Martes, 31 de julio de 2007

Si se atiende a lo que está sucediendo últimamente en Italia, puede verse en ello una señal de alarma, que, si se vincula con la reciente elección de Sarkozy en Francia, vendría a afectar más o menos a todos los países de Europa, en diverso grado y modo, pero en términos igual de preocupantes.

Hace pocos días, el Parlamento italiano -donde la mayoría del llamado centro izquierda cuenta con numerosos representantes, sobre todo en el Senado- aprobó, por enésima vez, la política exterior del Gobierno de Prodi. Ello comporta diversas cosas a corto plazo. En primer lugar, continuar con la misión en Afganistán; en segundo, mantener la presencia de tropas italianas en el Líbano y, por último, el envío de militares a Irak, con el propósito de adiestrar a la policía local en la tarea de garantizar el orden público y asumir la defensa del terrorismo de corte religioso.…  Seguir leyendo »

Una reciente conversación con la exiliada cubana Martha Frayde retrocedió las agujas del reloj a un episodio acaecido casi treinta años antes. En EL PAÍS del 8-12-1978 publiqué un artículo de opinión en el que, a raíz de la detención y condena de mi amiga por las autoridades de la isla, evocaba su carrera médica y luchas políticas contra la dictadura de Batista y a favor del Movimiento del 26 de Julio encabezado por Fidel Castro. Delegada de su país en la Unesco con rango de ministra consejera, realizó una magnífica labor de acercamiento entre los escritores, artistas e intelectuales franceses y la Revolución.…  Seguir leyendo »

No es la primera vez que considero la desvirtuación de la moción de censura, uno de los instrumentos principales de los sistemas parlamentarios, convertida improcedentemente en moción de venganza. En el otoño de 1987 se produjo, ante el asombro de los conocedores de la democracia parlamentaria, la reacción de Alianza Popular en Madrid, y en otros lugares de España, lanzando por doquier mociones de censura con el fin de vengarse de la caída de un compañero de la presidencia de la Xunta de Galicia. El sorprendente fenómeno se ha repetido ahora bajo la forma de presentación de mociones de censura sobre gestiones políticas apenas iniciadas.…  Seguir leyendo »

The era of liberal interventionism in international affairs is over. Invading Iraq was always in part an oil grab. A strategic objective of the Bush administration was control of Iraqi oil, which forms a key portion of the Gulf reserves that are the lifeblood of global capitalism. Yet success in this exercise in geopolitics depended on stability after Saddam was gone, and here American thinking was befogged by illusions. Both the neoconservatives who launched the war and the many liberals who endorsed it in the US and Britain took it for granted that Iraq would remain intact.

As could be foreseen by anyone with a smattering of history, things have not turned out that way.…  Seguir leyendo »

In one short statement to parliament last week the defence secretary, Des Browne, broke the promises of two prime ministers, potentially misled the house, helped bury an international treaty and dragged Britain into a new cold war. Pretty good going for three stodgy paragraphs.You probably missed it, but it's not your fault. In the 48 hours before parliament broke up for the summer, the government made 46 policy announcements. It's a long-standing British tradition: as the MPs and lobby correspondents are packing their bags for the long summer break (they don't return until October), the government rattles out a series of important decisions that cannot be debated.…  Seguir leyendo »

The National Intelligence Estimate released July 17 put the problem plainly enough: Al-Qaeda has "regenerated key elements of its Homeland attack capability" using a new haven in the lawless frontier area of northwest Pakistan known as Waziristan.

The question is: What is the United States going to do about it?

For those who might have forgotten in the six years since Sept. 11, 2001, what a reconstituted al-Qaeda could do, the intelligence analysts explained that the terrorist group has "the goal of producing mass casualties, visually dramatic destruction, significant economic aftershocks and/or fear among the U.S. population." The analysts noted that al-Qaeda continues to seek biological, radiological and nuclear weapons "and would not hesitate to use them."…  Seguir leyendo »

To Westerners, the repatriation of five nurses and a doctor to Bulgaria last week after more than eight years’ imprisonment meant the end of an unsettling ordeal. The medical workers, who in May 2004 were sentenced to death on charges of intentionally infecting hundreds of Libyan children with H.I.V., have been freed, and another international incident is averted.

But to many Africans, the accusations, which have been validated by a guilty verdict and a promise to reimburse the families of the infected children with a $426 million payout, seem perfectly plausible. The medical workers’ release appears to be the latest episode in a health care nightmare in which white and Western-trained doctors and nurses have harmed Africans — and have gone unpunished.…  Seguir leyendo »

Sixty years ago this month, writing under the byline of X, George Kennan supposedly laid out America’s cold war foreign policy. Kennan’s essay is often said to be the most influential article in the history of this country’s foreign policy, but neither Harry Truman, nor any president after him, actually followed X’s recommendations. “Containment,” the word the essay introduced, was applied in a bellicose way that Kennan didn’t intend.

But while Truman dodged X’s advice, George W. Bush should follow it. Kennan was wrong about how we would win the cold war, but right about how to fight the war on terrorism.…  Seguir leyendo »