EEUU (Continuación)

MundoAmérica, , ,

I am a carboholic. As Americans, we are all carboholics, but I am more so than most. The company I run, NRG Energy, emits more than 64 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere each year -- more than the total man-made greenhouse gas emissions of Norway.

And we are only the 10th-largest American power generation company. Imagine the CO2emissions of Nos. 1 through 9.

Why do we do it? Why does America's power industry emit such a stunning amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in this age of climate change?

We do so because CO2emissions are free.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica,

Here's an inconvenient truth. Even with his Nobel peace prize, even with his Oscar and his Emmy, even with his undying status as the martyr of the 2000 election, Al Gore is not going to be the Democratic nominee for the White House in 2008, and is not going to be the next president of the United States either.To suppose that Nobel laureate Gore might now become these things is a fun reflex. It is seductive, understandable in its way and mostly well-meant. But it is also fantasy politics. Liberals are particularly susceptible to the fantasy, not least for the epic symmetry of Gore finally ousting George Bush.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaEspañaMemoria Histórica

La reciente visita a Jamestown (Virginia) de la reina Isabel de Inglaterra fue acompañada por una ráfaga de artículos acerca de la fundación de Estados Unidos por anglosajones. Estos relatos establecen con exactitud que Jamestown fue el primer asentamiento inglés permanente, pero yerran cuando consideran a Jamestown el primer asentamiento colonial europeo en Norteamérica.

La edición de la revista Time del 7 de mayo tenía como titular de portada 'Norteamérica, 400 años. Cómo la colonia de Jamestown nos ha hecho lo que somos'. En su interior, el artículo estelar, de Richard Brookhiser, llevaba por título 'Una mirada en profundidad al lugar donde nuestra nación empezó a tomar forma'.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica,

A month after voters last year gave Democrats the control that would elevate Nancy Pelosi to speaker of the House, Pelosi received a letter from a trial lawyer in Santa Ana, Calif., named Daniel J. Callahan. "We look forward," he wrote, "to the New Direction of America, and to your dedication to putting an end to the fleecing of the American taxpayers and death to its citizens in the name of war profiteers such as Blackwater." That plea was answered last week with House hearings.

Callahan did not disguise his political orientation, requesting a full-scale investigation of an "extremely Republican" company: Blackwater Security Consulting, which provides security guards in Iraq.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica

"Why do they hate us?" Much ink has been spilled over the past six years in attempts to answer that question. By contrast, not enough attention has been paid to what is, in some ways, a more perplexing conundrum: Why don't they like us as much as they used to?

"They" in this latter question are our very, very closest allies. By this I don't mean France, or even Canada, democracies that are part of the Western alliance but that have never particularly warmed to the idea of American leadership, whether political or cultural. The French have always been huffy about NATO, and downright nasty about Hollywood; the Canadians have actually formed their national identity around being "not-Americans."…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaEspañaMemoria Histórica

De acuerdo con ciertas encuestas, la cota de popularidad de Estados Unidos en España es de las más bajas que se registran entre las naciones europeas. Y por lo que respecta a aquel país, aunque no existan encuestas recíprocas sobre la imagen de España, lo cierto es que muchos ciudadanos siguen confundiendo a nuestro país con alguna pequeña república caribeña. Pensando que la relación entre ambas naciones ha tenido muchos altibajos -y quizás en estos momentos nos encontramos en uno de los bajos-, resulta curioso que ni en EEUU ni en España nos hayamos preocupado por divulgar el hecho más positivo de nuestra Historia común: la ayuda del Gobierno de Carlos III a las colonias rebeldes, que fue un factor decisivo para ganar su guerra contra Inglaterra y convertirse en un nuevo Estado.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica,

The miscarriage of justice at Jena, La. — where five black high school students arrested for beating a white student were charged with attempted murder — and the resulting protest march tempts us to the view, expressed by several of the marchers, that not much has changed in traditional American racial relations. However, a remarkable series of high-profile incidents occurring elsewhere in the nation at about the same time, as well as the underlying reason for the demonstrations themselves, make it clear that the Jena case is hardly a throwback to the 1960s, but instead speaks to issues that are very much of our times.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica

Desde hace ya un tiempo se vienen publicando, en este y en otros diarios nacionales e internacionales, toda una serie de análisis y opiniones sobre lo que podíamos llamar el incipiente declive de la hegemonía norteamericana. Autores como David M. Walker comparan, por ejemplo, la situación que se vive actualmente en Estados Unidos con la que se vivía en el Imperio Romano en los inicios de la crisis que lo conduciría a su desaparición. Otros, como Timothy Garton Ash, nos hablan de la "esfera interna" de la política estadounidense y de sus prácticas. Este autor denuncia, por ejemplo, que el sistema político norteamericano está concebido de manera tal que el presidente de EE UU tan sólo puede dedicarse plenamente a la tarea de gobernar uno de los cuatro años de su mandato.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica,

The case of the so-called Jena Six has fired the imaginations of thousands, notably young African-Americans who, according to many of their comments, believe they will be in the vanguard of a new civil rights movement. Whether America needs a new civil rights movement I leave to social activists, politicians and the people who must give life to such a cause.

I am a small-town lawyer and prosecutor. For 16 years, it has been my job as the district attorney to review each criminal case brought to me by the police department or the sheriff, match the facts to any applicable laws and seek justice for those who have been harmed.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaEspañaMemoria Histórica

Como países que en diferentes momentos de la historia hemos tenido que superar graves desencuentros, resulta curioso que ni en los Estados Unidos ni en España nos hayamos molestado en destacar un episodio fundamental de la historia compartida: la importante contribución española a la guerra de Independencia que permitió el nacimiento del nuevo estado.
En Estados Unidos se ha recordado sobre todo el apoyo francés a los rebeldes y, en la mayoría de los libros de historia, se cita nuestra participación en el conflicto como una consecuencia casi accidental del pacto entre las dinastías borbónicas. Sin embargo, como en su momento reconocieron los fundadores de la nueva república, sin el apoyo diplomático, la generosa ayuda financiera y la acción militar de la Corona española, seguramente no hubiese podido triunfar la causa de la independencia americana.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaInternacionalOrden Mundial

Estados Unidos está hoy paralizado por el problema que se ha creado a sí mismo en Irak, pero los candidatos presidenciales empiezan a preguntarse qué principios deben guiar la política exterior norteamericana a partir de ahora. En mi opinión, centrarse en la obtención de bienes públicos universales -unos bienes que todo el mundo puede consumir sin impedir que otros dispongan de ellos- podría ayudar a EE UU a conciliar su hegemonía con los intereses de los demás.

Evidentemente, los bienes públicos puros son escasos. La mayoría se aproxima sólo en parte al caso ideal del aire limpio, algo de lo que nadie puede quedar excluido y todos pueden beneficiarse al mismo tiempo.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaMundoOriente Próximo, ,

The Central Intelligence Agency celebrated its 60th birthday last week, its public standing seemingly at an all-time low. The agency is viewed as having gotten it wrong on Iraq and nearly everything else over its six decades of unlovableness.

A new book that purports to be a history of the CIA, "Legacy of Ashes," argues that it is indeed a nearly unbroken chain of error. The United States "has failed to create a first-rate spy service," writes Tim Weiner. "We are back where we began six decades ago, in a state of disarray."

In some respects, the agency is as messed up as its critics contend.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaInternacionalOrden Mundial

U.S. foreign policy resembles cartoonist Saul Steinberg's celebrated cover for the New Yorker where the world begins and almost immediately ends on Ninth Avenue, New Jersey looms in the near background, and Asia hovers as a microscopic dot on a distant horizon.

Iraq is Ninth Avenue for the Bush administration, draining energy and focus away from every other part of the world. You can understand why. George W. Bush has staked his presidency on the war there.

But most of the Republicans and Democrats out to replace Bush frame their worldviews through the Iraq prism as well. They make the same points again and again without advancing public understanding of what they intend to do about Iraq -- or much else -- if they win.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaReflexionesSocial,

Something about the case of the "Jena 6" has sparked a rumbling within the black community. It's ironic, sadly, because there is an everyday sameness to what has happened. Consider: A racially provoked incident and a lackluster community response -- same as ever. Extreme charges brought for less-than-spectacular alleged crimes -- same as ever. An overzealous prosecutor, an inept defense attorney, an all-white jury, witnesses not called, a quick guilty verdict -- same, same, same. Unfortunately, any of these elements is less than extraordinary in black American life.

Why do the Jena 6 resonate? How have they pierced the desensitizing barriers that black Americans use for everyday survival?…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaReflexionesSocial,

How did thousands of African Americans come to descend on the town of Jena, La., yesterday for a march and rally that brought to mind the heady days of the civil rights movement? The answer says as much about what has changed over the past half-century as it says about what hasn't.

Most people know the outlines of the story by now, but here's a synopsis: Black students at the local high school sat under a tree that everyone knew was a place where white students usually congregated. White students reacted by hanging three nooses in the tree. Racial tensions escalated from there, including fights in which both black and white students got roughed up, but no one was seriously injured.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaEuropaUnión Europea,

What are the bugles blowin’ for?” asks the soldier in Rudyard Kipling’s haunting poem. In Iraq the other day they were sounding the retreat, as the British Army departed the city of Basra amid mutual recriminations. Gen. Jack Keane, the retired vice chief of staff of the United States Army, says that the Brits messed up, while Gen. Sir Mike Jackson argues that Donald Rumsfeld’s entire plan was “intellectually bankrupt.” Then last week, Senator John Kerry sarcastically asked Gen. David Petraeus if the British had done the right thing, in which case maybe America should follow suit.

Although General Petraeus himself predictably and properly said in London yesterday that he was proud of his British allies, President Bush says he has no intention of withdrawing from Iraq any time soon.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaReflexionesSocial,

The four-hour drive from New Orleans to Jena takes you over long bridges, across still bayoux and deep into the remote backwoods of Louisiana. It's a journey that starts in the city that has become a byword for racial division and infrastructural neglect, following Hurricane Katrina. It then heads north-west through Opelousas where, as in so much of the south, people are literally segregated to death. There are two Catholic churches in the centre of town - Holy Ghost, for African Americans, and St Landry, for whites. In between is the cemetery where, by law and then by custom, blacks and whites have been buried according to their race - separate and finally equal, if only in the afterlife.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica,

La reciente celebración de la fiesta Labor Day (Día del Trabajo) ha inaugurado el periodo electoral en Estados Unidos. Como ha señalado el Washington Post, Labor Day «marca el momento en que el ritmo se acelera y las apuestas aumentan». Este año, la precampaña cobra un especial significado, porque conduce a la selección de candidatos que rivalizarán para reemplazar al presidente saliente, George W. Bush.

Lógicamente, todas las miradas están puestas en las elecciones de 2008. Las de EEUU no son las únicas que pueden cambiar el clima político del mundo occidental, ya que el Reino Unido también va a celebrar elecciones generales la próxima primavera.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica

The ethnic origins of General David Petraeus are apparently Dutch, which is a shame because there’s something sonorously classical about the family name of the commander of the US forces in Iraq. When you discover that his father was christened Sixtus, the fantasy really takes flight. Somewhere in the recesses of the brain, where memory mingles hazily with imagination, I fancy I can recall toiling through a schoolboy Latin textbook that documented the progress of one Petraeus Sixtus as he triumphantly extended the imperium romanum across some dusty plain in Asia Minor.

The fantasy is not wholly inapt, of course. General Petraeus was the star turn in Washington this week, testifying before Congress about the progress of the surge by US forces in Iraq.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaMundoOriente Próximo,

This is another one of those very "serious" weeks in Washington, when we put aside matters like senators skulking about in men's rooms and turn our attention to the life-and-death questions as General David Petraeus testifies to Congress on the progress of the surge in Iraq. Our concern here is not the testimony itself, since it's been obvious for some time that Petraeus will say that the surge is showing sufficient signs of success for Congress to continue funding the war.

Cynosure though he will be today, Petraeus in fact has only a limited role to play in seeing to it that the US continue its mad engagement.…  Seguir leyendo »