Laos: the forgotten war

Abstract

In June 1968, Jacques Decornoy, reporting for Le Monde, was permitted entry into the Pathet Lao zones of eastern Laos. Decornoy's account of his experiences there, although already two years old, remains a classic statement on the horrors of the “forgotten war,” and one of the most insightful presentations of the political program of the Pathet Lao. With Mr. Decornoy's permission, we are reprinting his articles which appeared in Le Monde on July 3 through 7-8, 1968.—C.F.     

Seychelles: Democratising in the shadows of the past

This article is an assessment of the country's governance and the likelihood that the country can break free from the shadow of former President René and his one-party state. The paper examines eight key areas of democratic governance: the constitution and rule of law; the judiciary; the National Assembly; elections; civil society; the internal security forces; economic life; and the executive. Although it finds some changes for the better over the last few years, old habits remain of a politicised judiciary, a blurring of the boundaries between party and state, regime policing, partisan distribution of state benefits and a constrained National Assembly. It concludes with a discussion of the likely role of the former incumbent, given that he still retains the chair of the ruling party and shows little sign of allowing the new President to be his own man. The likelihood of further governance progress for Seychelles depends on the political courage of President Michel.     

Incredible India: the inconvenient truth

The author's objective is to correct many of the misconceptions about India and to combat mistaken analysis. He highlights the hundreds of millions who live in poverty, the rampant corruption and the incompetence of the administration. He asserts that comparisons with China are always to the disadvantage of India, except in the field of democracy, and suggests that the Indian Space Programme is symptomatic of a wide-spread misallocation of resources. And to suggest that the traffic problems in Delhi and Mumbai are being caused by more motor vehicles is a misdiagnosis. The real cause is an increase in the number of bullock carts.     

Rewriting the African diaspora: Beyond the Black Atlantic

This essay argues that despite the growing popularity of diasporastudies, our understanding of the African diaspora remains limitedby both the conceptual difficulties of defining what we meanby the diaspora in general, and the African diaspora in particular,and the analytical tendency to privilege the Atlantic, or ratherthe Anglophone, indeed the American branch of the African diaspora.It begins by trying to explore the various conceptions of theAfrican diaspora, foregrounded by a critique of Paul Gilroy'sinfluential text, The Black Atlantic. This is followed by discussionsof what the author considers to be the four dominant dimensionsof the global African diasporas, namely, the intra-Africa, IndianOcean, Mediterranean, and Atlantic diasporas. Finally, the essayexamines the emergence of the new global African diasporas.     

Communications: Exchange on the Philippines

Abstract

In the December 1973 issue you printed an article by Ms. Luzviminda Francisco in which she attempted to sketch in the “nature of America's policy of aggression, the depth of popular mass resistance to the American forces and the duration of the struggle….” (p. 3) in order to move against “Filipino false consciousness” (p. 2) of the American connection in the history of the Philippines. It is a brief survey and rather well done, although one may quibble about the relationship of excesses (what a tame word compared to the record she presents!) of war and the nature of imperialism as well as implying that there was a “nation,” a “Philippine society,” or a “national struggle” (p. 3) before the late 19th century, at the earliest.     

澳门:"东方迈阿密"--论构建一个文明对话与国际交流的平台

澳门是一个历史悠久的国际贸易枢纽,也是东西方文明交汇之地.回归祖国后的澳门,正面临着中国内地加快推进现代化和加速融入全球化的重大发展机遇.澳门最突出的比较优势,就是拥有多元文化的丰厚历史积淀和自由港的基本制度安排,这是澳门参与全球化竞争与合作的两张"王牌".充分发挥这两大优势,澳门就能够成为中国面向葡语国家和拉丁语系国家的开放门户,成为"东方迈阿密",成为一个全球化时代的文明对话与国际交流平台.