30 July2012 No 31 ISSN 1664-7963

Current Concerns PO Box CH-8044 Zurich Current Concerns Switzerland The international journal for independent thought, ethical standards, moral responsibility, Phone: +41 44 350 65 50 Fax: +41 44 350 65 51 and for the promotion and respect of public international law, human rights and humanitarian law

E-Mail: [email protected] Website: www.currentconcerns.ch English Edition of Zeit-Fragen

The aim remains: swords to plow-shares An urgent about-turn* by Fredrik S. Heffermehl** The meeting hall at the Nobel Peace Cent- never spent much time brooding over how er was packed with people, listening to to make his job superfluous. ForUM (Forum for Environment and De- velopment) launching a political report The military, on moral dilemmas in Norwegian foreign defending itself or the nation? policy, not least between arms exports and What has happened to Nobel’s prize is not peacemaking. When one of the four pan- unique. It seems to be a law of nature that elists, in a senior military position, defend- anything and anyone who has the temeri- ed the burgeoning arms exports of Norway ty to challenge the military is heading for – the “Peace Nation” – I felt I had to con- defeat. Even institutions have survival in- front him, saying that the military was sell- stincts and vested interests will vigorous- ing an illusion of security at an exorbitant ly resist any attempt to free the world from price, placing the continuation of life on the yoke of militarism. The decay of the earth in constant jeopardy. Given the un- Peace Prize seems to be just one of many ceasing research and development into new examples. weaponry and continuous military plan- Daniel Ellsberg is the man who helped ning, did he ever spend time thinking how to end the Vietnam War and the Nixon to break the pattern? His stuttering reply presidency by publishing secret Pentagon was, “Er, that would presuppose a wholly papers. His important contribution, for ex- different approach, such as strengthening ample, in the book “Secrets” (2003), is to the UN, developing international treaties, show how defenseless American democra- and a new international order with en- cy is when a much too powerful military forcement of laws […] much like we have sector, shielded by secrecy, is not loyal to within each single nation.” I replied, “Ex- the interests of the American people. ISBN 978-0-313-38744-9 actly – and since we are gathered here at Having been informed of my Nobel The ground-breaking book by Fre- the Nobel Peace Center, I would like to re- discoveries, Ellsberg mentioned that a par- drik S. Heffermehl is a standard mind you that that is precisely the idea be- allel development might have happened to work, which should be applied by hind the Peace Prize that Nobel established the Carnegie Endowment for Internation- citizens’ forums, and in particular by 115 years ago.” But it was clear that he had al Peace, established at the same time and schools, in order to lay an ethic foun- having an original statement of purpose dation in accordance with interna- 1 * Final chapter of Fredrik S. Heffermehl “The similar to that of the Nobel Peace Prize. tional law as to the question of war Nobel Peace Prize. What Nobel Really Wanted.” Much the same can be said of peace re- and peace. The original book in Eng- Santa Barbara, California, 2010. P. 183–190. search, which in its infancy had ambitious ISBN 978-0-313-38744-9. lish has been translated into Chinese, (e-book: ISBN 978-0-3313-38745-6) plans to discover ways to undo militarism Finnish, Swedish, with Russian and ** Fredrik Stang Heffermehl is a Norwegian jurist. and create a better world. Now it is often Spanish forthcoming.It is also cru- He holds multiple law degrees and is an editor of trapped by the need for funding sponsors cial to find publishers for its transla- several books. He takes a stand for peace in differ- such as the ministries of defense and of tion into German, French and other ent organisations. Among others, he became vice president of the “International Association of Law- foreign affairs, and chooses its topics ac- important languages. yers against Nuclear Arms” and he was vice presi- www.nobelwill.org dent of the “International Peace Bureau”. continued on page 2

The rebels and their supporters have lost the masks: terrorists instead of human rights activists ga. On 18 July a bomb attack occured suicide bomber. The next claim was that sur la Méditerranée et le Moyen-Orient at headquarters in Damascus hitting the the attack had been carried out by a de- (Gremmo), the required logistics hint at Syrian military leadership with great lo- posited bomb, then by a missile. These the fact that external parties have perpe- gistical assistance. The Secretary of De- contradicitions show that the publishing trated the attack. The attack reminds one fense, Assad’s brother in law and a gener- “human rights activists” do not know at of that against Rafik Hariri, only then al were killed, Assad’s brother was badly all how the crime was committed. Most less explosive had been used. wounded. The rebels fighting in Syria likely they are not the performers. Ac- pretending to be “human rights activists” cording to Fabrice Balanche, director claim to have carried out the attack by a of the Groupe de recherche et d’études continued on page 2 No 31 30 July 2012 Current Concerns Page 2

”The rebels and their supporters …” Hezbollahs have been seen.” This Freud- Syria Plan: continued from page 1 ian slip reveals the justification for the war! Russia and Iran support Annan On the same day eight Israeli tourists Too late the Lebanese government be- Foreign Minister Sergey Lawrow gave were killed by a bomb attack in Bulgaria. gins considering to put the cross-border a press conference before his meeting It is the 18th anniversary of the attack on region north of Tripoli under the com- with Annan, at which he stressed that the Jewish center with 85 deaths in Buenos mand of the Lebanese Army again. A “unbiased eyes and ears” were needed in Syria to make the world understand Aires. Immediately accusations against strange coalition of Christian-Sunni/ what was actually happening there. Iran were heard from Zionist circles. The Salafist in the North is apparently respon- Russia’s chief diplomat pointed to the Israeli, however, ought to know better that sible for the current incapacit to act. This recent massacre in the village Tremseh, the Sunni Palestinians / Salafists have got coalition has neither a majority in parlia- where government troops and rebels open accounts with Israel. How long is the ment, nor in the Christian community in accused each other again to be respon- world going to be deceived? When will the Lebanon. sible for the massacre. Moscow demands the greatest pos- assassins actually swarm? Elections in the small region “Ami- sible sincerity in all aspects of the cri- oun” south of Tripoli confirm the local sis, and is doing its best to ensure that A week ago majorities. The Forces Libanaises the situation is as transparent as possi- A shock to the population in northern (Christian) are ahead of the supporters of ble and understandable for all. Lebanon: grenades from Syria hit the Syria. On closer inspection of Lawrow’s road connections to nearby Homs, which Scientists have succeeded in organiz- statement before Annan’s talks in Mos- cow the conclusion can be drawn that is a center of the “human rights activists” ing discussion groups, in which the con- the situation in Syria may obviously still fighting in Syria. First you hear: “The fessions talk openly about peacekeeping be saved. Syrians have always been violent”, next: projects Annan’s peace plan (pressure on “transports of weapons for the rebels in – Establishing a free trade zone Litani both sides of the conflict, negotiations Homs have been targeted. The Western South. between government and opposition, media do not report anything about the – Water supply of Lebanese untapped withdrawal of the troops from cities in- cluding heavy military equipment, etc.) is weapons smuggling, but they modified sources from Palestine/Israel (water certainly achievable. Other plans for the their reporting: the perpetrators of the sale) solution of the crisis are not available. massacres could not be named. As a sub- – Improvement of energy supply by natu- Source: RIA Novosti, 07.18.2012 ordinate clause we learn: “Iranians and ral forces (reducing dependence). •

”The aim remains: …” est hesitation in allegiance to NATO and icy, with less well-known peace laureates continued from page 1 a strong military defense. In earlier times at the center of attention, Nobel’s Peace this party was probably the only one in Prize will lose some of its glamour. Yet, I cordingly. The development of the Inter- Parliament that could have been counted believe the prize will gain in significance national Peace Research Institute of Oslo on to stand up to defend Nobel and the and content – and, after all, it was Nobel (PRIO) is a case in point. The PRIO which intention of the Peace Prize. Now there who chose to what and to whom he wished turned 50 in 2009 is quite far from mak- was not one word of support from the for- to give his prize. In addition, it should be ing the difference that Johan Galtung and mer “peace party” or any other party in the cause for reflection if a prize challenging fellow founders once dreamed of. A PRIO Storting at any stage in my work to restore the military proves to be of less interest to insider, not wishing to be named, had this Nobel’s prize for the champions of peace. the world’s political elites and media. to say: “Everyone talks about funding pos- When finally there was a sign of visi- The whole field of military “defense” is sibilities, more than about what they wish ble interest in the Peace Prize from peo- in deep conflict with democratic govern- to achieve with their research – and it is ple in Stortinget, it was for not being in- ance. Consider two Norwegian examples not just Norway, but much the same eve- vited to the 10 December 2009, banquet of a universal problem. In 1998, Defense rywhere.” An indication of PRIO’s de- in celebration of Obama: “I note that this Minister Dag Jostein Fjasrevoll addressed cline was that one of the many who pub- has become a dinner for sponsors where Parliament on Norway’s future role in the licly praised the Obama Nobel speech was information directors in private corpora- March 1999 attack on Serbia. The minis- the head of the politics and ethics program tions are preferred to the presidents of par- ter said Norway would follow standard of- at PRIO, Henrik Syse. In a full-page news- liament,” Per-Kristian Foss, one vice pres- ficial policy not to take any part in any op- paper article, “War is defensible,” he dis- ident of Stortinget said to Norway’s main eration lacking UN authorization. In fact, cussed the Christian Just War tradition business journal, Dagens Nteringsliv.4 the cabinet – in a secret resolution two – completely ignoring two centuries of I remember a friendship in the 1980s months earlier – had committed Norwe- development of international law and the with Jiri Dienstbier and other Czechs gian air forces to the attack, a decision that ban on war in Article 2.4 of the UN Char- in Charter 77 [dissidents invoking Hel- violated Norway’s constitution.5 Similarly, ter.2 sinki accords on political rights]. As the for lack of UN authorization, Norway did For 50 years Norway had a politi- first post-Communism foreign minister, not take part in the attack on Iraq in March cal party trying to get the country out of Dienst­bier voiced big plans for reducing 2003 – officially. In a clandestine move. NATO and to find ways to create a more arms production … and we know where Defense Minister Kristin Krohn Devold just, peaceful, and less armed world. Since those hopes ended. The same goes for Nel- supplied essential radar equipment (the 2005 this party in its present form, the So- son Mandela – in the early days after he “Arthur” missile tracer) to the British for cialist Left Party (SV), is part of a coalition came to power in South Africa, I read a the illegal attack.6 cabinet dominated by the Labor Party. In news story in which he declared that the In “Peace Is Possible” (2000), I men- February 2010, a party spokesperson de- country’s military production must be cut tioned the response of the German Kai- fended Norway’s record levels of arms ex- and the social needs of his people met. ser Wilhelm II when he was invited to the ports. The party’s road to power required Other interests soon proved too strong for 1899 Hague Peace Conference: “Imagine dropping the original purpose.3 Today, it even so forceful a politician as he. a monarch, holding personal command of has been broken in through bullying in I am sure many people will fear that the media every time it shows the slight- if the committee embarks on a new pol- continued on page 3 No 31 30 July 2012 Current Concerns Page 3

Swedish supervisory authority for foundations has taken up Heffermehl’s criticism of Nobel Peace Prize award process ef. After Fredrik S. Heffermehl had pub- the board reminds in detail of the pro- Furthermore, the CAB rejected the lished the results of a thorough exami- cess that must be kept with the award- Norwegian Nobel Committee’s claim nation of the content of Alfred Nobel’s ing of the Nobel Prizes and also criticiz- that it was “independent” in its deci- testament in his 2010 book “The Nobel es the present self-conception of the sions and did not have to accept any in- Peace Prize”, the Country Administrative Nobel Committee that is responsible for structions from anybody: “Both Norwe- Board in Stockholm (this is the supervi- the awarding process of the Nobel Peace gian Nobel Bodies, the Parliament and sory authority of all foundations of the Prize. the Nobel Committee, are under the su- country) requested the Swedish Nobel During a meeting of Fredrik S. Hef- perior supervision of the board of the Foundation on 30 January 2012 to clar- fermehl with a representative of the Nobel Foundation.” ify the question, whether the will of the Swedish supervisory authority for foun- The supervisory authority for founda- prize sponsor Alfred Nobel has been dis- dations on 22 March, one day after the tions instructed the Nobel Committee to torted by the Nobel Peace Prize award decision of the state’s administration, apply the selection criteria determined process. Furthermore, the foundation the former explained again verbally the and intended by Nobel laid down in his has been requested to reexamine the decision of the supervisory authority. will and not their own ideas of peace: “It awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize in On 26 March Fredrik S. Heffer­mehl seems to be reasonable that the board the last 110 years and to establish more wrote a letter to the director of the of the Nobel Foundation signals its will transparency in the selection process. Fi- Nobel Foundation and thus published as early as possible that they want to nally the present members of the Nobel a summary of that oral explanation au- fulfill the necessary requirements of the Committee have been asked to give the thorized by the supervisory authority for authority by clarifying that ‘peace’ and parliament in Oslo “a free hand” in ree- foundations. According to this the Coun- ‘peace work’ are not the relevant fun- lecting “a venerable committee”. (cf. the try Administrative Board (CAB) had in- dament to determine what Nobel in- book review of Dieter Deiseroth, Current deed rejected his, Heffermehl’s, submis- tended. The key word is ‘advocate for Concerns, No 27, of 2 July 2012) sion, but had combined this rejection peace’ (fredsförfäktare), an expression On 8 March 2012 the Nobel Founda- with substantial criticism on the work of that can currently only be found in the tion has given its view on that. The text the Nobel Committee: “While no state- declaration of intention, but not in the of this statement is not available. ments about mistakes whatsoever in the statutes.” In its reaction and decision of past have been expressed the adminis- Fredrik S. Heffermehl writes that the 21 March 2012 the Country Adminis- tration signaled that a fundamental re- supervisory authority for foundations trative Board in Stockholm has indeed vision of the work routine within the has thus taken up his research work and abstained from taking further steps Nobel Foundation would be necessary has contributed to a clarification of the against the Nobel Foundation. But in its to ensure that future Nobel Prizes com- scales for the future awarding of the declaration, which is publicly available, ply with Alfred Nobel’s will.” Nobel Peace Prize.

”The aim remains: …” the military aborted the Gorbachev-Rea- that reality – a solid obstacle to change? continued from page 2 gan deal on nuclear disarmament that al- In his Nobel speech for Frank Kellogg, in most resulted from their Reykjavik Sum- 1929, Johan Ludwig Mowinckel formulat- his army, disbanding his regiments, sa- mit in 1986 is probably the most searing ed a most urgent moral and practical chal- cred with a hundred years of history – and example ever. Seymour Melman, in his lenge: handing his towns over to anarchists and book “Pentagon Capitalism” (1970), ex- “We must bring people to understand democrats!”7 plains how efforts to end the Vietnam War that it is not enough to proclaim war to be The secret services operate as a “state by a negotiated settlement again and again a crime, but that it is necessary for all to within the state,” violating laws at home were frustrated by the actions of a mili- recognize with every sense and emotion and abroad – in striking contradiction tary wishing to show the value of military that the murder of hundreds of thousands to the elegance and respect on the sur- operations applied with skill. According of human beings to settle an internation- face of diplomatic relations. The military to Melman, “It is difficult to discover the al dispute is no more justifiable, no more often controls parliaments, presidents, limits beyond which these men are not pardonable than the murder of a single in- and prime ministers, instead of being con- prepared to go.”9 dividual to settle some personal quarrel.” trolled by them. Secrecy serves to obstruct Princeton professor Richard Falk has legitimate debate and criticism, the quin- Countering the military pointed out the absurd incongruity be- tessential core of democracy. That power as a threat to us all tween our absolute moral and human re- unexposed to public scrutiny runs a high If it is true that the military is unable to jection of the use of torture against indi- risk of being misused applies everywhere, deliver anything but an extremely decep- viduals, on the one hand, and the wide whether it is military leaders or the Nobel tive, costly and risky illusion of security, acceptance of torture of whole nations in committee. A question appears warranted: where are the media and the academic re- war, on the other. “The Kaiser is dead, long ago, but has de- searchers that relentlessly, systematically, Unfortunately, the Nobel commit- mocracy ever gained control of the mili- over time, lay bare the political role of the tees have lacked the innovative and vi- tary sector?”8 military as a menace to the real security sionary mindset that Nobel must have The nations and citizens of the world of the nation and the well-being of its citi- hoped for. Where, for instance, are the are kept in thrall to an irrational, asocial, zens? How many investigators are digging Nobel Peace Prizes for William Hartung dysfunctional tradition. Too many make into the costs, the risks, and the deceptive- and his Arms Trade Resource Center, or their living from continuing the pattern ness of military activity – and pushing the other campaigns against the arms industry and will strike back at any threat—as the need for a better-organized world? The and trade such as the British or European U.S. military did when the prospect of a problem goes beyond broadcast news de- campaigns against arms trade (CAAT and peace dividend appealed to many at the pending on commercials; it is about deep ENAAT)? Or, what about the Campaign end of the Cold War. The enemy is within, attitudes. Are not the print media – ambi- for Nuclear Disarmament? The Interna- and there are innumerable accounts of the tious to show “the world as it is” but rare- military as an antisocial agent. The way ly mentioning voices for change as part of continued on page 4 No 31 30 July 2012 Current Concerns Page 4

”The aim remains: …” Global Peace? Bruce Gagnon and his committee.”11 In one way or another, they continued from page 3 Web site space4 peace.org? are all working in opposition to the mili- And what about the people working for tary tradition, the power and violence ap- tional Association of Lawyers against Nu- government intelligence, in cabinets and proach to security. Not that all of them clear Arms? The Citizens Action for Nu- the diplomatic service, who try to throw are qualified for the Peace Prize – sever- clear Disarmament (ACDN)? Movement sand in the war machine as it gears up for al of those struggling to abolish particular for the Abolition of War? The Women’s new adventures, such as Americans Scott weapons (nuclear, landmines, and cluster League and their www.reaching critical- Ritter, Dan Ellsberg, and John Brady Kies- munitions) do not actively seek the gener- will.org Web site? The School of Nonkill- ling; in Denmark, Frank Grevil; in Brit- al and complete disarmament that Nobel’s ing Studies? The Cluster Munitions Coa- ain, Clare Short and Katharine Gun; in prize presupposes. The fact remains, how- lition? The International Peace Bureau (in the UN service, Frank Halliday and Hans ever, that this is the political landscape the 2010, 100 years have passed since its first von Sponeck; and in Israel, Mordechai Va- committee members must move in to find Nobel)? The Middle Powers Initiative? nunu? Even if not all these whistleblowers Nobel’s change-makers, the champions of The Coalition for the International Crim- are supporters of the disarmed world that peace, in the 21st century. inal Court? The Human Dignity and Hu- Nobel had in mind, they would have been Furthermore, the rule reserving the miliation Studies? The Peace Ministries much more relevant than most of those who right to nominate only to groups of peo- campaigns? The Peace Alliance? The ac- have won the Peace Prize in recent years. ple well established in society has been tions for disarmament? The 2020 Vision The Austrian peace educator Werner unfortunate. This provision – which was Campaign? Peace Education campaign- Wintersteiner raised a timely question in not part of Nobel’s directions – has limited ers? Peace researchers (those who have an article on Bertha von Suttner and her the influx of nominations of the most rele- not lost direction)? www.betterworldlinks. emphasis on educating young people for vant candidates. The people Nobel wished org? Transcend? The Transnational Foun- peace: “How can high school students to support early stopped considering this dation? The conflict resolution networks, get to know about peaceful organization prize as theirs. and others in the vanguard of nonviolence of the world, if teachers do not enlighten The Nobel committee and secretary and conflict resolution? All the women them on the topic? Not in a single subject have met my criticism by simply repress- and women’s organizations for peace? is there mention of the idea of peace.”10 ing it, their response bearing resemblance The grandmothers, in black and in white? Maybe, in a world thoroughly bred in more to the business world than to that CODEPINK? Abolition 2000? The Fourth the militaristic mindset, some of the first of peace. First, my reminder of the clear Freedom Forum? World Without War? The new prizes true to Nobel’s purpose should wording of the will and the centrality of World Order Models Project? The Glob- go to those people on all continents who disarmament had no effect. Second, a al Marshall Plan? The military bases have championed for decades the cause whole book proving that the words Nobel campaigns? The Peace Tax campaigns? of peace education, including the Global used must fit his intention precisely had no PeaceJam? The British American Secu- Campaign for Peace Education, Educa- impact. Third, when I told the committee rity Information Council? Scilla Elwor- tors for Peace, Peace Boat, Elise Bould- that they had given the prize “for peace” thy and the Oxford Research Group? The ing, Federico Mayor, Betty Reardon, Cora instead of “for the champions of peace” small arms campaigns? The parliamentar- Weiss, Ghassan Abdullah, Adina Shap- mentioned in Nobel’s will, they kept si- ians, the mayors, the physicians, the law- iro, Amada Benavides, Alicia Cabezudo, lent. Fourth, when shown numerous ex- yers, the engineers and scientists, and the Catherine Hoppers, and Lalita Ramdas. amples that for generations the commit- Hiroshima victims for nuclear disarma- I could go on for days. It would take tee has openly been formulating its own ment? The Bulletin of the Atomic Scien- years to make a comprehensive list and concept of peace, it made the claim to “al- tists? The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation? describe all those forces for change whose The Kuala Lumpur Initiative and Perdana cause has been wronged by the Nobel continued on page 5

Current Concerns The international journal for independent thought, ethical standards, moral responsibility, and for the promotion and respect of public international law, human rights and humanitarian law Subscribe to Current Concerns – The journal of an independent cooperative The cooperative Zeit-Fragen is a politically and financially independent organisation. All of its mem­bers work on a voluntary and honorary basis. The journal does not accept commercial advertisements of any kind and receives no financial support from business organisations. The journal Current Concerns is financed exclusively by its subscribers. We warmly recommend our model of free and independent press coverage to other journals. Annual subscription rate of CHF 40,-; Euro 30,-; USD 40,-; GBP 25,- for the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hongkong, Iceland, Ireland, Is- rael, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Qatar, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Swit- zerland, United Arab ­Emirates, United Kingdom, USA Annual subscription rate of CHF 20,-; Euro 15,-; USD 20,-; GBP 12,50 for all other countries. Please choose one of the following ways of payment: - send a cheque to Current Concerns, P. O. Box, CH-8044 Zurich, or - send us your credit card details (only Visa), or - pay into one of the following accounts: CH: Postscheck-Konto (CHF): 87-644472-4 IBAN CH91 0900 0000 8764 4472 4 BIC POFICHBEXXX CH: Postscheck-Konto (Euro): 91-738798-6 IBAN CH83 0900 0000 9173 8798 6 BIC POFICHBEXXX D: Volksbank Tübingen, Kto. 67 517 005, BLZ 64190110 IBAN DE12 6419 0110 0067 5170 05 BIC GENODES1TUE A: Raiffeisen Landesbank, Kto. 1-05.713.599, BLZ 37000 IBAN AT55 3700 0001 0571 3599 BIC RVVGAT2B No 31 30 July 2012 Current Concerns Page 5

The collapsing US economy and the end of global dominance Europe is on the ropes and has no money with which to subsidize Washington’s wars of hegemony. by Paul Craig Roberts In a recent column, “Can The World Sur- vive Washington’s Hubris,” I promised “Washington is becoming an isolated and despised element of the world to examine whether the US economy will community. Washington has purchased Europe, Canada, Australia, the collapse before Washington in its pursuit former Soviet state of Georgia (and almost Ukraine), and Colombia, and of world hegemony brings us into military continues its effort to purchase the entire world, but sentiment is turn- confrontation with Russia and China. ing against the rising Gestapo state that has shown itself to be lawless, This is likely to be an ongoing subject on ruthless, and indifferent, even hostile, to human life and human rights.” this site, so this column will not be the final word. to order the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a war likelihood of the ongoing violence becom- Washington has been at war since Octo- that went on without significant success ing civil war. ber 2001, when president George W. Bush for 8 years and has left Iraq in chaos with Upon his election, President Obama concocted an excuse to order the US inva- dozens more killed and wounded every foolishly sent more troops to Afghanistan sion of Afghanistan. This war took a back day, a new strong man in place of the ille- seat when Bush concocted another excuse gally executed former strongman, and the continued on page 6

”The aim remains: …” tary and commercial bargaining power, at the bylaws, the Nobel Institute is supposed to be fi- continued from page 4 nancially independent, but it tells a lot about a Peace the same time attracting an influx of people Prize in the hands of commercial interests when the from countries deprived of those same fun- Parliament to whom Nobel entrusted the prize is ways” have followed Nobel’s will. Para- damentals for their own prosperity. When pushed aside to give room for the corporate elite. doxically, such undignified methods of immigrants see their new countries hitting 5 Garbo, 2008. 6 Borgen, 2009, p. 134; Borgen, “A small piece of discussion become possible only by the and maiming relatives in the villages they Norway,” 2006. secrecy rules originally meant to preserve came from – an aunt, a parent, a nephew, a 7 Heffermehl, 2000, p. 12. dignity and respect for the prize. mullah – with air strikes, their loyalty to the 8 Ibid., p. 13. The committee pretends to be meeting new country is tested. 9 Melman, 1970, pp. 151 – 152, refers to Kraslow & 21st-century peace issues better than if it The intermingling in western capitals Loory, 1968. 10 Friede-Fortschritt-Frauen, 2005, p. 117. had shown respect to Nobel. If that is what of people from around the world limits 11 Some information is found in International Peace it does, it should stop denying that it is for- what nations can do; a bad foreign policy Bureau (IPB) publications. See Archer, 2006; Hef- mulating its own prize. Furthermore, this can backfire at home. For a host of good, fermehl, 2000; and www.peaceispossible.info. Here are some more examples from the landscape where assertion reveals that the committee does mandatory, reasons a fair, nonviolent for- the committee may find qualified persons, work- not understand that the deep reform of in- eign policy has become indispensable. ing for the global system change Nobel had in mind: ternational relations that Nobel wished to For more than half a century, however, Acronym Institute, Alliance for the Global Wellness support is much more urgent, relevant, and the Nobel committee has favored the ex- Fund Treaty, Atomic Mirror, Canadian Consortium on Human Security (CCHS), Canadian Peace Alli- vital today than in 1895. isting military-based international system ance, Center for Defense Information (CDI), Com- It was only when I made my own check instead of defending the directly opposite mon Dreams, Economists for Peace and Securi- of the Gunnar Jahn diaries that I under- approach that Nobel wished to support. It ty (EPS), Fundacio per la Pau, Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), stood the level of disregard for Nobel and is now high time the Nobel committee (as Global Article 9 Campaign, Global Facilitation Net- how long it had been that way. In our time well as the secretary) stops cultivating a work for Security Sector Reform (GFN-SSR), Glob- it is hard to find anyone in the Norwegian vague and diluted concept of “peace” and al Security Institute (GSI), Green Cross Internation- al (GCI), Hague Appeal for Peace (HAP), Human Parliament who has the insight or sympa- starts to support the champions of peace, Security Commission (HSQ), Human Security thies required by law to sit on the Nobel respecting what Nobel meant using that Network (HSN), Human Dignity and Humiliation committee. It makes me both sad and mad precise expression. If the committee mem- Studies, Institute for Disarmament Studies, Insti- to think of all the valuable peace work bers cannot be true to Nobel’s intentions tute for Inclusive Security, International Campaign to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW), International that is offered to a world trapped in tra- with enthusiasm, they must leave their Network of Engineers and Scientists Against Prolif- dition and unable to listen – and how the seats to the many others who can. • eration (INESAP), Mouvement de la Paix, National Nobel committee fails to promote the deep Priorities Project (Cost of War), Nuclear Free Phil- 1 change it was asked to nurture with Alfred E-mail to the author, November 2008. ippines Coalition (NFPC), Pacific Campaign for 2 Henrik Syse, Aftenposten, December 16, 2009. Disarmament and Security (PCDS), Pax Christi In- Nobel’s money. 3 Borgen, 2009, pp. 229 – 258, has an analysis of the ternational, Peace Action, Peace Depot, Peace Ma- The devastating problems ahead – over- transformation of the “peace party.” jority, PeaceQuest International, Project Plough- population, pollution, exhaustion of natural 4 Of course it was unacceptable to drop both parlia- shares, Rwanda Women’s Network, Swedish Peace mentary vice presidents and the chair of Parlia- and Arbitration Society, Transnational Institute resources, and the destruction of nature’s ment’s Committee on Foreign Affairs from the guest (TNI), United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Ver- own productive capacity – will confront list. The interesting point here is why these key peo- ification Research, Training, and Information Cen- us in the not too distant future with a cri- ple in Parliament where not invited. In «Dagens tre (VERTIC), Weeramantry International Centre Næringsliv», December 9 and 10, 2009, Geir Lun- for Peace Education and Research, and World Fed- sis that can be met only through a common destad, speaking for the committee, explained that eralist Movement (WFM). emergency response. Money spent on na- more than 30 seats at the banquet tables were used to 12 I first wrote about the need for a new, humane, and tional military forces can only aggravate reward financial sponsors of the Nobel Peace Cent- just foreign policy as a potentially unavoidable con- er and the Peace Concert. Some chief executive of- sequence of the mixing of ethnic minorities with the damage, and the dangers, and does so ficers (CEOs) could even bring communication di- the populations of the affluent countries in Vanunu without resolving any of the problems. rectors and invite business partners from abroad, all (Heffermehl, 2005). Within two weeks my point Even more than in 1895, we need a con- with spouses. IBM had the biggest delegation (eight was horrifyingly demonstrated by bombs on three fraternization of nations, based on justice, people); then Telenor (three directors, bringing two London Underground trains and one bus on July 12 partners from India); Hydro (four); and then CEOs 7, 2005. See also Beebe and Kaldor, 2010; in line law, and democracy. The industrial world with spouses from the DnB Nor bank, Dagbladet, with Alfred Nobel, they call for human security as has prospered economically from its mili- Statkraft, Orkia; Yara, KPMG, and Cisco. Under the realistic alternative to military “security.” No 31 30 July 2012 Current Concerns Page 6

”The collapsing US economy and …” whether the new rigged measures are used, continued from page 5 which understate the misery, or the former methodology that accurately measures it. and renewed the intensity of that war, now Prior to the November 1980 election, in its eleventh year, to no successful effect. the Misery Index hit 22%, which was one These two wars have been expen- reason for Reagan’s victory over President sive. According to estimates by Joseph Carter. Today if we use previous method- Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes, when all costs ology, the Misery Index stands at 27%. are counted the Iraq invasion cost US tax- But if we use the new rigged methodolo- payers $3 trillion dollars. Ditto for the Af- gy, the Misery Index is 10%. ghan war. In other words, the two gratu- The understatement of inflation serves itous wars doubled the US public debt. Nonfarm payroll employment. Seasonally to boost Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is the reason there is no money for adjusted-levels, to June 2012. GDP is calculated in current dollars. To be Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food able to determine whether GDP rose be- stamps, the environment, and the social The annual US budget deficit is add- cause of price rises or because of increas- safety net. ing to the accumulated debt at about $1.5 es in real output, GDP is deflated by the Americans got nothing out of the wars, trillion per year with no prospect of de- CPI. The higher the inflation rate, the less but as the war debt will never be paid off, clining. The financial system is broken the growth in real output and vice versa. US citizens and their descendants will and requires ongoing bailouts. The econ- When the substitution based methodology have to pay interest on $6,000 billion of omy is busted and has been unable to cre- is used to measure inflation, the US econ- war debt in perpetuity. ate high-paying jobs, indeed any jobs. De- omy experienced real growth in the 21st Not content with these wars, the Bush/ spite years of population growth, payroll century except for the sharp dip during Obama regime is conducting military op- employment as of mid-2012 is the same 2008-2010. However, if the cost-of-living erations in violation of international law as in 2005 and substantially below 2008. based methodology is used, except for a in Pakistan, Yemen, and Africa, organized Yet, the government and financial pressti- short period during 2004, the US econo- the overthrow by armed conflict of the tute media tell us that we have a recovery. my has experienced no real growth since government in Libya, is currently work- According to the US Bureau of Labor 2000. ing to overthrow the Syrian government, Statistics, employment in 2011 was only 1 and continues to marshall military forces million more than in 2002. As it takes about against Iran. 150,000 new jobs each month to stay even Finding the Muslim adversaries Wash- with population growth, that leaves a dec- ington created insufficient for its ener- ade long job deficit of 15 million jobs. gies and budget, Washington has encir- The US unemployment and inflation cled Russia with military bases and has rates are far higher than reported. In pre- begun the encirclement of China. Wash- vious columns I have explained, based on ington has announced that the bulk of its statistician John Williams’ work (shad- naval forces will be shifted to the Pacific owstats.com), the reasons that the gov- over the next few years, and Washington ernment’s headline numbers are serious is working to re-establish its naval base in understatements. The headline (U3) unem- the Philippines, construct a new one on a ployment rate of 8.2% counts no discour- Annual growth of Gross National Prod- South Korean island, acquire a naval base aged workers who have given up on find- uct – official statistics (upper line) ver- in Vietnam, and air and troop bases else- ing a job. The government has a second sus Shadow Government Statistics SGS where in Asia. unemployment rate (U6), seldom report- (lower line) In Thailand Washington is attempting ed, which includes short-term discouraged to purchase with the usual bribes an air workers. That rate is 15%. When the long- In the chart above,the lower measure base used in the Vietnam war. There is op- term discouraged workers are added in, the (blue) of real GDP is deflated with the in- position as the country does not wish to current US unemployment rate is 22%, a flation methodology that measured cost- be drawn into Washington’s orchestrated number closer to the unemployment rate of of-living. The higher GDP measure (red) conflict with China. Downplaying the real the Great Depression than to the unemploy- deflates GDP with the new substitution reason for the airbase, Washington, ac- ment rates of postwar recessions. based methodology. cording to Thai newspapers, told the Thai Changes in the way inflation is meas- The lack of employment and real GDP government that the base was needed for ured have destroyed the Consumer Price growth go together with the decline in real “humanitarian missions.” This didn’t fly, Index (CPI) as a measure of the cost of liv- household median income. The growth in so Washington had NASA ask for the air ing. The new methodology is substitution consumer debt substituted for the lack base in order to conduct “weather exper- based. If the price of an item in the index of income growth and kept the economy iments.” Whether this ruse is sufficient rises, a lower priced alternative takes its going until consumers exhausted their cover remains to be seen. place. In addition, some price rises are la- ability to take on more debt. With the con- US Marines have been sent to Australia beled quality improvements whether they sumer dead in the water, the outlook for and elsewhere in Asia. are or not and thus do not show up in the economic recovery is poor. To corral China and Russia (and Iran) CPI. People still have to pay the higher Politicians and the Federal Reserve is a massive undertaking for a country that price, but it is not counted as inflation. are making the outlook even worse. At is financially busted. With wars and bank- Currently, the substitution-based rate of a time of high unemployment and debt- ster bailouts, Bush and Obama have dou- inflation is about 2%. However, when in- stressed households, politicians at local, bled the US national debt while failing to flation is measured as the actual cost of state, and federal levels are cutting back address the disintegration of the US econ- living, the rate of inflation is 5%. on government provision of health care, omy and rising hardships of US citizens. The Misery Index is the sum of the in- pensions, food stamps, housing subsidies The charts below are courtesy of www. flation and unemployment rates. The level shadowstats.com: of the current Misery Index depends on continued on page 7 No 31 30 July 2012 Current Concerns Page 7

”The collapsing US economy and …” continued from page 6 “The only prospect Washington has of prevailing in such an undertaking is first use of nuclear weapons, of catch- and every other element of the social safe- ing its demonized opponents off guard by nuking them out ty net. These cutbacks, of course, further of the blue. In other words, by the elimination of life on earth. reduce aggregate demand and the ability Is this Washington’s program revealed by the neoconservative war- of income-stressed Americans to survive. monger, Bill Kristol, who had no shame to ask publicly: ‘What’s the good The Federal Reserve has interest rates of nuclear weapons if you can’t use them?’” so low that retirees and others living on their savings can earn nothing on their money. The interest rates paid on bank price of bullion during 2011, the Feder- As the Chinese economy is now as large CDs and government and corporate bonds al Reserve has arranged offsetting action. as the US and on far firmer footing, and as are lower than the rate of inflation. To live When the demand for physical bullion Japan now has more trade with China than on interest income, a person has to pur- drives up the price, short sales of bullion with the US, the enticement is appealing. chase Greek, Spanish, or Italian bonds and in the paper market are used to drive the Moreover, China is next door, and Wash- run the risk of capital loss. The Federal price back down. ington is distant and drowning in its hubris. Reserve’s policy of negative interest rates Similarly, when investors begin to flee Washington, which flicked its middle forces retirees to spend down their capital Treasuries, thus causing interest rates to finger to international law and to its own in order to live. In other words, the Fed’s rise, J.P. Morgan and other dependencies law and Constitution with its arrogance policy is destroying personal savings as of the Federal Reserve sell interest-rate and gratuitous and illegal wars and with people are forced to spend their capital in swaps, thus offsetting the effect on inter- its assertion of the right to murder its own order to cover living expenses. est rates of the bond sales. (Keep in mind citizens and those of its allies, such as Pa- In June the Federal Reserve announced that interest rates rise when bond prices kistan, has made the United States a pa- that it was going to continue its policy of fall and vice versa.) riah state. driving nominal interest rates even lower, The point of all this information is to Washington still controls its bought- this time focusing on long-term Treasury establish that except for the 1 percent, and-paid-for NATO puppets, but these bonds. The Fed said it would be purchas- the incomes and wealth of Americans are puppet states are overwhelmed with de- ing $400 billion of the Treasury’s 30-year being cut back across the board. From rivative debt problems brought to them by bonds. 2002 through 2011 the economy lost 3.5 Wall Street and by sovereign debt prob- Driving interest rates down means driv- million manufacturing jobs. These jobs lems, some of which were covered up by ing bond prices up. With 5-year Treasury were replaced with lower-paying waitress Wall Street’s Goldman Sachs. bonds paying only seven-tenths of one per- and bartender jobs (1,189,000), ambulato- Europe is on the ropes and has no cent and 10-year Treasuries paying only ry health care service jobs (1,512,000) and money with which to subsidize Washing- 1.6%, below even the official rate of infla- social assistance jobs (578,000). ton’s wars of hegemony. tion, Americans desperate for yield move These replacement jobs in domestic Washington is becoming an isolated into 30-year bonds currently paying 2.7%. services mean that on a net basis US con- and despised element of the world com- However, the the high bond prices mean sumer income was moved out of the coun- munity. Washington has purchased Eu- that the risk of capital loss is very high. try. Potential aggregate demand in the US rope, Canada, Australia, the former Sovi- The Fed’s debt monetization, or a drop dropped by the differences in pay in the et state of Georgia (and almost Ukraine), in the exchange value of the dollar as other job categories. Clearly and unambiguous- and Colombia, and continues its effort countries move away from its use to set- ly, jobs offshoring lowered US disposable to purchase the entire world, but senti- tle their balance of payments, could set off income and US GDP and, thereby, em- ment is turning against the rising Gestapo inflation that would take interest rates out ployment. state that has shown itself to be lawless, of the Fed’s control. As interest rates rise, Despite the lack of an economic base, ruthless, and indifferent, even hostile, to bond prices fall. Washington’s hegemonic aspirations human life and human rights. In other words, bonds are now the bub- continue unabated. Other countries are A government, whose military was ble that real estate, stocks, and derivatives amused at Washington’s unawareness. unable with the help of the UK to occu- were. When this bubble pops, Americans Russia, China, India, Brazil, and South py Iraq after eight years and was forced will take another big hit to their remain- Africa are forming an agreement to aban- to end the conflict by putting the “insur- ing wealth. don the US dollar as the currency for inter- gents” on the US military payroll and to It makes no sense to invest in long-term national settlement between themselves. pay them to stop killing American troops, bonds at negative interest rates when the On 4 July the China Daily reported: and a government whose military has been federal government is piling up debt that “Japanese politicians and prominent aca- unable to subdue a few thousand lightly the Federal Reserve is monetizing and demics from China and Japan urged Tokyo armed Taliban after 11 years, is over the when other countries are moving away on Tuesday to abandon its outdated for- top when it organizes war against Iran, from the flood of dollars. The potential for eign policy of leaning on the West and ac- Russia, and China. a rising rate of inflation is high from debt cept China as a key partner as important as The only prospect Washington has of monetization and from a drop in the dol- the United States. The Tokyo Consensus, prevailing in such an undertaking is first lar’s exchange value. Yet, bond fund port- a joint statement issued at the end of the use of nuclear weapons, of catching its de- folio managers have to follow the herd Beijing-Tokyo Forum, also called on both monized opponents off guard by nuking into longer term maturities or see their countries to expand trade and promote a them out of the blue. In other words, by performance relative to their peers drop to free-trade agreement for China, Japan and the elimination of life on earth. the bottom of the rankings. South Korea.” Is this Washington’s program revealed Some individual investors and foreign This means that Japan is in play. by the neoconservative warmonger, Bill central banks, anticipating the dollar’s loss The Chinese government, more intel- Kristol, who had no shame to ask public- of value, are accumulating gold and silver ligent than Washington, is responding to ly: “What’s the good of nuclear weapons bullion. Realizing the danger to the dol- Washington’s military threats by enticing if you can’t use them?” • lar and its policy from the rapid rise in the away Washington’s two key Asian allies. Source: www.paulcraigroberts.org, 08.07.2012 No 31 30 July 2012 Current Concerns Page 8 Rebuilding Iceland – modestly, but solidly “At first we allowed the banks to break down in 2008 via an emergency law” by André Anwar, Stockholm While the crisis of the euro is oppressing Europe, Iceland is pulling itself up again Study: euro-exit attractive for Italy and Ireland – “Nezavisimaya” after its breakdown in 2008. The econo- Analysts at the Bank of America Mer- zone bring more disadvantages than my is growing thanks to saving measures rill Lynch have found in a study that the advantages, the experts say. A volun- and thanks to the clear devaluation of the euro-zone and the euro are less stable tary withdrawal from the euro-zone Icelandic Krona. It is equally the break- than you might think, the newspaper could be more profitable for many down of the banks that is supporting the “Nezavisimaya Gazeta” wrote on Mon- countries, so experts from BofA-Merrill recovery. day. Lynch. These potential “traitors” in the In the face of the new crisis, some euro-zone are Italy and Ireland, whose Once again Iceland is on the way up. The euro-zone countries will try to get in- economy could recover quickly after Organization for Economic Co-operation dividual benefits by the voluntary with- the abandonment of the single Europe- and Development (OECD) is predicting drawal from the monetary union. Italy an currency. the country an economic growth of 2.7 and Ireland could get significant bene- Germany and Austria are not inter- p.c. in 2012. However, the basis is low. In fits: they would be able to restore their ested in the euro-zone’s falling apart. 2008 the economy had taken a tumble los- competitiveness by devaluing their cur- That’s why Berlin pays any prices to ing 18.2 p.c. , in 2009 it lost again 9.2 p.c.. rency very fast. keep Greece, Ireland and Portugal in In 2010 the economic performance shrank The leading EU countries would pay the euro-zone. But Berlin is no longer once more for about 2.2. p.c. any price to prevent a collapse of the able to pay Italy for his loyalty to the euro-zone, many investors say. euro. According to BofA-Merrill Lynch, Unemployment is decreasing In a study the experts at BofA-Mer- the financial support for both Rome rill Lynch are questioning the stability and Berlin would prove to be disadvan- Before the crisis it was the other way of the euro-zone. Some countries’ at- tageous. round. In 2005 Iceland had reached tempts to keep all costs in the euro- Source: RIA Novosti, 16.07.2012 growth rates at 8.3 p.c. that scarcely any other western country had. Even during the crisis Iceland managed to keep down ficiency,” declared Juliusson. Another pil- ploited that situation to gather experience unemployment to some degree. Before lar was the pension funds, from which the all over the whole world. When the Amer- the crisis the unemployment amounted to State borrowed money. A part of the debts ican housing bubble exploded, the end of barely 3 p.c. of private homes were abated by the banks that dream loomed ahead. At first nobody In 2009 it rose to 7.2. p.c. and in 2010 or the state. wanted to talk about it. In 2008, howev- to 7.5. p.c. One reason for this relative- er, the three big banks broke down, and ly small increase: They sent home a lot Value of the Islandic Krona were put up for compulsory sale. They had of immigrant workers, for example in the nearly cut by half done highly speculative business and had construction sector. A lot of enterprises The devaluation of the Icelandic crown brought prosperity on tick to the country. cushioned the rest by in salary cuts. More- after the breakdown was helpful. Its value Simultaneously with the big banks the over there is a pride which has cultur- in comparison to the euro has been cut economy broke down. The krona was los- al and historical roots, a pride that keeps by half. At the beginning of the crisis in ing its value at a rapid speed, the imports people from living on state allocations. In 2008, one euro equaled about 85 Icelan- – that is to say nearly all merchandise – the meantime the unemployment is going dic crowns, now it is 157. That is in favor became more expensive. Protests in the down again. In 2012 a drop to less than of the classic exports. “Fishery has saved streets forced the demission of the con- 7.0 p.c. has been predicted. The social se- us. As in former times it comes up for 30 servative government that had shaped the curity system also operates because the to 40 p.c. of our revenues, and those are country since the Independence in Second Icelanders have never really exploited it paid in foreign currencies”, says Juliusson. World War. thanks to full employment until the great In the meantime Iceland was able to breakdown came. pay back rather early the rates of the sup- Former head of government sentenced port loans and supplementary credits com- Former head of government Geir Haarde Jobs cancelled, salaries cut ing from the Nordic neighbor countries was judged by a court for “gross mistakes “The reconstruction of Iceland rests on amounting in total to 2.1 billion dollars in the exercise of office” and for “person- several pillars,” says Pordur Snaer Julius- (1.7 billion of euro, 2 billion CHF). al responsibility” at the end of April. Ac- son, writer for the economic newspaper cording to the sentence in Reykjavik the “Vidskiptabladinu.” He is considered one Real estate bubble led to the decline head of government was declared partial- of the few objective commentators in Ice- Iceland experienced a roller coaster ride ly guilty for the financial and economic land. “At first we had allowed the banks as scarcely any other Western country did. breakdown of Iceland in 2008. The judg- to break down by an emergency law.” The At first there were the apparently unlim- ment, however, did not result in a pun- support loans granted by the Internation- ited possibilities of 2002 to 2007. At that ishment. The anger about the old power al Currency Fund and by Scandinavian time, private birthday parties often in- (clique) around Haarde was decreas- countries kept the country solvent, but cluded Elton John being flown in. Jeeps ing at the same time as the unexpectedly they forced it to conduct enormous sav- with giant wheels were standard equip- rapid recovery happened. The Independ- ings. “In all sectors we cut all salaries by ment of a lot of households. The weekly ence Party of Haarde, which is conserva- about 10 p.c., salaries in the private sector shopping flights of the middle classes re- tive and anti-European, is gaining voters were cut by up to 20 p.c. At the same time joiced the retailing business in Great Brit- again. • we noticed in our misery that we could ain and New York. The strong Icelandic save an extreme lot in the health sector crown inspired the young Icelanders to Source: CE Wirtschaft, Island Aufschwung, and in other sectors by increasing the ef- feel to be stinking rich abroad. They ex- 27.06.2012

continued on page 8 No 31 30 July 2012 Current Concerns Page 9

“The atrocities of war are Commentary thk. Almost 40 years have passed, and the motivation for my commitment” my generation can still well remember Interview with Nguyen van Rinh,* Lieutenant General ret. the US war in Vietnam. The False Flag and former Deputy Defense Minister of Vietnam Operation in the Gulf of Tonkin – even confirmed as such by the then-Defense thk. The latest investigations assume that War from close up. Is the war still pre- Secretary Robert McNamara decades during and after the Vietnam War 16 sent, after all these years? later - provided the pretext for the Amer- million people had been in contact with Nguyen van Rinh: From 1966 until the ican president-in-office Lyndon B. John- Agent Orange poison. This of course in- end of the war, I fought on the battle fields son to intervene militarily in Vietnam, a cludes US soldiers and those of their al- of South Vietnam. In 1964 the US start- war which was waged with extreme bru- lies Australia, Canada and South Viet- ed bombing North Vietnam. This war was tality by the United States in particular. nam who are now receiving compensation a terrible catastrophe. The bombings, the The attack of the infamous B-52 bomb- after a long fight – in contrast to the direct usage of poison gas left behind horrible ers on North and South Vietnam, which victims in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. damages which are still visible and tangi- in continuous bombardment dropped Again and again, NGOs have been trying ble. It is hard to imagine. Even today peo- more than three times the bomb load of to call attention to this deficiency and to ple are dying from the aftermath of a war the entire Second World War on the small the severe neglect of human rights con- that was over almost 40 years ago. Even country, were utter horror for the most- nected with the use of this poison and to today, people die from the mines that are ly defenseless people. Furthermore, no call the United States which were respon- still lying about everywhere very year and one will ever forget the deployment of the sible to their duties. So it happened in it was estimated that it will take anoth- death squads by William E. Colby, U.S. the meetings during the June UN Human er hundred years before all mines will be ambassador in Saigon; they massacred Rights Council in Geneva. On the side- found and defused. It is hard to describe primarily intellectuals, suspecting Com- lines of one of these events, “Zeit-Fra- what terrible experiences and impressions munist collaborators among them. gen” met Nguyan van Rinh, president of from these times I am still carrying with What determined the disaster of Viet- the “Vietnamese Association for the Vic- me. We saw all the cruelties, during the nam in the first place was the unscrupu- tims of Agent Orange” (VAVA) and ques- war and later on. This is why I am now lous deployment of illegal weapons like tioned him on the situation in Vietnam. supporting the cause of the war’s victims, napalm (white phosphor) and Agent Or- mainly the victims of Agent Orange. ange. This defoliation chemical, in actu- Zeit-Fragen: Mr. Nguyen van Rinh, you al fact dioxin,which is highly toxical for have seen the atrocities of the Vietnam What were the effects of the use of the man and nature, has been sprayed by the Agent Orange poison on people and the US hectolitres upon hectolitres – an esti- * Nguyen van Rinh was battalion commander in environment? mated 80 million litres – it is a prohibit- the vietnamese Army and fought from 1966 The US war against Vietnam with chem- ed weapon of mass destruction, with dis- until the end of the war on the side of the North- Vietnamese Army When he retired he was a ical weapons resulted in three million in- astrous consequences even 40 years after Senior Lieutenant General and a deputy minister jured and hundreds of thousands of cas- the end of the war: Every year thousands of Vietnam’s Ministry of Defense. Today he sup- ualties, mainly through the use of Agent of people die as a result of the poisoning. ports the victims of war, mainly the victims of One can only guess what has been and is Agent Orange continued on page 10 still being deployed on the battle fields in Iraque, Afghanistan and Libya. Dear friend anomalies occur in children of Vietnam Various international organisations Due to the damage to the endocrine and Korea veterans and other former demand that these people are to be rec- system, the immune system and in the members of the military services. ognized as war victims, who deserve genome, caused by Agent Orange, the The victims of Agent Orange real- victims may suffer from several diseas- ly do need everything: Psychological- reparations. Former Lieutenant Gener- es, but the American government cur- ly, they need encouragement and the al Nguyen van Rinh is fighting for the rently recognizes only a certain number compassion of other people. Materi- re-cognition of the injured as victims of of them, which are listed below: ally, they need money to cover their war, who ought to be compensated by • AL-amyloidosis daily needs for medicine and food, they the US and the chemical companies Dow • Chronic lymphocytic leukemia of the need houses and accessories that help Chemical and Monsanto. B-cell type facilitate their movement, for example In the last three years the United • chloracne (or similar acne-like diseas- wheelchairs and rehabilitation meas- States have begun to decontaminate one es) ures such as scholarships for the educa- of many hot spots in Vietnam – where • Type 2 diabetes mellitus tion and vocational training of the chil- • Hodgkin’s disease dren. the US Army had stored barrels with the • Ischemic heart disease Remember that they are very poor poison –, but reportedly without mak- • Multiple Myeloma not only because they cannot work ing any major effort. Thus the whole ac- • Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma to safeguard their own existence, but tion looks rather like tokenism than like • Parkinson’s Disease also because the have to spend a lot for a genuine humanitarian commitment for • Peripheral neuropathy medicine. the affected people. Recently the United • Late cutaneous porphyria If someone or an organization wish- States have demonstrated intensified ac- • Prostate Cancer es to help them, please contact us and tivities in the Pacific region, striving for • Tumors of the respiratory tract (in- we will give you further information. new military bases, including Vietnam. cluding lung cancer) Nguyen Minh Y Hillary Clinton’s “charm offensive” in • Soft tissue sarcomas (other than the The Vietnam Association for Victims of osteosarcoma) Agent Orange / Dioxin (VAVA) Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia must be The children with congenital malforma- www.vava.org.vn seen in this context. Thus the United tions: The Government of the United E-mail: vava (at) vava.org.vn States continue marching on the totali- States assumes that certain congenital (Translation Current Concerns) tarian path of war. No 31 30 July 2012 Current Concerns Page 10 Immanuel Kant and international relations of modern times by Professor Dr habil. Vyacheslav Dashichev, Colonel General staff ret., Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Center for International Economic and Political Studies, Institute of Economics The theoretical heritage of Kant, especial- “No state shall by force interfere with people and the world public by means of ly his treatise on “Perpetual Peace” can the internal affairs of another state.” false pretences and primitive arguments in and must serve today as the essential norm Kant thus laid the fundamental principle order to unleash and justify these wars. of behavior for states, especially the major of international law – the sovereignty of The problem of the sovereignty of a powers, within the world arena. each state, whose violation or destruction state in an era of rapidly advancing globali- Unfortunately, European leaders did is the beginning of all evil for the inter- zation does of course look different today not adopt his teachings. Instead of perpet- national community and will also lead to than in the past. Under the conditions of re- ual peace, wars continuously occurred in the unleashing of international conflicts. gional or continental integration, as is the Europe and on other continents. Through- According to Kant, the arbitrary interfer- case in the EU, individual states voluntar- out the 20th century the European peoples ence with the internal affairs of a state can ily delegate some of their sovereignty to experienced the horrors of two “hot” wars conjure up, “nothing but anarchy” in in- the common international organization, if and one “cold” world war. The ‘perpetu- ternational relations. He was convinced it corresponds with their security, econom- um mobile’ of wars and conflicts is con- that war between states for the purpose of ic and financial interests. This is not in con- stantly turning, even in the 21st century. punishment (bellum punitivum) was in- tradiction with the principle of non-inter- In his philosophical treatise “On Per- admissible. It would be fatal to divide the ference formulated by Kant. He considered petual Peace” Kant formulated the most states according to the principle of “suze- the forcible interference with the internal important “prohibition laws”, by which rain (feudal lord) – vassal”. affairs of a state inadmissible. This does, the statesmen should be guided in their In contrast to Kant, the politicians in however, not exclude the influence of the policies at international level in any case, Washington consider “punitive wars” – international community on the leadership in order not to endanger peace and to pre- (Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and Iraq) – as of a state if, for example, that leadership’s vent the outbreak of war. What are these usual and necessary practice. They do not laws? shrink back from misleading their own continued on page 11

”The atrocities of war …” tims alone, the government is spending a continued from page 9 hundred million dollar each year. Ruling against the US and its chemical industry Orange. Hundreds of thousands are still Are there any regions particularly thk. In Paris from 15 to 16 May 2009 an living with most severe sicknesses. Most strongly affected or has the poison spread international tribunal of conscience was of those that have been exposed to the poi- equally in the whole country in the course held with the aim of supporting the Vi- son some 40 years ago, are now between of years? etnamese victims of Agent Orange. The 50 and 70 and they suffer from the severest The poison was spread over regions con- tribunal has been organised by the Inter- disorders. They are the poorest of the poor taining 30,000 small villages with four to national Association of Democratic Law- and often live under the worst conditions. five million inhabitants. They were direct- yers (IADL) in cooperation with various ly exposed to the poison. Then there were NGOs, among them also the Vietnamese The US chemical warfare was a violation some one to two million fighters who were Association for the victims of Agent Or- of humanitarian international law and strongly exposed to the poison so that we ange (VAVA). The tribunal pronounced both the hence against the Geneva Convention, can say today that the victims live all over USA and the chemical industry guilty in other words: a war crime. Has there the country, both in the north and in the of the production and deployment ever been any kind of compensation for south. But the larger part is living in South of Agent Orange. It has therefore de- this terrible injustice? The world’s pub- Vietnam since this is where the US used manded a complete compensation for lic was aware of the effects of the chemi- most of the poison. But most of the sol- the victims and their families, as well as cal weapons. diers affected were North Vietnamese the restoration of the environment and The Vietnamese government has repeat- fighting in the south. the decontamination of the contami- edly requested the US government to pay nated water and the poisoned soil. in compensation and to cover the cost for Why did the US use this terrible and pro- For more information see: the injured persons. But so far they have hibited weapon? www.iadllaw.org done nothing to help the affected persons The US used the poison along the Ho Chi live in better conditions with an improved Minh Trail to defoliate the trees in order whole region is contaminated and part of medical care. to be able to easier detect and kill people. the poison has deeply infiltrated the soil They have mainly used it along the border and the ground water. Had it stayed on the There are state programs in Vietnam to between Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. At surface, all traces would have been gone help the affected population. But this the same time it was the goal to destroy after 20 years, but it went deeply into the entails high cost and is a large burden for the harvest to stop provisions for the Lib- soil. And they say that it will take at least your economy, the health care system and eration Army. another 100 years until the poison will be the social system. It is admirable to see degraded. This means that many people how your country is coping with all this. How strong is the contamination of the will fall ill and have to suffer. The Vietnamese government has devel- areas affected by the war today? oped various programs and ideas to ac- The region I mentioned is still contami- This is so terrible; I have great respect for tivate the whole society towards helping nated. There are also some hotspots – at your commitment. Mr. Nguyen van Rinh, those in need. It is very important that the the former sites of American air bases. thank you very much for having taken the victims receive support and effective aid This is where the poison was stored. These time. • from society. For the poorest of the vic- regions are strongly contaminated. The (Translation Current Concerns) No 31 30 July 2012 Current Concerns Page 11

”Immanuel Kant and …” the use of these means were created by the In these days his warning could be sent continued from page 10 Cold War by the antagonism of the two he- directly to the White House. The US mil- gemonic powers – the United States and the itary spending currently amounts to more actions put peace and stability at risk in a Soviet Union. But even after its formal end than 600 billion dollars a year, equivalent region or on the global level. in 1990, the importance of these measure to about 50% of world military expendi- The problem of sovereignty must be in US policy used to strengthen and extend ture, which is far higher than at the peak considered in a new light, particularly in their rule, especially as far as the influence of the Cold War. Rearming is the basis of relation to the tensions and contradictions on Russia was concerned, has increased power politics. By comparison, the Rus- in a multiethnic state, caused by a people’s even more. The American ruling elite uses sian military spending amounted to the aspiration to self-determination and inde- them effectively to keep NATO and the EU equivalent of $ 9.35 billion (in 2002) 11.6 pendence within this community of peo- countries under their control. Germany has billion (in 2003) and 14.93 billion US dol- ples. Everything must be done to solve so far remained a state whose mental state lars (in 2004). The ruling elites of the this problem peacefully and by agreement and politics are greatly influenced by the United States thus act as the driving forc- of the conflicting parties. A good exam- United States. Former Federal Chancellor es for the military build-up in the world ple is the peaceful “divorce” between the Helmut Schmidt wrote in this context, “For after the end of the Cold War. Czech Republic and Slovakia. most continental European nations there is Kant pointed out that interference from neither a strategic nor a moral reason to be- “No treaty of peace shall be regarded outside may not be permitted even in the come subject to a feasible American im- as valid, if made with the secret reser- event of civil strife or fight between vari- perialism in the foreseeable future [...]. vation of material for a future war.” ous political factions in a state. Such in- We must not degenerate into servile yes- Another Kantian wisdom. We know what terference may have serious consequenc- men. Thus, even if in the coming decades disastrous role the Versailles peace treaty es for the international community. The the US will be much more effective than played in the history of Europe. It paved the civil war-like events in Syria may serve as the European Union, even if the hegemo- way to World War II. The “peace treaty” an example here, in which foreign forces ny of America will last for a longer time in of Potsdam in 1945 proved to be no better. intervene and endanger the peace in the the future, the European nations must still It split Europe into two hostile camps and Middle East and adjacent regions. maintain their dignity. The dignity is based led to the Cold War. Only the Paris Char- on the adherence to our responsibility be- ter, signed by all European countries, USA “No independent state, fore our own conscience.”1 and Canada in November 1990 and putting large or small, shall come The application of the strategy of the an end to the Cold War, could have created under the dominion of another state.” indirect approach proved particularly suc- a peaceful order in Europe without divid- Kant explained this principle as follows: cessful on the part of the US against Rus- ing lines, without block structures, without the state is a community of citizens whose sia. Washington succeeded in establishing foreign domination. It had a legally bind- fate is determined by the very state and the American lobby in Russia’s governing ing character and contained excellent prin- by no one else. Its incorporation into an- bodies. It directed Russia’s development ciples (overcoming the division of Europe, other state would mean its liquidation as a in the wrong direction, which resulted in equal security for all European states, dis- moral subject and its transformation into an unprecedented weakening and degrada- armament, the promotion of democracy in a mere object. In other words, Kant im- tion of its economy, its security, the im- Europe, no country was to neglect interna- posed the prohibition of wars of conquest, poverishment of the country and the peo- tional law, no war may emanate from Eu- i.e. the rule of one nation over another. ple, the moral decay of the ruling class rope, etc.). But these principles, filled with For our present time this means the inad- and the whole society. Kantian spirit, were completely incompati- missibility of hegemonic politics, in what- ble with the government policy of the Unit- ever form they may reveal themselves – in “No state shall, during war, ed States. That is why they were not appli- an imperialistic, messianic-ideological, na- permit such acts of hostility cable and went into oblivion soon after the tionalistic, financially oligarchic, religious which would make mutual confidence signing of the Charter. nature, or whatever. The gross violation of in the subsequent peace impossible.” The significance of these Kantian prin- the Kantian “prohibition law” resulted in As Kant rightly foresaw, a “war of ex- ciples for contemporary international re- two world wars. They were both based on termination” could lead to “perpetual lations is obvious. In the center of Kant’s imperial policy. If it is not stopped, it can peace only in the vast burial ground of political philosophy is the most significant again lead to a major disaster for humanity. the human race”. This applies in particu- thesis: Law should dominate international In past eras the conquest of states par- lar to the US atomic bombings of Hiroshi- relations, not violence. Compliance with ticularly by major powers, could only be ma and Nagasaki. The warning signal of the Kantian Maxims requires high intel- achieved by the use of military force and these two cities has been hovering above lectual and moral qualities among states- the occupation of the victims’ territory. In the human race ever since. We could also men. The ambition for power and greed – the nuclear age this procedure has changed. mention the relentless destruction of in- Kant explains – lead to wars. After 1945, in the nuclear age, when the dustry, infrastructure, refineries, televi- According to Kant, peace can be main- war between nuclear powers meant mutu- sion and radio stations in Yugoslavia by tained only if politics and morality are in- al destruction and ceased to serve as a ra- the US Air Force and NATO as well as separable. The “naked pragmatism, root- tional means of achieving political goals, the great losses among the civilian pop- ed in selfishness” was incompatible with the establishment of a foreign sovereign- ulation caused by the attacks. They will peace. Kant places morality and law on ty over European countries was carried out keep awake the Serbs’ hostile feelings to- the same level. They are equivalents. Only mainly by “silent conquest”, a “strategy of wards Americans for many years. Iraq as those political acts are moral, ethical and the indirect approach” (Liddell Hart). The well bears witness to this phenomenon. foster peace that are based on the law. The subversive propagandistic, psychological, rejection of morality for selfish interests, economic, financial means and the influ- “Governments need to reduce military the separation of politics from morality, encing of human resources policy (the cre- spending and armament. Standing ar- are disastrous for the international com- ation of a branched lobby – executors of mies shall in time be totally abolished. “ munity. the pro-American policy) moved into the Kant went down in history as the father of foreground. The favorable conditions for the disarmament policy with this quote. continued on page 12 No 31 30 July 2012 Current Concerns Page 12

”Immanuel Kant and …” mocratization of international relations. It gardless if it is assumed by a socialist or continued from page 11 is amazing how the ruling American elite, a capitalist country) contradicts the eternal passing off the US as a stronghold of de- quest of man, a nation or a political force International relations cannot develop mocracy, behaves like an authoritarian for freedom and independence and inevita- beneficially if they are made conditional dictator in the world. At all times, the sup- bly provokes negative reactions and resist- upon the state of human rights and free- porters of hegemonic politics have been ance. Such practice always leads to inter- doms in the one or the other state. Oth- the worst disturbers of peace and the most national tensions, conflicts and wars within erwise a false and dangerous way of de- destructive force in international relations. the system of international relations. It im- velopment of the international community The USA’s “new global morality” has pedes the development of harmonious and would result. been instrumentalized to legitimize the beneficial relations between the nations. War results from politics of hegemony. right of the United States to wage “pre- Kremlin leaders from Stalin to Chernen- This is as well consequence of the Kan- ventive humanitarian (?!) wars”, wherev- ko were convinced that the model “mas- tian doctrine. After the Cold War and the er and whenever it is convenient. Brezh- ter-loyal subject” was best suited for the collapse of the Soviet Union only one su- nev’s doctrine of the “limited sovereignty” relations between the Soviet Union and so- perpower remained, the United States of has been replaced by the US doctrine of cialist countries, as well as for the consol- America. They aimed at establishing their “the unlimited interference in the internal idation of the Communist-oriented forces supremacy in the world (uni-polar world affairs” of sovereign states. This means, in the “class struggle against capitalism”. order). The associated plans were very the United States severely violate interna- In this sense, the Soviet-Messiah ideology clearly outlined in the “Project for the tional law, which has been replaced by the was consistent with the Kremlin’s demands New American Century”2. It was worked law of the jungle. The motives presented for leadership of the world socialist move- out in mid-1997 by Dick Cheney, Don- for this “renovation” of international law ment and the Soviet imperial ambitions. ald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and other are primitive. One is supposed to violently Apart from the fact that such policies US proponents of Social Darwinism in fight the “rogue states”, in which individ- resulted in the East-West confrontation international relations. The guidelines of ual freedoms and human rights are being and the “Cold War”, it sowed discord be- this project and its underlying “new glob- infringed, and must enforce these stand- tween the countries of the socialist camp. al morality” of the United States formed ards from outside. And there was another drawback. Monop- the basis of the Bush administration’s pol- The “new global morality” of the Unit- olization and centralization of power al- icies. In summary they are as follows: ed States stands in stark contrast to the ways strangle development and diversity – International relations are relations of legacy of Immanuel Kant. The adepts of by impeding recognition and enhancement power; law plays an only subordinate American policies of hegemony argue of innovation and the development of vi- role. that Kant’s concept regarding questions able social forms. The efforts to maintain – Power is the determining element, and of “war and peace” is outdated and has socialism within the Soviet model blocked law legitimizes the prevailing condi- lost its significance with regard to current modernization. Take the “Prague Spring” tion. issues. Nothing could be more dangerous as an example – the suppression of the re- – The United States is the dominating than adhering to this false theory in for- form movement in Czechoslovakia with power in the world order, which has to eign policy. military power, that was going to have be acknowledged by everyone. It is interesting to consider the impact tragic consequences for socialism and the – You are either with us or with the of the principles of the treatise “On Per- Soviet Union. enemy. petual Peace” on the transformation of Thus, Soviet foreign policy committed – The US is currently in a position to im- Soviet foreign policy during the social- four major sins: pose their views, interests and values ist reformation – the Perestroika. Since a) it provoked the East-West conflict, on mankind. Stalin’s time, foreign policy has been which was often on the brink of nucle- – The United States must strengthen their steeped in the spirit of ideological mes- ar war; hegemony in the world. sianism. This provided the basis for the b) it gave rise to conflicts within the so- – Human rights outrank the principle of expansion of the Soviet Union, which cialist camp; sovereignty of states and peoples. aimed at forcefully imposing the com- c) it blocked the reform of socialist soci- Instead of the democratic principle of munist system as it had been realised ety in terms of its democratization and “unity in diversity” that must serve as the in the Soviet model on other countries, improvement of their economic and so- basis for a peaceful and stable world order, and hence the dominance of the Soviet cial efficiency; instead of the respect for the sovereignty Union as the provider of this order. This d) it imposed an unbearable burden on the and the peculiarities of each people’s na- had often taken deformed shapes. Take Soviet economy, which later was one of tional development, its culture and identi- the Brezhnev leadership’s effort in late the reasons for the collapse of the Sovi- ty, the US administration made the prin- 1979 to conquer Afghanistan and convert et Union. ciple of uniformity of peoples, the priority the Afghan people to the communist doc- The harmful nature of these “four sins” of and the universality of American values trine. In a memorandum to the Kremlin Soviet foreign policy did not become obvi- the political foundation of their policy for on 8 January 1980, I tried to explain – ous to the Kremlin leadership until the be- the entire world. We have already experi- however in vain – that the invasion of So- ginning of Perestroika, unfortunately far enced something similar when Stalin and viet troops in Afghanistan was a hopeless too late. At that time, it became the prior- his successors tried to impose the com- adventure which would end with a politi- ity to withdraw the Soviet Union from any munist values of the Soviet view upon the cal and military fiasco. That was a voice unnecessary and dangerous confronta- world. The methods of enforcement of in the wilderness3. The Americans did not tion with the West. This confrontation ab- these “global” values were very similar learn any lesson from that and 22 years sorbed the best forces in the country and on both sides. They focused on violence, later tried again to conquer Afghanistan. made it impossible to find solutions for far and on a policy of power. They repeated Moscow’s the foolishness, more important tasks of internal develop- From the beginning, the principles of which again ended with a fiasco. ment, especially the radical improvement the “Project for the New American Cen- Until the beginning of Gorbachev’s re- of the living standards of Soviet citizens. tury” were in stark contrast to the teach- forms, the Soviet leadership could not un- ings of Kant and to his demands for de- derstand that the practice of dominion (re- continued on page 13 No 31 30 July 2012 Current Concerns Page 13

”Immanuel Kant and …” rhythm of this race was determined by the in the Charter of Paris, signed by all Eu- continued from page 12 United States long before the appearance of ropean countries, the USA and Canada in Ronald Reagan. The Russians committed a November 1990. This historic document Furthermore, this confrontation enhanced fatal mistake when they entered in this race. was in line with the principles of Kant’s the notion of the Soviet Union as a dan- They realized too late that they had lost it. treatise “Perpetual Peace”. It seemed as gerous imperialist power in Western so- At a certain point, the system collapsed.” In though a new era of peace and coopera- ciety. In fact, it was necessary to find rea- fact, the confrontation with the West with tion in Europe had begun. However, after sonable ways to end the Cold War. This its increasing intensity deprived the Soviet one year the confrontational spirit returned historic task could only be resolved by a Union of all strength. to Europe. The ruling circles of the Unit- radical regulation of the ideological prin- It was imperative to find a way out of ed States could not resist the temptation to ciples of the former Soviet foreign policy, this dangerous situation. Mikhail Gor- continue their domination policies under above all, by turning away from the “class bachev as the new Soviet leader took up much more favourable circumstances struggle” in the international arena, from exactly this task in 1985. In the years of brought about by the collapse of the Sovi- the Messianic role of the Soviet Union as Perestroika, Soviet foreign policy devel- et Union, and to destroy the European con- the “leading force” of the “Communist oped principles of a new way of think- sensus on peace. Thus, Europe remains di- and People’s Liberation Movement” and ing and new principles of foreign poli- vided, militarized, and ruled by an outside from the goal of “victory of communism cy. The arduous process of transformation domineering power. The danger of another throughout the world».4 of Soviet foreign policy is the subject of world war was not averted. Today, the pri- This was the only way to create con- my book “Moskaus Griff nach der Welt- ority is on making the principles of Kant’s ditions to balance political interests with macht. Die bitteren Früchte hegemonialer peace doctrine common sense in European the West in order to defuse the East-West Politik” (Moscow’s bid for world power. and international life. • confrontation, or to stop it altogether, and The bitter fruits of hegemonic policies), to create the conditions for a real process with a foreword by Mikhail Gorbachev, 1 Helmut Schmidt, “Die Mächte der Zukunft. of disarmament and the elimination of the and a prologue by Hans-Dietrich Gen- Gewinner und Verlierer in der Welt von morgen“, threat of a nuclear war. München 2004, p. 238 scher published in 2002 in German trans- 2 “Project for the New American Century. Statement Soviet foreign policy had not taken into lation. The book includes many of my an- of Principles”, Washington D.C, 3 June 1997 account the existence of the “principle of alytic memoranda, submitted to Brezhnev, 3 This memorandum was published during the pe- negative backlash” in the system of inter- Gromyko, Andropov, Gorbachev, Shevar- restroika. See: “Afghanistan: a reflection from 1980”, “Moskowskije nowosti”, 23 July 1989 national relations: If a great power seeks to dnadze and other Soviet decision-makers 4 I justified the need of a genuine change of Sovi- establish or expand its hegemonic sphere through the Institute of Socialist Coun- et foreign policy in a memorandum for the gen- of influence under various pretexts, weak tries in the Academy of Sciences. General- eral secretary of the CPSU, Juri Andropov, on states surrender voluntarily or involun- ly speaking, these memoranda established 10 January 1983. It was published under the title “Non sustainable mission of Soviet foreign poli- tarily to their rule. Then this power be- the need to overcome the Cold War and cy” in “Jahrbuch für Historische Kommunismus- comes even stronger and begins to subju- the arms build-up to employ all material forschung”,1997, Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1997. gate stronger states in an effort to create a and intellectual forces for a peaceful solu- particular world order under its hegemony. tion of tasks within the country and for the The expansion of their rule begins to threat- democratic reform of the socialist system. Current Concerns en the interests of other states, particular- As a result of hard work, hot discus- The international journal for independent ly of major powers. Now it comes to neg- sions, negotiation of different points of thought, ethical standards, moral responsibility, ative backlashes. States unite against this view and acceptance of the best of them and for the promotion and respect of public international law, human rights rule in an “anti-coalition”, which devel- on various political and scientific levels and humanitarian law ops enormous strength over time to such we succeeded in developing and enforc- an extent that the hegemonic power can no ing a fundamentally new foreign policy Publisher: Zeit-Fragen Cooperative longer prevail in the military and econom- doctrine of Soviet foreign policy. It was Editor: Erika Vögeli ic conflict. Any hegemonic and expansion- consistent with the peaceful teachings of Address: Current Concerns, ist behaviour, regardless under which ide- Kant. Here is some of its essence: P.O. Box, CH-8044 Zurich ological mask, carries the seeds of its own – Rejection of the Messianic form of rule Phone: +41 (0)44 350 65 50 demise. This is the lesson of the experience and its condemnation; Fax: +41 (0)44 350 65 51 E-Mail: [email protected] of two “hot” world wars and a “cold” one. – Stopping the East-West confrontation Moreover, Soviet leaders grossly offend- and the arms race; Subscription details: published regularly electronically as PDF file ed fundamental principles of foreign pol- – Adhering to the principle: “Not power, icy as formulated already by Clausewitz: but law must prevail in international re- Annual subscription rate of SFr. 40,-, € 30,-, £ 25,-, $ 40,- Foreign policy goals must exactly match lations”; for the following countries: available material resources to achieve – Recognition of the right and freedom of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, them. Was the Soviet Union able to endure every nation to choose its own path of Cyprus, , Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hongkong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the confrontation with all the great west- development; Japan, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Nether- ern powers? That was a dangerous illusion. – Deep democratization and humaniza- lands, New Zealand, Norway, Qatar, Singapore, The Cold War proved to be extremely use- tion of international relations; Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab ­Emirates, ful for ruling circles of the United States. – Establishing an inseparable relation- United Kingdom, USA Annual subscription rate of Unintentionally, the Soviet leadership en- ship between politics and morality; SFr. 20,-, € 15,-, £ 12,50, $ 20,- abled them to gain big political and eco- – Creation of a pan-European political, for all other countries. nomic benefits from the confrontation and economic, legal and cultural space (the Account: Postscheck-Konto: PC 87-644472-4 to strengthen their rule in the countries idea of the“Common​​ European house”). The editors reserve the right to shorten letters to of Western Europe. The well-known Ital- Implementation of these principles in Sovi- the editor. Letters to the editor do not necessarily ian journalist, politician and Russia ex- et foreign policy in the years 1986 – 1990 reflect the views and opinions of Current Concerns. pert Giulietto Chiesa, wrote: “The Soviet made it possible to create the conditions © 2011. All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or Union lost the arms race in combat with the for putting an end to the Cold War and to transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. United States for military supremacy. The find a pan-European consensus, embodied No 31 30 July 2012 Current Concerns Page 14

“… fighting needn’t take place. That it‘ must’ take place is the most dangerous dogma of the belligerent misbelief.” The commitment of Nobel Peace Prize winner Bertha von Suttner against the First World War – as if she was speaking today

February 1914: “… arms policy charged with pauperisation of the people” “Ten thousand unemployed have demonstrated in the streets of Vienna and accused the arms’ policy to cause the pauperisation of the people. The demonstration was peaceful. Those con- cerned were even quieter. There is something curious about the deafness and blindness of the world towards things it doesn’t want to see and hear. In order to perceive the facts one would have to watch and listen more closely. In spite of all this I want to tell you the secret how to per- ceive so many marvellous things even in our sad and gruesome days. We are not to turn a blind eye to the vast field we are faced with, but to look out unwaveringly for the things still to develop.” p. 544

March 1914 “The international murder industry may look forward to nice profits.”

Vienna, 7 March 1914 Vickers, Armstrong and Schneider-Creuzot resonate in all the “They don’t let us take a breath. They keep us in a constant uproar about mobilization, war bonds, war games and so on. state of alert. Now it is the Russian1 trial mobilization an- The international murder industry may look forward to nice nounced by the Petersburg correspondent of the ‘Kölnische profits. And in the exciting poker game that the powers are Zeitung’ that creates rumblings in the press and of course playing for prestige and influence, they dare using bluff ever frightens the citizens and makes them tremble. The ‘inevita- more extensively.” ble’ war is here again. Russia is preparing to invade Germa- 1 The “Kölnische Zeitung” 3 March 1914 published an alarm- ny and Austria. The conflagration is in sight. We owe this ap- ing article on the preparations for war at Russia’s western bor- pealing certainly to the prudent measures of the si vis pacem der. The article was subsequently denied. people. The names of factories like Putilov, Krupp, Skoda, p. 553

March 1914 “Nothing but mutual suspicions, accusations and instigation.”

“The international politics and journalism are current- preparations on the western border of Russia. That same ly dominated by sinister and undignified dealings. Noth- evening this news caused quite vehement disturbances at ing but mutual suspicions and accusations and instigation. the Paris stock exchange, which were reflected in the mar- Well, these are the right vocals to the orchestrated music ket rates of the Russian values at the Paris Stock Exchange. while bringing into position the big guns, to the airships’ These disturbances were communicated today to the St. Pe- practice of bomb-throwing, and especially to the ministry of tersburg Stock Exchange, that displayed extraordinary dis- war’s claims for more financial means. The hateful arias and may under the influence of the aforementioned message, spiteful choruses match this hellish accompaniment. After which was even increased by maneuvers of speculators for the world has been shocked by alarming messages, the de- the fall. We are in the position to formally declare that the nials are now following. On 5 March the organ of the Rus- message of the ‘Kölnische Zeitung’ is unsubstantiated and sian Finance Ministry wrote:. ‘On the 3rd of this month the pure invention.’ And once again the inevitable war has not ‘Kölnische Zeitung’ published a message about alleged war materialized.” p. 553f No 31 30 July 2012 Current Concerns Page 15

April 1914: “The main interest is not the nations’ way of life and how they are prospering and developing, but how they are grouping”

Vienna, 4 April 1914 litical and journalistic clamour is all about. The main inter- There is no end in sight to the on-going suggestions of “the” est is not the nations’ way of life and how they are prosper- (not “an”) imminent world war. At present there is less talk ing and developing, but how they are grouping. Is Rumania of the Russian danger – thanks to the unofficial peace dec- going to join Russia, is Sweden going to join Germany? larations made by Russian politicians; instead Rumania has Where are the Balkan states or Turkey going to gravitate? now been set up as the rising spectre. It has occurred that Will there even be a shift within the two big adverse Triple the local League for Culture in Bukarest held an assembly in Alliances? All these anxious worries make it clearer from day which national-chauvinistic circles, mostly students, dem- to day that both these centres of attraction finally ought to onstrated in favour of Russia and against Austria, and that cease pledging their hostile opposition. They must stop ac- an army general spoke of the possibility of crossing the Car- cusing each other of war mongering, while at the same time pathian Mountains. That is the present subject of countless asserting their will to keep peace. Both tendencies do indeed editorials – once more there is a welcome rekindling of the exist, but it is not that one of them exists in one country, bellingerent European fuse of war. Of course it is not about and the other in the other, but rather that we find both ten- the question if little Rumania wants to wage a war against dencies in all countries. It all depends which of them will big Austria-Hungary, but whether Rumania is going to ally prevail in the end. Predominance will decide, and this is also with Russia or with our monarchy, or, in other words, with the new way in which the participants will regroup them- the Triple Alliance. That is what the entire diplomatic, po- selves across borders. p. 560 f

April 1914 “… this is the way how bellicose people are stirring up a preventive war” “The well-known writer of science-fiction novels, General F. holds that the armament serves only the peace-securing de- Bernhardi, published an alarming article in the Berlin ‘Post’, fence. They set up the principle: since fighting is in evitably wherein he demands ‘to establish absolute preparedness for going to come, it is much better not to wait until the enemy war along our borders.’ The shaping of the political situa- has geared up to finish up with us. This reasoning is not bad, tion is such ‘that we are able to offensively initiate a necessary however, it contains a false prerequisite: Fighting needn’t take war under most favourable conditions.’ Those bellicose peo- place. That it ‘must’ take place is the most dangerous dogma ple are stirring up a preventive war because to them matters of the belligerent misbelief.” develop too slowly since the generally proclaimed standpoint p. 561

May 1914: “The interests of the Rockefeller oiltrust”

“Another sad event has taken place in America: the ican business people. Who can look behind the scene? All slaughtering of the workmen on strike in Colora- the acts of violence build on two basic errors: the belief that do, an incident which many explain by ‘the interests a country must be possessed politically in order to make use of the Rockefeller oiltrust.’ Also the turmoil in Mexico is sus- of its resources and riches, and that anything good may at all pected to have been caused by underhand dealings of Amer- be achieved by manslaughter and destruction.” p. 569