Topic: Le Monde diplomatique, bbc news
31 July 2011
August 2011
... Financial crisis, lessons from Iceland; Middle East, protests persist in Syria; Nafta, US jobs drain to Mexico; US and Vietnam make up; nuclear energy loses its glow; Uganda, sharing the wealth; Henry Ford's forgotten jungle city; Toni Negri's revolutionary heart; luxury hotels redraft the social contract... and more...
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Blackmail in Washington - Serge Halimi
The squabbles between President Obama and the Republican majority in Congress over US debt obscure the main point: under covert pressure from his opponents, Obama has agreed without further ado that $3,000bn, more than three-quarters of the budget reduction he wants for the next ten years, will be covered by cuts in social services. Not content with this victory, the US right wants more - even if its unrelenting demands are likely to be unpopular with voters.
Bowing to the Republicans in (...)Translated by Barbara Wilson - Can't pay back, won't pay back
Iceland's loud No - Silla Sigurgeirsdóttir and Robert H Wade
The people of Iceland have now twice voted not to repay international debts incurred by banks, and bankers, for which the whole island is being held responsible. With the present turmoil in European capitals, could this be the way forward for other economies?Original text in English - 'The bullets killed our fear'
Syria waits for Ramadan - Alain Gresh
In August it is Ramadan and every day is like Friday - demonstration day for the population of Syria's cities, not least those of Hama who have already endured one major army attack since the year's protests began, and are expecting moreTranslated by Charles Goulden - Disenchantment with nuclear energy sets in
Global reaction against reactors* - Denis Delbecq
There are nuclear power stations still being built - some very, very slowly - but few are in the developed world, where several countries recently decided to abandon the idea of a nuclear futureTranslated by Stephanie Irvine -
Japan's silent anger - Rónán MacDubhghaill
Just because the Japanese are not out demonstrating about what happened at the Fukushima Daiichi plant doesn't mean they aren't frightened and resentful, only that protest isn't the Japanese wayLMD English edition exclusive -
Slow death of the Superphoenix* - Christine Bergé
France's Superphoenix was only in operation for 11 years but its decommissioning, which began in 1997, will take another 20 years. Was the nuclear experiment worth it?Translated by Stephanie Irvine - Uganda's potential to be another Niger delta
Who owns Buganda?* - Alain Vicky
The land of a traditional kingdom within Uganda has been used as a political threat and reward for over a century. It grows grain, it may have oil and gas, and it is home to the quickly expanding capitalTranslated by Stephanie Irvine - United States and Vietnam, 36 years after the war
Former enemies make friends* - Xavier Monthéard
The once secret report that revealed Washington's lies about the Vietnam war is now freely read. Hanoi, too, has moved on - there have even been joint military exercises near to where the first GIs landedTranslated by George Miller -
Vietnam and India: shared interests* - Saurav Jha
Vietnam and India are united in their fear of China, to New Delhi's profitOriginal text in English - Goodbye to Fostoria, Ohio...
A small town in the middle of everywhere - John R MacArthur
The jobs went south - to Mexicali, Mexico - after the Nafta liberalisations of the 1990s. New owners have come and gone, the last US employees are awaiting redundancy, and only a very few money men have profited, handsomelyOriginal text in English -
The tale of a spark plug
- 'To cultivate rubber, and the rubber gatherers as well'
Henry Ford's Amazonian dream* - Greg Grandin
At Fordlandia in Brazil, Ford built an entire town in the jungle which recreated a vision of Americana that was slipping out of his grasp at home. But Fordism contained the seeds of its own unravellingOriginal text in English - The social contract in luxury american hotels
Your room is ready, sir* - Rachel Sherman
The world of the grand hotel is as unequal as you can get in the land of equality. Hotel guests get attention, status and human labour, which other people (workers) provideOriginal text in English - UK 'big society' won't restore lost values
An immigrant's tale - David Napier
The Cameron government's intention to cut immigration has found an echo among ordinary Britons. It is not so much that they are getting more racist, but that they resent the loss of old-fashioned civility. But most of all, as the financial crisis bites, they are worried about benefits, jobs and also less tangible core valuesLMD English edition exclusive - 'They will be buried by laughter'
Mass outrage - Ed Emery
Toni Negri was professor at the University of Padua, until he was jailed, charged with being leader of Italy's Red Brigades. He hasn't lost his sense of humourLMD English edition exclusiv
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