Tausch/Le Monde diplomatique - April 1999

I should emphasize that this transmission in no way reflects the opinions of
my government

arno tausch

----- Original Message -----
From: Le Monde diplomatique <dispatch@london.monde-diplomatique.fr>
To: English edition dispatch <dispatch@london.monde-diplomatique.fr>
Sent: Friday, April 09, 1999 5:27 PM
Subject: Le Monde diplomatique - April 1999


>
>                                                    LE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUE
>     _________________________________________________________________
>
>                          Le Monde diplomatique
>
>                             english edition
>
>                               April 1999
>
>
>
>
>
>    LEADER
>
>  Social democracy betrayed *
>
>      by Ignacio Ramonet
>
>     NATO's decision to go to war in Yugoslavia without any mandate from
>     the UN has been supported by Europe's new social democrat leaders -
>     principally from France, Germany, Italy and the UK. In so doing,
>     they have betrayed socialism and revealed the bankruptcy of social
>     democracy in their domestic and economic policies. This is
>     characterised by a collective unwillingness to disturb the
>     inherited status quo.
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/04/01leader.html
>                                            Translated by Barbara Wilson
>
>    US EXPORTS ZERO TOLERANCE
>
>  Penal 'common sense' comes to Europe
>
>      by Loïc Wacquant
>
>     Could it be mere coincidence? As gigantic industrial and financial
>     mergers are sweeping across the United States and Europe, to the
>     seeming indifference of the governments concerned, political
>     leaders everywhere are vying with each other to think up and
>     implement new ways of "cracking down" on crime. The mainstream
>     media, often forgetting that "urban violence" is rooted in the
>     generalisation of social insecurity, contribute with their own
>     biases to defining these alleged threats to society. Many of the
>     remedies commonly proposed (zero tolerance, curfews, suspension of
>     social allowances to offenders' families, increased repression of
>     minors) take their inspiration from the American model. And, as in
>     the United States, they are bound to lead to the extension of
>     social control, compounded with exploding rates of imprisonment.
>
>                                               Translated by Tarik Wareh
>
>
>    EUROPE'S INSTITUTIONS IN CRISIS
>
>  Musical chairs in Brussels *
>
>      by Bernard Cassen
>
>     The resignation of the European Commission in mid March followed by
>     the appointment of a new president, Romano Prodi, one week later
>     has highlighted the problems in running Europe's institutions.
>     However, the much spoken of "democratic deficit" is due less to
>     lack of supervision by MEPs than to the gulf that separates EU
>     citizens from the machinery of the Union and the Central Bank. Only
>     greater involvement by the various national parliaments can remedy
>     this situation.
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/04/03cassen.html
>                                              Translated by Beverly Adab
>
>
>    OLD PARTNERSHIP WITH US TURNS SOUR
>
>  End of Japanese honeymoon
>
>      by Bruce Cumings
>
>     Since the second world war the United States has considered Japan's
>     stability and economic growth an essential part of the global fight
>     against communism, as the Japanese have been well aware. It
>     therefore came as a shock in the 1990s to have the US suddenly
>     complaining about their 'statist' development model. Currently in
>     the grips of a devastating economic crisis, Tokyo now has no choice
>     but to bow to American free market ideology - even though it is
>     putting the country's social cohesion at risk.
>
>                                                Original text in English
>
>
>    NATO BOMBING, ECONOMIC COLLAPSE
>
>  Make or break for Serb regime *
>
>      by Thomas Hofnung
>
>     The initial effect of NATO bombing has been to arouse nationalist
>     feeling in Serbia, for all Serbs are united on the issue of Kosovo,
>     the "historic heartland" of the nation. President Slobodan
>     Milosevic has made keeping the province with its Albanian majority
>     within Serbia the springboard for his rise to power. But the scale
>     of the appalling ethnic cleansing of the Albanians to which he
>     resorted even before NATO planes began their bombardment of
>     Yugoslavia makes the future hard to predict.
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/04/05serbia.html
>                                              Translated by Julie Stoker
>
>
>    HOW NATO SURVIVED THE COLD WAR
>
>  Washington tightens its grip
>
>      by Paul-Marie de La Gorce
>
>  Eastward bound
>
>      by Gilbert Achcar
>
>     NATO's war against Serbia, condemned by both Russia and China and
>     conducted outside the framework of the United Nations, reaffirms
>     the new role which the Atlantic Alliance has begun to play. For the
>     first time in its history, and just as it is expanding to the east,
>     NATO is intervening directly in the internal affairs of a sovereign
>     country. Having outlived its original purpose of countering the
>     Soviet threat, the Atlantic Alliance is increasingly the instrument
>     of US domination in Europe.
>
>                                              Translated by Barry Smerin
>
>
>    ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK
>
>  Africa worn out by war
>
>      by Philippe Leymarie
>
>  Fifteen conflicts *
>
>    Our previous articles on Africa *
>
>     A wave of democratisation, the overthrow of the Mobutu regime and
>     signs of an African 'renaissance' had raised high hopes for
>     Africa's future. But is it now going back to the bad old days? Once
>     again the continent is in a state of turmoil, with a dozen armed
>     conflicts in progress, ranging from small local skirmishes to
>     modern warfare. In freeing itself from foreign diplomacy, Africa
>     seems to be sowing the seeds of its own destruction. Still, there
>     are a few encouraging signs. This year, five years on from the
>     start of the Rwandan genocide, Nelson Mandela is preparing for a
>     smooth hand-over of power and civilian government has been restored
>     in Nigeria.
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/04/09africa2.html
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/04/09b_articles.html
>                                                Translated by Lorna Dale
>
>
>    MIRAGE OF PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD
>
>  Time runs out on Oslo
>
>      by Alain Gresh
>
>  Demographic stakes *
>
>      by Youssef Courbage
>
>    From Madrid to Wye Plantation *
>
>     What will happen on 4 May when the period set for Palestinian
>     autonomy runs out? Turning to international law would be one way
>     out of the present deadlock. The international community, and
>     especially the European Union, need to push with all their might
>     for renewed recognition of UN resolutions. And the world needs to
>     be aware that the choice is between having two independent states
>     (one Israeli, the other Palestinian) or an apartheid regime
>     incompatible with Israel's own values.
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/04/11pals2.html
>        http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/04/12pals3.html
>                                        Translated by Wendy Kristianasen
>
>
>    CHALLENGE FROM ISRAEL'S SEPHARDI RIGHT
>
>  Past wounds, future fears
>
>      by Marius Schattner
>
>     With the approaching elections on 17 May, tensions are rising in
>     Israel between religious and secular Jews. The ultra-orthodox are
>     fighting changes in the law which threaten to make military service
>     compulsory for students in religious colleges who had previously
>     been exempt, give their liberal or conservative religious
>     competitors an easier means of representation and allow kibbutzes
>     to open their shops on the Saturday Sabbath. This show of strength
>     was the result of a joint effort by all Israel's religious parties
>     - not least the ultra-orthodox Sephardi party Shas.
>
>                                                  Translated by Ed Emery
>
>
>    NORTH AMERICAN INTEGRATION DESTROYS JOBS
>
>  Free trade illusions in Quebec
>
>      by Dorval Brunelle
>
>     An unconditional supporter of the North American free trade
>     agreements, the Parti québécois (PQ) government has not reaped the
>     benefits it was hoping for, although it has not admitted this
>     publicly. With its avowed objective of Quebec sovereignty, it is
>     always performing a balancing act between two forces. On the one
>     hand, it unabashedly espouses neo-liberal dogma, in both economic
>     and foreign policy, so as to ensure Washington's backing in the
>     event of independence. On the other, it has to engage in the
>     rhetoric of social democracy in order to boost the morale of the PQ
>     rank and file. But for how long can the contradiction between
>     rhetoric and practice be maintained?
>
>                                    Translated by Stuart Anthony Stilitz
>
>
>    BACK PAGE
>
>  Time to stop and stare
>
>      by Thierry Paquot
>
>     A look at work as it has been perceived down the ages - and a look
>     at its mirror image. Idleness, once considered one of the deadly
>     sins, now implies the right to slow down, go at your own pace, have
>     time to stop and stare.
>
>                                            Translated by Barbara Wilson
>
>
>
>
>           English language editorial director: Wendy Kristianasen
>
>     _________________________________________________________________
>
>             ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 1999 Le Monde diplomatique.
>
>
>
>     (*) Star-marked articles are available to every reader. Other
>     articles are available to paid subscribers 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 subscribe to our free "dispatch" mailing-list, send an
>     (empty) e-mail to:
>          dispatch-on@london.monde-diplomatique.fr
>
>     To unsubscribe from this list, send an (empty) e-mail to:
>          dispatch-off@london.monde-diplomatique.fr
>
>
>