February 1999

LONDON- Olesegun Obasanjo, the likely winner in Nigeria’s presidential election on Saturday, combines to a rare degree brain, brawn and charm. Of massive build, his self assurance and determination often compel others to bend before his will. His detractors would call him ruthless; he does not suffer fools, and many have withered before his unconcealed scorn. Yet he is not a self-inflated man. Arrogance is not his vice. Only released from prison last June, after three years of struggling to maintain his spirits in a dank cell, he has moved quickly to regain the presidency he voluntarily relinquished twenty years ago. It was the same self-perpetuating clique of self-enriching military officers who incarcerated him, who had turned to dust his earlier effort, when he was president in the late 1970s–and himself a military appointee–to return the country to democracy. Two summers back I went to visit his old and trusted friend,...

A Letter to the New York Times about Kosovo by Marc Beginin This is what Marc Beginin wrote to TFF as an introduction to his letter to the New York Times. I am one of the few non-journalists who actually made an excursion to Rambouillet during the peace "negotiations." At that time, it came home that the primary function of the modern, mainstream journalist was to simply to increase ratings of their representative organizations in order to increase advertising revenue. This means of course sensationalism, not offending the source, and black and white reporting. I was blown away by all the "correct" questions that were asked of the powers that be and the lack of interest in actually reporting the facts. It was an added shock when all the reporters poised questions to James Rubin, spokesperson for the Secretary of State and then a voice came from the back of...

“The Plan being discussed at Rambouillet is aformalistic, legal document. Its provisions may be needed,but it doesn’t contain any ideas on how to make peace amongthe citizens who are to live with it when implemented. Theirvoice is not heard, their needs are not dealt with in thePlan. Most of the delegates in Rambouillet are notrepresentative of the citizens. The “mediators” have noprofessional education as mediators. The idea that Kosovo’sproblems can be solved in two weeks is absurd. Rambouilletmilitates against all we know about human psychology andtrust-building. So, once again politics fool media and media foolworld public opinion. And people in Kosovo will have to waitfor peace as long as the vagabonds in Beckett’s drama waitfor Godot…” says Dr. Jan Oberg upon returning from TFF’s34th mission to ex-Yugoslavia, this time to Skopje, Belgradeand the troubled Kosovo province. 1. The preparation When wars are fought thousands of trained soldiers aremobilised, highly trained...

Rambouillet (Rambo-Yeah) och Rashid Det är fredagen den 19 februari. Jag har just återvänt från nästan tre veckor i Skopje, Belgrad och Kosovo. Min analys och min intuition säger det jag inte vill höra: bombningarna rycker närmare. Det var det 34:e besöket sedan 1991. Jag är delvis utbildad i Dubrovnik, sedan 1974. Jag kan inte släppa det, det är på något sätt också mitt land, som återigen hotas av den kulturkrets jag tillhör. Radmila och Peca i Belgrad, vänner sedan 1974, intellektuella som har valt att inte lämna, har just sagt nej till ett erbjudande om uppehälle i utlandet. Dottern Anja på 9 skall växa upp här. "Jag reste ned nu," säger jag, "därför att det antingen skulle falla bomber eller bli en sorts ‘förhandling’ och jag ville vara här om flygraiderna kommer, för jag skäms över vad Danmark, Norge och andra länder gör." Radmila får tårar i ögonen. En...

Det är fredagen den 19 februari. Jag har just återvänt från nästan tre veckor i Skopje, Belgrad och Kosovo. Min analys och min intuition säger det jag inte vill höra: bombningarna rycker närmare. Det var det 34:e besöket sedan 1991. Jag är delvis utbildad i Dubrovnik, sedan 1974. Jag kan inte släppa det, det är på något sätt också mitt land, som återigen hotas av den kulturkrets jag tillhör. Radmila och Peca i Belgrad, vänner sedan 1974, intellektuella som har valt att inte lämna, har just sagt nej till ett erbjudande om uppehälle i utlandet. Dottern Anja på 9 skall växa upp här. “Jag reste ned nu,” säger jag, “därför att det antingen skulle falla bomber eller bli en sorts ‘förhandling’ och jag ville vara här om flygraiderna kommer, för jag skäms över vad Danmark, Norge och andra länder gör.” Radmila får tårar i ögonen. En diplomat på den brittiska ambassaden...

Vi skriver fredag den 19. januar. For få dage siden kom jeg hjem fra små tre uger i Skopje, Beograd og Kosovo. Min analyse og min intuition siger mig dét, jeg ikke vil høre: bombningerne nærmer sig. Det var 34. besøg siden 1991. Jeg er delvist uddannet i Dubrovnik, fra 1974. Jeg kan ikke slippe det. Det er altså også mit land, der atter trues af den kulturkreds, jeg tilhører. Radmila og Peca i Beograd, venner siden 1974, intellektuelle der har valgt ikke at forlade landet og netop har sagt nej til et ophold i udlandet. Datteren Anja på 9 skal vokse op hér. “Jeg rejste ned nu,” siger jeg, “fordi der enten ville falde bomber eller blive en eller anden slags ‘forhandling’ og jeg vil være hér hvis I blir bombet, for jeg skammer mig over hvad Danmark og andre lande gør.” Hun får tårer i øjnene. En diplomat...

Rambouillet (Rambo-Yeah) og Rashid Vi skriver fredag den 19. januar. For få dage siden kom jeg hjem fra små tre uger i Skopje, Beograd og Kosovo. Min analyse og min intuition siger mig dét, jeg ikke vil høre: bombningerne nærmer sig. Det var 34. besøg siden 1991. Jeg er delvist uddannet i Dubrovnik, fra 1974. Jeg kan ikke slippe det. Det er altså også mit land, der atter trues af den kulturkreds, jeg tilhører. Radmila og Peca i Beograd, venner siden 1974, intellektuelle der har valgt ikke at forlade landet og netop har sagt nej til et ophold i udlandet. Datteren Anja på 9 skal vokse op hér. "Jeg rejste ned nu," siger jeg, "fordi der enten ville falde bomber eller blive en eller anden slags ‘forhandling’ og jeg vil være hér hvis I blir bombet, for jeg skammer mig over hvad Danmark og andre lande gør." Hun får tårer...

“What happens now in Rambouillet has little to do withcreating peace for the suffering citizens in the Yugoslavprovince of Kosovo/a. Disguised as “negotiations” about a“peace” plan, the international so-called community promotesless noble values and long-term goals in the region and usethe Serbs and Albanians as supernumeraries in its drama.It’s time we ask what the self-proclaimed “conflictmanagers” are actually up to. If peace in Kosovo or thewider Balkans had been the real aim, we would have witnesseda completely different approach leading up to Rambouillet.We come closer to the truth about Rambouillet if we usewords such as globalisation, strategic expansion, Caspianoil, Greater NATO, containment policy and imperialismdisguised as conflict-management and peace-making,” says Dr.Jan Oberg upon returning from the 34th TFF mission to theregion since 1992, this time to Skopje, Belgrade and Kosovo. “If PEACE was their profession, the governments of theinternational community would – around 1992 – have putenough diplomatic and other...

Feb. 17, 1999 LONDON- Two weeks on, the sentiments of the moment somewhat subsided, it’s now very clear that the death of King Hussein of Jordan ushered in a new and perhaps painful era in the Middle East. Fifty heads of government may have made the pilgrimage to the funeral in Amman out of respect, but more likely the real compulsion–and in President Boris Yeltsin’s case, a sheer act of will power–was a worry, verging on paranoia, that if the present dispensation of military and dynastic strongmen in the Arab Middle East disappears before a full peace is made with Israel there will be chaos, war– and who knows what that may bring? Everybody there knew that King Hussein’s efforts to introduce a larger role for an elected parliament foundered on rank and file hostility to making peace with Israel. When King Hussein’s coffin entered the ground, all that was left...

LONDON- The nineteenth century’s “Great Game” was the rivalry between Russia and Britain over access to the riches of India. But even then it was fueled in part by the competition for Caspian Oil. The Caucasus and Central Asia were not only the route to India but a prize worth fighting for itself. Today a new Great Game is being played in the very same region, between Russia and America. One century on, the pawns in the middle are the new post- Soviet states of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, all of whom are desperate to use the energy potential of the Caspian basin to strengthen their independence. Some idea of the high rolling stakes being bet can be gained from the statement earlier this month by the chief foreign affairs adviser to the president of Azerbaijan, Vafa Guluzade. He told a number of newspapers that Azerbaijan wants a U.S....

LONDON- The nuclear reprocessing issue is not going to disappear off the political map even though German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder last week overrode his environment minister and postponed legislation that would have led to a quick ending of the shipping of nuclear waste to reprocessing plants in Britain and France and also a fairly rapid closing of the country’s 19 nuclear power plants. The nuclear industry is a big and powerful lobby and, as the debate over compensation for broken contracts demonstrates, vast sums are at stake. But as the unanswered questions mount on both the issues of health and military security it can be only a matter of time before all rational governments introduce the kind of radical steps the German government initially announced. Indeed, Schroeder, despite his intervention on the side of delay, is committed to end the export of radioactive waste and the subsequent reprocessing within a handful...