LMD

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Wed Dec 15 10:47:59 PST 1999


[bounced for a taboo word]

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.

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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - Le Monde diplomatique

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