fash-biz-digest

For those of us interested in the battle of ideas the presentations of Alan Greespan the former head of the Federal Reserve reported in the IHT of 24/10/08 must be an important read. Just one extract from that article," In other words, you found that your view of the word, your ideology was not working."

Absolutely replied the former head.

source : www.iht.com

 The white paper on the defence policy of France

The  defence policy of France was largely a policy that was initiated in the years between 1958-1989. There were reforms after the collapse of the totalitarian regimes of Eastern Europe and the white paper released in the middle of this month is as decisive in its orientations as the last white paper. Le monde carried a good article on this issue in its edition of 19 June 2008.

www.lemonde.fr

There will be two materials on the former secretary of state. The first evaluation is the biography of Henry Kissinger by Jeremi Suri.  The researcher used extensively sixteen different archival collections and his publication is a perfect example of academic work because he presented in a compelling way, the Harvard years and the emergence of the strategic thoughts of the academician turned presidential adviser. While we wait for www.amazon.com reviewers  to express their views on this biography. Nial Ferguson is working on another biography of the US secretary of state and when the two publications are available, researchers will have a better view of the life of the former adviser to President Nixon.

Observers of EU affairs will find the interview of the head of the commission to be very informative in their evaluation of

the policy of EU, the subprime crisis, french reforms and globalization. The video and the transcriptions are available on the web site of www.ft.com

The president of Senegal  made a plea in defence of relations with China in an article published in the FT of January 25 2008.

 Burma : Britain and France in favor of jawboning

Not long ago, the world watched the the represseion of demonstrators against the government of Burma and the diplomatic visits of the UN represenative to government leaders and the the head of the opposition. Lacerating editorials were published in the press and specialists hinted on the importance of reinforcing international sanctions against Burma.  And one article captioned, Burma : Time for serious dialogue by two participants of EU presidential summits, in the IHT of 1-2 december 2007,  is an illustration that France and Britain won't brook further disrespect of the rule of law in Burma.

Direct Soir (of november 6 2007,) the French evening newspaper  in a special feature on Great Britain used this pull quote"My lords and members of the House," in reference to the opening session of the UK parliament. This is the full link that observers of contemporary british affairs will like to consult:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6150274.stm

In the course of the last EU summit a new constitution was agreed upon and the issue of a president for the european union was finally resolved. These two dimensions finally make the European Union a force in international affairs. Provided the new president can justify the role of a president  in our troubled world.

With the vast amount of information at the disposal of researchers. The question as to why a project scheduled to be the showcase of democracy in the middle turned into an arena of violence and disintegration is what specialists will strive to answer in the future. Whatever might be the position of individual researchers on the current situation in Iraq, the second part of this predicament is now available in the form of the Dokan conversation and titled"repercussions of the war in Iraq, "that appeared in the IHT of 5-6 October 2007.

The author of this article affirmed that iraqi exiles scored very high points in the coalition against saddam hussein at the early stage of the war. But squandered the opportunity in face of the challenges of nation building by acting in sectarian ways and thus pushing their country down the road of civil strife. No doubt this is the second time  that this information is coming to the public, the first time, was the declarations of the new leaders when they visited France just after the end of the war. Because by listening to them, one understands that they put more emphasis on how to  revenge the atrocities suffered under the regime of saddam hussein than the basics of nation building.  Let us hope that they will learn their lessons.

The U.S was a major factor in the decolonisation of Africa and the impact of the U.S. might is visible in the constitution, political system and the private sector of many West African countries. Over the next few days, another dimension will be added to the influence of the United States in Africa, and in this case it will be in the form of the Africa military command. The details are yet to be released and some observers are saying that it will come with the selection of two or three military bases in Africa.

Source : the recent issue of Jeune Afrique Magazine