FINANCIAL TIMES:
Britain’s “Financial Times” says in an editorial that U.S., EU, and NATO diplomats have done well to propel Macedonia away from its imminent civil war, but that they must think bigger about a proposed international force. The newspaper says: “Their efforts could be in vain unless they deploy a substantial security force.”
The present plan is to send 3,500 international troops into Macedonia for 30 days, and to confine their task to collecting arms voluntarily surrendered by ethnic Albanian rebels. The editorial says: “This is unrealistic. Guerrilla armies rarely give up their arms so fast. At best, they hide them and wait to see whether they will be needed again.”
The newspaper says: “The EU and the United States are understandably reluctant to create another international Balkan protectorate alongside Bosnia and Kosovo. A third deployment would strain NATO’s resources. But if they fail, the country could be plunged into civil war. NATO might then be forced to intervene anyway, at much greater human and financial cost.”
LOS ANGELES TIMES:
The “Los Angeles Times” editorializes that while the eyes of the world are fixed upon the Israelis and the Palestinians, another Mideastern drama is brewing. The newspaper says that the clerics of Iran, fearful of losing control over the country, have gone on the offensive. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, twice postponed the swearing-in of President Mohammad Khatami. Khatami’s inauguration was finally held today.
The newspaper says: “Khatami is no Nelson Mandela, determined to bring freedom and democracy to his nation. He’s more a Nikita Khrushchev, attractive only in comparison with the retrogressive hard-liners around him. But given the level of oppression in Iran, Khatami’s tentative calls for liberalization are enough to make him the enemy of conservatives — and the repository of society’s hopes.”
The editorial says that the outcome of the power dispute between Iran’s reformists and conservatives will have far-reaching consequences. It says, “The dispute will have an important effect on whether Iran follows a reform course or remains hostage to Islamic fundamentalism.” It goes on: “The divisions over Khatami’s investiture are emblematic of Iranian society. Khatami’s landslide victory shows that the clear majority of Iranians want change. But as history shows, a determined and fanatical minority can, up to a point, inflict its will.”
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE:
Steven Everts, of the Center for European Reform, comments in the “International Herald Tribune” that Europe should take steps to repair the former closeness of its U.S. ties. Everts says, “Something is seriously wrong in the relationship between the United States and Europe.” He writes, “The hard fact is that Europe and the United States are drifting apart in their overall world outlook.”
Everts says that the United States has developed a “skepticism about the value of international rules and norms, coupled with a strong preference for both military spending and coercive diplomacy. As a result some have argued, with only a degree of exaggeration, that the team of U.S. President George W. Bush has a survivalist foreign policy doctrine.” The writer says: “In Europe the rule of law, international treaties and institutions are seen as the preferred means to harness power and advance common interests.”
The commentator proposes the EU takes these steps to regain U.S. amity:
“recognize that regaining U.S. support for global agreements is a key foreign policy priority;
“improve its own performance in foreign policy by making greater efforts to match words with deeds;
“learn to use its considerable economic power and the various instruments at its disposal, such as trade policy, humanitarian aid, and economic and technical assistance, to support a political strategy;
“think more globally when it comes to hard security questions; and
“finally, improve the representation of their views to members of Congress.”
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EUROPE:
Under the headline, “Fight or Flight,” “The Wall Street Journal Europe” editorializes: “Surveying the havoc wreaked by anarchists at the G-7 plus Russia summit in Genoa, Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has now proposed moving an upcoming World Food Summit from Rome to Africa.”
The editorial says: “We can only conclude that Mr. Berlusconi wants to send the First World suburban anarchists to a place where some other leader will get the blame when the balaclava-wearing set starts smashing store windows and daring the police to shoot them. But the real way to deal with the protesters is not to deny them an inviting target, like Rome, but to focus police counterintelligence efforts on the violent gangs that make up a part of the antiglobalization movement.”
The newspaper concludes: “Prime Minister Berlusconi’s proposed change of venue may be motivated by fear of violence, but support for it comes from hope for change. Let’s not cave in to the protesters; let’s educate them about the real world.”
