WG: May 2000

enjoy the reading.

Arno Tausch

> ----------
> Von:  Le Monde diplomatique[SMTP:dispatch@london.monde-diplomatique.fr]
> Gesendet:     Freitag, 12. Mai 2000 17:05
> An:   English edition dispatch
> Betreff:      May 2000
> 
> 
>    Le Monde diplomatique 
>    -----------------------------------------------------
>    
>    
>                                   May 2000
>                                       
>      
> UNITED STATES GOES GLOBAL
> 
> The control of pleasure *
> 
> by IGNACIO RAMONET
> 
>      How could it fail to fascinate us? The United States has powerful
>      resources with which to excite our envy and enchant our hearts and
>      minds. In political terms, it has the amiable countenance of an old
>      and accommodating democracy, heir to a revolution of universal
>      significance and a rich culture. For millions of oppressed people
>      all over the world, its famous symbol - Liberty lighting the world
>      - still represents a powerful message of hope and the promise of a
>      better life.
>      
>      After emerging victorious from the cold war, the US went on to win
>      the war in the Gulf and then in Kosovo, upholding humanitarian
>      principles and countering authoritarian regimes or evil
>      dictatorships on each occasion. Having reached this peak of
>      military glory as the only remaining "hyperpower", it coolly
>      dominates the world like no other country in history.
>      
>      What is more, the length of the current US cycle of growth seems to
>      confirm that God really is on America's side. Did it not invent the
>      internet and launch the new economy? Is it not the driving force
>      behind globalisation?
>      
>      All over the world, people are following its example, adopting the
>      latest management methods, legal systems, sales techniques, spin
>      doctors and, of course, its fashions, stars and myths. US firms in
>      every field - from Microsoft to Yahoo, Walt Disney or Monsanto -
>      flaunt their intriguing success and continue their world conquest,
>      backed by clever advertising campaigns.
>      
>      But whatever its admirers may think, it is hardly surprising that
>      here and there, and above all in America itself (as we saw in
>      Seattle last December and in Washington this April), people should
>      be wondering about the meaning of this offensive. About the new
>      face of the US empire. The power of its ideology. And its
>      strategies of persuasion.
>      
>            <http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2000/05/02pleasure>
>      
>                                              Translated by Harry Forster
>      
> The specialities of nowhere
> 
> by RICK FANTASIA
> 
>                                                 Original text in English
>      
> Irresistible business schools
> 
> by IBRAHIM WARDE
> 
>      Is the universal teaching of US-style management transforming
>      schools into companies, students into customers and teachers into
>      consultants?
>      
>                                              Translated by Harry Forster
>      
>      
> GENETIC TESTS AND HEALTH INSURANCE
> 
> A future divided
> 
> by DOROTHÉE BENOIT BROWAEYS and JEAN-CLAUDE KAPLAN
> 
>      On 6 April the US company Celera Genomics announced that it had
>      decoded the 3bn characters making up the genome of each human
>      being. This scientific breakthrough could in the near future lead
>      to the development of treatments for such common illnesses as
>      cancer, diabetes, cardio-vascular disease and the like. But there
>      is also the prospect of enormous greed. On the pretext of inventing
>      tomorrow's medicines, there is a temptation to patent genes,
>      privatise them and use them for the wrong ends - as the case of the
>      Axa insurance company showed last February. Before it was forced to
>      back down under pressure from public opinion, it had decided to
>      increase the monthly premiums paid by parents of handicapped
>      children by 180%. Tomorrow, knowing the secrets of DNA could enable
>      other insurers to select, eliminate or penalise their customers on
>      the basis of genetic risk. So there is an urgent need for
>      legislation to preserve the genome as the common property of
>      humanity.
>      
>                                          Translated by Malcolm Greenwood
>      
> In Europe and America *
> 
>            <http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2000/05/051geneticsbox>
>      
>                                          Translated by Malcolm Greenwood
>      
>      
> LEGACY OF UNJUST LAND DISTRIBUTION
> 
> Zimbabwe in the grips of strife and uncertainty
> 
> by CHRISTOPHE CHAMPIN
> 
>      Zimbabwe is going through an unprecedented crisis in the run-up to
>      general elections that look risky for the ruling party. Now faced
>      with a credible opposition, Robert Mugabe is doing all he can to
>      hold on to power, violently attacking the few thousand white
>      farmers who still hold the best land. But this strategy could
>      permanently destabilise the country and is worrying its neighbours.
>      
>                                          Translated by Malcolm Greenwood
>      
>      
> CHALLENGE TO NEW LABOUR
> 
> London's mayor versus Tony Blair
> 
> by PHILIPPE MARLIÈRE
> 
>      Massimo D'Alema and Tony Blair - who both recently signed a
>      document calling for a further shift to the free market by the
>      European left - are currently going through a bad patch. D'Alema
>      has had to resign as prime minister as a result of Italy's regional
>      elections. Tony Blair is having to deal with setbacks on all sides
>      since May's local elections - not least Ken Livingstone's victory
>      as Mayor of London. This bitter pill for New Labour follows an
>      unprecedented, and highly unpopular, display of authoritarianism.
>      
>                                                   Translated by Ed Emery
>      
>      
> HOW TO SOLVE CULTURAL IDENTITY PROBLEMS
> 
> Choose your own nation
> 
> by YVES PLASSERAUD
> 
>      Throughout the world, ethnic entanglement is on the increase. In
>      the Balkans, Northern Ireland, the Basque country, the Caucasus and
>      Indonesia, conflicts involving ethnic minorities and minority
>      rights appear to defy solution. The result is often a demand for
>      secession, and the consequent proliferation of states creates
>      instability and an endless chain of confrontations. But a look at
>      European history shows other examples that could offer hope for the
>      future.
>      
>                                               Translated by Barry Smerin
>      
>      
> REAPPRAISING BOURGUIBA
> 
> Subversive mourning in Tunisia
> 
> by KAMEL LABIDI
> 
>      Habib Bourguiba, former president of Tunisia, died on 6 April.
>      Though his funeral was really an excuse to glorify his successor,
>      President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, the genuine emotion that swept
>      the country reflected more than just gratitude towards the man who
>      led Tunisia to independence. It was also part of a reappraisal of
>      his record - in particular on education and women's rights - which
>      prompts a comparison with the current regime.
>      
>                                              Translated by Harry Forster
>      
>      
> GOOD FENCES MAKE GOOD NEIGHBOURS
> 
> South Lebanon's border wars
> 
> by HENRY LAURENS
> 
>      In April the UN Security Council welcomed Israel's decision to
>      withdraw from south Lebanon. It stressed however - at Syria's
>      insistence - the need to achieve a full, fair and lasting peace in
>      the Middle East, based on UN Resolutions 242 and 338. Much remains
>      unclear. How far will the Israeli troops withdraw? How will
>      Hizbollah respond? What about its demands for the release of its
>      men held in Israel and the return of seven villages in the disputed
>      border territory? The danger of escalation cannot be ruled out.
>      
>                                             Translated by Barbara Wilson
>      
>      
> A COUNTRY REBUILT FROM ASHES AND MUD
> 
> Starting over in East Timor
> 
> by our special correspondent ROLAND-PIERRE PARINGAUX
> 
>      The campaign of terror launched last September, after 78.5% of East
>      Timorese had voted for independence, was the last in a long chain
>      of violence that has claimed 200,000 victims. This time it has left
>      at least 1,000 dead. As a result of the scorched earth policy of
>      army and militias, East Timor has been devastated. The local
>      authorities and the UN's provisional administration (Untaet) are
>      now trying to get the country back on its feet.
>      
>                                               Translated by Julie Stoker
>      
> Calling in the judges *
> 
>            <http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2000/05/12timorbox>
>      
>                                               Translated by Julie Stoker
>      
>      
> THE ENDLESS UNDECLARED CIVIL WAR
> 
> Why Colombia's guerrillas haven't made peace
> 
> by our special correspondent MAURICE LEMOINE
> 
>      The long, entrenched struggle between the guerrillas and the
>      authorities rolls on. Yet neither side wants to be seen as
>      intransigent, the obstacle to peace.
>      
>                                         Translated by Derry Cook-Radmore
>      
>      
> BACK PAGE
> 
> Woody's woeful women *
> 
> by ALAIN BRASSART
> 
>      The Paris critics are more respectful of Woody Allen than American
>      critics are. After all, since the New Wave, the French have grown
>      used to seeing the director as 'sole creator' of a film (rather
>      than part of a team including a scriptwriter, editor, producer) -
>      always constructing the same film, essentially his own vision of
>      the world. Perhaps this is why they are prepared to overlook the
>      fact that Allen is an incurable misogynist. His latest, Sweet and
>      Lowdown, reinforces the point.
>      
>            <http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2000/05/14woody>
>      
>                                               Translated by Barry Smerin
>      
>    
>    
>    
>           English language editorial director: Wendy Kristianasen
>      _________________________________________________________________
> 
>      (*) Star-marked articles are available to every reader. Other
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