November 2015
... Russia's Syrian game; Middle East's
new players; Dilma Rousseff's troubles; China
special it's the economy stupid; brave new countryside; climate
special report Paris talks must not fail; 'reality rift' between facts
and words; disputed future of northern territories; gas fields in the eastern
Med; bye bye bayou; Google under EU scrutiny; before
big data; supplement solidarity for kids...
and more...
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France, the diplomatic shadow - Serge Halimi
To find a precedent for France's current diplomatic self-effacement, one would have to go back to the Suez crisis of 1956 or the Algerian war. Neither the international conference on the environment to be held in Paris, norPresident François Hollande's bellicose, inarticulate speeches, norhis foreign minister's incorrigible self-satisfaction do much to mask France's fall on the international stage.
That the country is following Germany's lead in European affairs became evident during the Greek (...)Translated by George Miller -
Russia returns to the Middle East
Putin's Syrian bet - Alexei Malashenko
Putin has taken an enormous risk in backing Syria's Assad with military force. If his gamble pays off, Russia could be the peacemaker with only marginal military losses. If not, he invites destabilisation and threats from ISIS back home.Translated by Charles Goulden -
Enter the new power brokers* - Olivier Zajec
There has been a fundamental shift in world diplomacy - the major initiatives in the Middle East, no matter how self-seeking, are now coming from non-western nations.Translated by George Miller -
Fathers and sons, swindlers and a clown
Brazil's unreformable government* - Lamia Oualalou
Brazil has a complex election system and a lower house made up of 28 special-interest groups. Every decision needs a brokered coalition and favours traded. And President Dilma Rousseff isn't in control.Translated by George Miller -
Return to rural living, less consumption
What's behind the yuan devaluation* - Michel Aglietta
Despite President Xi Jinping's high-profile diplomacy, Chinese investment cannot carry the nation's economic future. Xi must persuade the Chinese people of the need for more modest consumption, services and social welfare.Translated by Krystyna Horko -
China's villages revive* - Martine Bulard
A few migrants have begun to return from China's cities to its neglected countryside, and have been joined by artists and advocates of a more balanced (and rural) way of life. It's a start.Translated by George Miller -
Climate change must be halted, now
Six degrees of disaster* - Philippe Descamps
Time is running out for industrialised countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the UN conference on climate change in Paris this month doesn't have the right to fail.Translated by Charles Goulden -
Heating the planet is an ecocrime* - Agnès Sinaï
International diplomacy isn't dealing quickly or well with mitigating, let alone preventing, global warming. Are there other ways to change our lifestyles and ways of thought?Translated by Charles Goulden -
Geopolitics and the polar bear* - Farid Benhammou and Rémy Marion
Polar bears have become a symbol of the effects of rapid climate change. But other problems, besides the shrinking of the Arctic ice on which they hunt, threaten their existence.Translated by Charles Goulden -
Lebanon's untapped wealth* - Bachir El-Khoury
Israel and Lebanon both claim a maritime area with potentially vast reserves of natural gas. Israel is already exploiting its own offshore fields, and wants this one as well.Translated by Charles Goulden -
Down on the disappearing bayou - Elizabeth Rush
Rising sea levels, river dams, and the hydrocarbon industry are daily diminishing the once-rich wetlands that the Mississippi delta created along the Louisiana coast.Original text in English -
'Make me to know the measure of my days'
Insurance and the origin of big data* - Dan Bouk
Between the ledger and the computer was the card index - the basis of the mass commodification of personal insurance.Original text in English -
'The future of democracy in the digital age'
Europe challenges Google* - Marie Bénilde
The European Commission has accused ubiquitous Google of misusing its dominant web position and is investigating its many online services.Translated by George Miller -
Life upon the wicked stage* - Evelyne Pieiller
Entertainers may no longer be banned, excommunicated, excluded from society or doomed to work in un-unionised poverty. But they're still not quite respectable.Translated by George Miller -
Transmitting the values of solidarity
Children's rights, a founding dream - Claire Brisset
When a country is at war, suffering comes first. But to promote the values of solidarity, associations such as Secours Populaire Français get children from different backgrounds to meet each other (see Children's rights matter). There are Copain du Monde villages all over, from Lebanon to France (see The kids next door and Chailles, a window on the world). Their work leads us to seriously consider the notion of children's rights.Translated by George Miller -
Children's rights matter - Julien Lauprêtre
Translated by Charles Goulden -
The kids next door - Amélie Zaccour
Lebanon has 1.1 million Syrian refugees, a quarter of its population. To decrease the tensions that this creates, associations are trying to stop children repeating the prejudices of their parents.Translated by Charles Goulden -
Chailles, a window on the world - Sébastien Deslandes
Translated by Charles Goulden
