussels and may give Strasbourg a bigger role.

The Chemical Weapons Convention will work only if verification procedures are sensitive to public scrutiny.

The case for a comprehensive test-ban treaty, necessary for global security and civility, is made more pointed by worries about proliferation. But now the British seem to be dragging their feet.

The University of Warsaw has made imaginative provision for students in the former Yugoslavia.