Fw: February 1999 - Le Monde Diplo

Kind regards. Enjoy the reading


Arno Tausch
----------
> From: Le Monde diplomatique <dispatch@london.monde-diplomatique.fr>
> To: English edition dispatch <dispatch@london.monde-diplomatique.fr>
> Subject: February 1999
> Date: Freitag, 12. Februar 1999 16:05
> 
> 
>                                                     LE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUE
>      _________________________________________________________________
> 
>                           Le Monde diplomatique
> 
>                              english edition
> 
>                               February 1999
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>     LEADER
> 
>   Kosovo *
> 
>       by Ignacio Ramonet
> 
>      Looking back at Yugoslavia's recent history from Tito to the
>      calamity of the last years, Ignacio Ramonet concludes that it is
>      right that Belgrade should reconsider its removal of Kosovo's
>      special status. What is needed is an agreement granting it the
>      widest possible measure of autonomy within Serbia, that is to say
>      within Yugoslavia. This means silencing the nationalist extremists
>      of both sides.
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/02/01leader.html
> 
>                                             Translated by Barbara Wilson
> 
> 
>     SOCIAL EFFECTS OF A GREAT CHANGE
> 
>   Unemployment sweeps China
> 
>       by Jean-Louis Rocca
> 
>      The international community has watched with bated breath as the
>      economic and financial meltdown spread from Southeast Asia to
>      Japan, Russia and Latin America. What if China also succumbs and
>      devalues its currency? Quite apart from the profound danger to the
>      world economy, it would ignite an already explosive social
>      situation within the country. The policy of export-led growth is
>      reaching its limits, there are vast migrations of
>      peasants-turned-floating workers, and the authorities do not know
>      what to do with the 30-50 million public sector workers who have
>      lost their jobs.
> 
>                                             Translated by Barbara Wilson
> 
>   Can growth solve China's problem?
> 
>       by Philip S Golub
> 
>      China has so far been spared the international financial upheaval
>      of the past year. However its economy is showing signs of flagging
>      since it is now reaching the limits of its policy of export-based
>      growth. Rapid growth, coming from its four Special Economic Zones
>      in particular, has made for an imbalance between regions - and
>      within society. As a result Beijing is changing its economic
>      priorities.
> 
>                                               Translated by Julie Stoker
> 
>   Women's birthright
> 
>       by Florence Beaugé
> 
>      China's vast population made it adopt a harsh policy of
>      single-child families. But with economic liberalisation and hopes
>      that the birth rate will spontaneously decline as a result, there
>      are tentative moves to give couples more choice in planning their
>      families.
> 
>                                               Translated by Julie Stoker
> 
> 
>     IN THE SHADOW OF THEIR HOMELAND
> 
>   Palestinian dreams and anger
> 
>       by Alain Gresh
> 
>      On 17 May the Israelis go to the polls. Until then the peace
>      process will remain ever more deeply frozen. Those most excluded
>      from the elusive search for peace are the Palestinian refugees.
>      Driven from their homeland, the Palestinians have lived in camps or
>      towns near the borders of the Israeli state since 1948. Many have
>      languished in poverty, others have rebuilt their lives, but all
>      have been deeply affected by the pain of an irreparable loss and
>      all of them dream of "return". For long years the refugees
>      spearheaded the re-birth of the Palestinian nation. Now, as the big
>      losers in the Oslo accords, their tragedy strikes at the very heart
>      of the Middle East's conflicts.
> 
>                                     Translated by Stuart Anthony Stilitz
> 
>   The refugees: facts and figures *
> 
>      The background to the situation of the Palestinian refugees and the
>      various forums for discussing their future.
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/02/06pals2.html
> 
>                                         Translated by Wendy Kristianasen
> 
> 
>     YOUNG OFFENDERS LOST IN A LEGAL JUNGLE
> 
>   Chile's forgotten children
> 
>       by Yves Hardy
> 
>      Sustained indicators of economic health have made Chile's officials
>      complacent. As a result they have neglected their growing social
>      obligations. The privatisation of public services has limited
>      access to education and health care for the poorest and undermined
>      the country's future well-being. Particularly affected are
>      children. A strange legal legacy has meant that children with
>      diametrically opposed needs have been treated in the same way, with
>      a single institution catering for both victims and offenders. New,
>      more child-friendly legislation is a start.
> 
>                                               Translated by Karen Wilkin
> 
>   Brazilian paradoxes
> 
>      Brazil has made great advances in promoting child rights throughout
>      Latin America. But, despite progress on the legal front, there is
>      still work to do.
> 
>                                               Translated by Karen Wilkin
> 
> 
>     LATIN AMERICA'S OLDEST ARMED CONFLICT
> 
>   Calls for peace in Colombia
> 
>       by Benoît Guillou
> 
>      The start of talks between the government of Andrés Pastrana and
>      the two largest guerrilla movements, the National Liberation Army
>      and the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces, came as a relief to a
>      society exhausted by Latin America's longest war. But we should not
>      expect an early end to the conflict. If they are to sign a peace
>      accord, the guerrillas want far-reaching economic and social
>      reforms. Meanwhile the paramilitary groups hope to win a seat at
>      the negotiating table by stepping up the killings.
> 
>                                          Translated by Malcolm Greenwood
> 
> 
>     BETWEEN THE GENERALS AND THE ISLAMISTS
> 
>   Secular Turks search for reform
> 
>       by Wendy Kristianasen
> 
>      After weeks of political crisis following financial scandals, a new
>      Turkish government was formed in January which should pave the way
>      for general elections this coming April. Yet, for all the dynamism
>      of its economy and the initiatives of its citizens, the country
>      still remains under the shadow of the military. Moderate secular
>      Turks find themselves unable to unlock the elusive door to true
>      democratisation - not least because they share the generals' fears
>      of Kurdish separatism and Islamist ascendancy.
> 
>                                                 Original text in English
> 
>   Who's who *
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/02/11who.html
> 
>   New strategy for the Kurds? *
> 
>       By Michel Verrier
> 
>      Abdullah Öcalan, head of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), would
>      like to become the Gerry Adams of the Kurds. But is an Irish or
>      Basque-style solution feasible?
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/02/12kurds.html
> 
>                                         Translated by Wendy Kristianasen
> 
> 
>     EAST AND WEST: TEST OF FAITH
> 
>   Hurdles to European expansion
> 
>       by Jean-Yves Potel
> 
>      The countries of Central and Eastern Europe want to regain their
>      rightful place in the mainstream of Europe. The leaders of the
>      Fifteen and the Commission have been unable to think of any
>      arrangement other than indefinite enlargement of the Union and the
>      straitjacket of the "acquis communautaire" (community patrimony).
>      After ten years of painful reforms, the peoples of the candidate
>      states are now being forced to accept ever greater sacrifices as
>      the price of their new-found freedom.
> 
>                                               Translated by Barry Smerin
> 
>   Poles torn between hope and fear
> 
>       by Robert Soltyk
> 
>      Polish attitudes are dominated by a fatalistic conviction that
>      unless Poland joins the European Union, things can only get worse.
>      It was this conviction, rather than blissful expectation of a
>      radiant future, that lay behind most Poles' support for joining the
>      EU. Given the experience of communism and the emotionally fraught
>      "special relationship" with Russia, no-one any longer doubts that
>      Poland must turn westwards. Despite this belief, the hope of
>      uniting a continent divided for 50 years is gradually receding.
> 
>                                               Translated by Barry Smerin
> 
> 
>     THE DARK SIDE OF EUROPE
> 
>   Women for sale
> 
>       by Yves Géry
> 
>      Thousands of women from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union
>      are being forced into prostitution in EU countries. The traffic
>      began with the lifting of the iron curtain and has spread rapidly
>      due to growing economic hardship in the countries of the former
>      Soviet bloc. Its hub is the Belgian city of Antwerp. The
>      International Organisation for Migration has been concerned with
>      the problem for some time and in December the European Commission
>      in turn sounded the alarm, but so far the EU's efforts have not
>      amounted to much.
> 
>                                               Translated by Barry Smerin
> 
> 
>     ISOLATION OF THE TALIBAN
> 
>   No escape for Afghanistan
> 
>       by Chantal Aubry
> 
>      Policy for reconstructing Afghanistan lies in the hands of the
>      United Nations, the European Union and the donor countries, but
>      they are making aid conditional on respect for human rights and
>      particularly the rights of women, the main targets of the Taliban.
>      The country has been devastated by the strategies of the major
>      powers and the obstinacy of the "students of theology". Now this
>      isolationist policy looks set to make it a scapegoat - a symbol of
>      the West's rejection of all Muslim societies. It is hard to see
>      when and how Afghanistan will be able to escape the vicious circle
>      in which it has been trapped.
> 
>                                               Translated by Julie Stoker
> 
> 
>     DISASTROUS SPACE ODYSSEY
> 
>   Pie in the American sky *
> 
>       by Robert Bell
> 
>      The launch of the International Space Station's first modules have
>      put space back in the news. But the station is the result of
>      "political engineering" and its scientific interest is debatable.
>      Bringing in players like Russia, Japan and Europe, Washington is
>      neutralising resources, not least those of France, that could have
>      been put to better use. It is also insuring itself against any
>      questioning of a project dear to America's large aerospace firms
>      and to members of Congress who benefit from their generosity.
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/02/17space.html
> 
>                                                 Original text in English
> 
> 
>     REVOLT ROOTED IN HISTORY
> 
>   Bitter victory for Romanian miners *
> 
>       by Damien Roustel
> 
>      In the end Romania's 15,000 striking miners never reached
>      Bucharest. A secret agreement was reached on a pay rise and the
>      re-opening of pits closed just before Christmas 1998. In return the
>      miners agreed to go back to their homes in the Jiu Valley. The
>      compromise, negotiated by their charismatic, controversial leader
>      Miron Cozma and Prime Minister Radu Vasile on 22 January, avoided a
>      bloody showdown. But it is a fresh blow to the neo-liberal reforms
>      President Emil Constantinescu had promised the IMF. This is not the
>      first time that Romania's miners have made their mark on the
>      country's politics - although they have still not managed to impose
>      a real change of direction.
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/02/18roman.html
> 
>                                                   Translated by Ed Emery
> 
> 
>     PHOTO OF YOUR DREAMS
> 
>   African illusions
> 
>       by Edgar Roskis
> 
>      In town or in the bush, the African studio is the place where
>      dreams come true. For a few pence, ordinary mortals can strike a
>      pose and achieve immortality, have things they haven't got and may
>      never have, be people they are not and may never be, have access to
>      the inaccessible. All with a smile, because nobody in Africa is
>      really deceived by make-believe. But for one glorious moment they
>      can have it all in Philip Kwame Apagya's studio, PK's Normal Photo,
>      in western Ghana. With a photo to show for it.
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/inside/1999/02/19roskis.html
> 
>                                             Translated by Barbara Wilson
> 
> 
>            English language editorial director: Wendy Kristianasen
> 
>      _________________________________________________________________
> 
>              ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 1999 Le Monde diplomatique.
> 
> 
> 
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> 
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