Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 13:43:01 -0500 From: t byfield <tbyfield at panix.com>
given the talk about LMD, it seemed worthwhile to pass this on.
cheers, t
----- Forwarded
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 18:33:53 +0100 To: "English edition dispatch" <dispatch at london.monde-diplomatique.fr> From: Le Monde diplomatique <dispatch at london.Monde-diplomatique.fr> Subject: December 1999
Le Monde diplomatique
-----------------------------------------------------
December 1999
LEADER
The year 2000 *
by IGNACIO RAMONET
As we approach the threshold of the year 2000 - a mythical date
that has long served as a synonym for the future that is about to
become our present - we inevitably pause to take stock of the state
of the our world. A central phenomenon is the way in which every
country is caught up in the dynamic of globalisation. A second
capitalist revolution is underway. But many are determined to
oppose it.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/12/?c=01leader>
Translated by Ed Emery
LAW OF EMPIRE
The US undermines international law
by PHYLLIS BENNIS
In the name of so-called "moral superiority" the United States
wants to determine the norms of international life. But
Washington's development aid to the poorest countries - $7bn in
1997 - is less than half what it was at the end of the cold war.
Having failed to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) on
13 October, the US is forging ahead with anti-missile systems that
put the disarmament treaties of the last decades at risk. By
marginalising the UN and empowering Nato to intervene in
Yugoslavia, it has violated international law and the UN Charter.
And it is also refusing to sign or ratify other key documents such
as the new International Criminal Court.
Original text in English
Washington triggers new arms race
by PAUL-MARIE DE LA GORCE
Although a study published by the US defence department last month
concluded that "Star Wars" projects are doomed to failure,
Washington is determined to establish an anti-missile programme.
Neither strong opposition from Moscow nor the doubts of its
European allies seem enough to stop this programme which will
trigger a new arms race and undermine the long-standing
non-proliferation treaties now in force.
Translated by Barry Smerin
LESSONS OF WAR
French diplomacy adrift in Kosovo *
by ERIC ROULEAU
On 10 November the French defence ministry issued a document
criticising the attitude of the United States during the air
attacks on Serbia, claiming that some military operations were
conducted outside the strict framework of the Atlantic Alliance.
Washington immediately denied the allegation. With the National
Assembly's defence committee due to publish its report on the
Kosovo war later this month, questions remain about the reasons for
France's involvement in an escapade that has heightened tension in
the Balkans.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/12/?c=04rouleau>
Translated by Barry Smerin
A HISTORY OF THE 20TH CENTURY
Age Of Extremes defies French censors *
by ERIC HOBSBAWM
It has taken five years for Eric Hobsbawm's world-acclaimed Age of
Extremes to appear in French - even though it has been translated
into more than 20 languages. By November, one month after
publication, the book was on all the best-selling lists, with
40,000 copies printed. The whole affair has revealed the disquiet
and ambiguities that surround intellectual life in France. No-one
denied the quality of the work. Nor was it a question of financial
considerations. It was Hobsbawm's ideas that were in question, in
particular his unrepentant position on the left. With France having
undergone a long period of 'Stalinisation' from which it had
finally emerged, it was felt that the ideological and intellectual
climate was not right for its publication. Publishers preferred
books defending the ideas of French writer FranÁois Furet who held
that the century boiled down to communism and nazism, and that both
were equally dangerous forms of totalitarianism.
In deciding to translate Hobsbawm's book, Editions Complexe and Le
Monde diplomatique have refused to reduce history to a single
official theory. French-speaking readers have applauded this stand.
And Le Monde diplomatique has contributed to a rich and complex
debate on the history of the century that is now drawing to a
close.
Here, Hobsbawm explains the problems associated with the book's
publication.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/12/?c=05hobsbawm>
Original text in English
CLAIMS ON WESTERN SAHARA HAMPER MAGHREB UNITY
Algiers and Rabat, still miles apart *
by LAHOUARI ADDI
The UN-organised referendum in Western Sahara, planned for July
2000, seems likely to be put off yet again. This third
postponement, officially explained by the need to check the details
of 79,000 people struck off the electoral register, is undoubtedly
meant to spare the young King Mohammed VI the major crisis that
victory by the supporters of independence would unleash. Yet the
compromise Rabat is hoping for - wide-ranging autonomy - depends on
the agreement of the Polisario Front, and hence on reconciliation
between Algeria and Morocco. And that is still a long way off.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/12/?c=06algm>
Translated by Derry Cook-Radmore
AS THE CHECHEN WAR CONTINUES
West's autistic view of Russia *
by JACQUES SAPIR
Conspiracy or chaos? Either way, not much good has come of eight
years of Western "aid" to Russia and uncritical support for the
group of free-marketeers around President Boris Yeltsin.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/12/?c=07sapir>
Translated by Ed Emery
Russia desperately seeks a solution
by BORIS RAKITSKI and DENIS PAILLARD
With parliamentary elections on 19 December and the presidential
election in June 2000, the post-Yeltsin period in Russia is already
upon us.
History may not be kind to the man who buried the Soviet Union and
dragged his country kicking and screaming into the age of
capitalism. It now faces an economy in ruins, social disorder,
widespread crime, cultural alienation and marginalisation in the
international community. Not to mention the problem of deflecting
public discontent, securing political continuity in the Kremlin and
avoiding the judicial consequences of the scandals surrounding the
president's family.
Already alarmed by Islamist incursions in Dagestan in August,
Russians were deeply shocked by the wave of terrorist attacks in
September, which claimed several hundred victims. The attacks were
attributed - without any actual proof - to followers of Shamil
Basayev.
So, unlike the first excursion into Chechnya in 1993-96, the
present campaign has wide public support. This is total war. Half
the rebel republic has fallen to the Russian army, with 5,000 dead
and 200,000 refugees.
The man who has done best out of the operation is the outgoing
president's favourite candidate, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. His
rating in the opinion polls has shot up from 2% to 29%, putting him
- temporarily - ahead of all other contenders. The softly-softly
approach of Western critics has also helped. There have been a few
token protests but the regime responsible for wrecking Russia still
has the political and financial backing of the United States and
its allies.
Washington may continue to support the Kremlin but that does not
prevent it from doing all it can to stifle any revival of Russian
power and undermine Moscow's influence in the Caucasus and Central
Asia. In mid-November it gave official blessing to plans for direct
oil and gas pipelines from the Caspian to the Turkish port of
Ceyhan on the Mediterranean, bypassing Russia and Iran. Of course
there is still the small matter of funding for the construction
work due to start in 2004.
Translated by Barbara Wilson
WAR WITHOUT BLOOD?
Hypocrisy of 'non-lethal' arms *
by STEVE WRIGHT
The horror of images of deaths caused by Western armies in military
operations, designed to maintain peace and security, has led to the
development of new arms that are intended to paralyse, not destroy.
Yet for all this seductive rhetoric, so-called "non-lethal" arms
have the potential to increase the level of violence, spawning ever
more advanced techniques of repression. And if democratic countries
let their arms manufacturers develop these techniques, they will be
exported to places less concerned about brutalising their
populations.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/12/?c=09wright>
Original text in English
HOW TO COMBAT THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT
Heatwave hits the planet
by DOMINIQUE FROMMEL
Motor vehicle manufacturers are doing little to design "clean"
cars, and public transport operators - often public services - are
not proving any more responsible, although solutions are available
to reduce the fumes choking our cities. The rise in carbon dioxide
emissions from traffic, power stations and industry is exacerbating
the greenhouse effect, with the risk of climate change. At the UN
summit in Bonn in early November, more than 60 countries agreed to
ratify the 1997 Kyoto protocol before 2002. This commits the
industrialised nations to cutting their emissions of greenhouse
gases. But the US Senate still wants to stop Washington from
ratifying the protocol.
Translated by Malcolm Greenwood
FREE TRADE ACROSS AN IRON CURTAIN
The line that divides Mexico and the US
by our special correspondent JANETTE HABEL
Along the frontera, an economic area that is home to some eight
million people, lies the great market of a world in breakneck
industrial expansion - the world of the twin bi-national cities
that are the prototypes for a globalised economy. On the Mexican
side, exploitation of the workers is normal practice in the
subcontractors' factories, or maquiladoras. Streams of immigrants
from the interior, especially the deprived regions of the south,
arrive there, then find themselves caught in a trap. Once they have
realised just how wretched life is going to be, they have only one
way out - to cross the border. But while goods and finance
circulate freely, the US is taking serious steps to stop the
passage of people.
Translated by Derry Cook-Radmore
Caught on the last-chance frontier
by our special correspondent MARIE-AGN»S COMBESQUE
Translated by Derry Cook-Radmore
EIGHT YEARS OF CIVIL WAR
Fragile peace for Sierra Leone *
by ELIZABETH BLUNT
The 7 July accord signed in Lome (Togo) between the Sierra Leone
authorities and the Revolutionary United Front means that the
atrocities of the civil war will go unpunished. The RUF has been
allocated four government posts but the UN has called for action
against the appalling human rights violations. Meanwhile the
agreement remains shrouded in uncertainty.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/12/?c=13blunt>
Original text in English
POWER OF THE WORLD'S TRUE MASTERS
When the giants play with fire
Top companies' tables
by FREDERIC F. CLAIRMONT
Translated by Malcolm Greenwood
BACK PAGE
The two faces of parity
by MARIETTE SINEAU
This month the French government is due to pass a bill designed to
introduce equal opportunities for men and women in politics, in
particular for the local council elections in 2001. The refusal to
set quotas for the number of women running for election has already
drawn sharp criticism. However, additional measures are needed to
make political power sharing possible. Elected representatives
should be given a special status, with a range of provisions to
relieve them of part of their family duties. Only then will all
women be able enter public life, not just the privileged few.
Translated by Harry Forster
English language editorial director: Wendy Kristianasen
_________________________________________________________________
(*) Star-marked articles are available to every reader. Other
articles are available to paid s*bscribers only.
Yearly subscription fee: 24 US $ (Institutions 48 US $).
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - Le Monde diplomatique
______________________________________________________________
For more information on our English edition, please visit
http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/
To s*bscribe to our free "dispatch" mailing-list, send an
(empty) e-mail to:
dispatch-on at london.monde-diplomatique.fr
To uns*bscribe from this list, send an (empty) e-mail to:
dispatch-off at london.monde-diplomatique.fr
----- Backwarded