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| December 2000 |
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Le Monde diplomatique
-----------------------------------------------------
December 2000
LEADER
Fears of the year
by IGNACIO RAMONET
<http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/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.fr/en/2000/12/03penal>
Translated by Harry Forster
When business "invests" four billion dollars
S.H. and L.W.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2000/12/04business>
Translated by Harry Forster
When information travels at "internet speed"
S.H. and L.W.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/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.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2000/12/06china>
Translated by Julie Stoker
Not working
by MARC MANGIN
<http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/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.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2000/12/08oil>
Translated by Malcolm Greenwood
A global compact
R-P. P.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2000/12/09compact>
Translated by Malcolm Greenwood
Oil in the way of development
A-C. R.
<http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/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.fr/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.fr/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
_________________________________________________________________
(*) Star-marked articles are available to paid subscribers only.
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