WG: Le Monde Diplomatique December 2000

Kind regards Arno Tausch

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Von:  Le Monde diplomatique [SMTP:dispatch@Monde-diplomatique.fr]
<mailto:[SMTP:dispatch@Monde-diplomatique.fr]> 
Gesendet:  Mittwoch, 13. Dezember 2000 18:04
An:  dispatch@london.monde-diplomatique.fr
<mailto:dispatch@london.monde-diplomatique.fr> 
Betreff:  December 2000


Le Monde diplomatique 

 
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                               December 2000
                                      
     
LEADER
Fears of the year
by IGNACIO RAMONET

<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/01fears
<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/01fears> >
Translated by Ed Emery
     
A PRESIDENCY WEAKENED
Democracy American style *
by SERGE HALIMI and LOÏC WACQUANT
The succession to Bill Clinton has proved laborious. The new president will
enter the White House with an authority as disputed as the result of the
vote of 7 November. In some states the difference between George W Bush and
Al Gore was little more than a few hundred votes, in others just a few
dozen. The elections for the Senate and the House of Representatives have
been equally inconclusive. This will force Republicans and Democrats to work
together in a less buoyant economic climate than some months ago.  The
likely compromise between the two parties (which have no fundamental
differences between them) will not stop the institutional model of the US
being gravely tarnished by the electoral and legal chaos in Florida. Beyond
the issue of the miscounting of ballots in some counties, an entire
political system has been exposed as archaic and exhausted.
Translated by Harry Forster
When the penal state excludes four million voters
S.H. and L.W.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/03penal
<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/03penal> >
Translated by Harry Forster
When business "invests" four billion dollars
S.H. and L.W.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/04business
<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/04business> >
Translated by Harry Forster
When information travels at "internet speed"
S.H. and L.W.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/05speed
<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/05speed> >
Translated by Harry Forster
     
CHINA WOOS THE MARKET
Farewell to the land of the Little Red Book *
by ROLAND LEW
Twenty years after it launched its economic reform programme, China is
preparing to join the WTO and become part of the world's new free trade
system. Senior officials in Beijing say this decisive step in the transition
to a market economy will stabilise China's external trade environment,
promote growth and secure the "reformist" coalition around President Jiang
Zemin and Prime Minister Zhu Rongji. But this is a high-risk strategy.
Prematurely opening up an economy that is not ready to cope with
international competition will have a huge social cost.
Translated by Julie Stoker
Not working
by MARC MANGIN
<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/07notworking
<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/07notworking> >
Translated by Julie Stoker
     
BUSINESS, OIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Should corporations care? *
by ROLAND-PIERRE PARINGAUX
The battle of Seattle showed that, in today's global village, multinationals
operate under the critical gaze of the media, international organisations
and ordinary people. Public opinion is coming to believe that the big
corporations must show regard for human rights, the environment and the
wishes of local populations - especially in places where politics are
violent and arbitrary. Yet many companies shrug off responsibility in the
countries they do business in.
Translated by Malcolm Greenwood
A global compact
R-P. P.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/09compact
<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/09compact> >
Translated by Malcolm Greenwood
Oil in the way of development
A-C. R.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/10development
<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/10development> >
Translated by Malcolm Greenwood
     
SETTLEMENTS AT THE HEART OF THE CONFLICT
Fighting for a proper peace *
by ALAIN GRESH
For two months the intifada has shown little sign of abating, showing the
Palestinians' determination to see an end to settlement and occupation once
and for all. The Oslo accords provided for a five-year interim period of
autonomy in the West Bank and Gaza.  That was up last year on 4 May. What is
in question now is a definitive settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. But the negotiating rules are one-sided: Israel will not implement
UN security council resolution 242, which calls for its withdrawal from the
occupied territories, and the US, far from being impartial, always "advises"
the Palestinians to agree to Israeli proposals. So there is a need to
redefine a legal framework based on international law and security council
resolutions, with the participation of other players - such as the UN,
Europe, Russia - alongside the US. This is the only way there can be real
peace, based on coexistence between two sovereign states.
Translated by Wendy Kristianasen
Failed compromise at Camp David
by FEISAL HUSSEINI
<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/12campdavid
<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/12campdavid> >
Translated by Wendy Kristianasen
Replaying the pictures *
by EDGAR ROSKIS
In the Middle East, as elsewhere, war also means the war of the media. For
every bit of military strategy there is equally sophisticated and brutal
media strategy. Its main weapon is pictures. But what are more effective,
still photos or the moving images of videos? And what misunderstandings can
creep in between the intentions of the photographer and the distributor?
Translated by Wendy Kristianasen
     
RETHINKING FRENCH FOREIGN POLICY
Democracy has many hues *
by HUBERT VÉDRINE
The world is no longer divided into two opposing blocs. France, which
skilfully exploited that situation, now needs to redefine its foreign policy
objectives. Is the world to be converted to western democracy, as some
maintain? Is moral outrage a sufficient basis for cogent state policy? And
is the right of intervention a cure for all ills?
Translated by Barry Smerin
     
COMPULSION AND CONSUMPTION
The science behind shopping *
by FRANCK MAZOYER
December is the costliest month for shopping and gifts. Consumers are
psychologically vulnerable to various forms of subconscious pressure -
light, smell, sound and touch - meant to transform the act of buying into an
uncontrollable impulse. Pleasure, it seems, is all about consuming.
Translated by Harry Forster
     
THE MYTHOLOGY OF PROGRESS
Communication breeds democracy *
by ARMAND MATTELART
Whatever Al Gore's claims to inventing the internet, neither the technology
nor the ideology surrounding it are new. Already, in the 1950s, a whole
mystique of electronic progress was being put in place, which had to do with
the advent of a post-industrial society and the end of ideologies and
political commitment. We were being told of a coming global society that
would be informed and structured by communication - and of a future that
would belong to American democracy and market forces.
Translated by Ed Emery
     
WORKING TOWARDS UTOPIA
Anarchist plans for Spain *
by FRÉDÉRIC GOLDBRONN and FRANCK MINTZ
Defence of the existing order is often based on nothing more than claims
that any deviation would lead to tyranny or chaos. Yet history abounds with
examples to the contrary. Revolt, and the aspiration to democracy and
solidarity, are always simmering beneath the surface. For a few months
during the Spanish civil war, parts of the country pursued a new of form of
social organisation that rejected the rule of wealth, power and bureaucracy.
Translated by Barry Smerin
The revolution on film *
by CARLOS PARDO
Translated by Barry Smerin
Three years of civil war
<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/19civil
<http://www.monde-diplomatique/en/2000/12/19civil> >
     
A COLLECTIVE PSYCHOSIS?
At the sign of the panicked cow *
by DENIS DUCLOS
With public opinion panicked by the mass media and BSE spreading to humans,
the French government has decided to ban the use of animal-based feedstuffs
for cattle destined for human consumption.  Other European countries have
taken similar emergency measures. A kind of collective psychosis seems to be
taking root based on a belief that mankind's relations with nature are going
badly wrong.
Translated by Ed Emery

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