Catalan International View
Issue 3 • Spring 2009 • E 5
A European Review of the World
Energy: the European Union and Russia
by Martí Anglada
Reflections on a war in Gaza
by Víctor Terradellas
Architecture and progress in the Western world
by Pau Pedragosa
Understanding the crisis: five views and ten lessons
by Xavier Freixas
SECTIONS: Europe · The Americas · Middle East · Opinions · Africa · Language & Culture Interview · Business & Economics · Science & Technology · Green Debate · The Artist · A Poem
Editor:
Víctor Terradellas
vterradellas@catmon.cat Director Francesc de Dalmases
director@international-view.cat Art Director
Quim Milla
designer@international-view.cat Editorial Coordinator
Geni Flos
coordinator@international-view.cat
Editorial Board
Martí Anglada Manel Balcells Enric Canela Àngel Font Anna Grau August Gil Montserrat Guibernau Guillem López Casasnovas Manuel Manonelles Fèlix Martí Arcadi Oliveres Eva Piquer Ricard Planas Vicent Sanchis Pere Torres Carles Vilarrubí Vicenç Villatoro Chief Editors
Judit Aixalà Francesc Parés
Linguistic Advisors
Nigel Balfour Júlia López Seguí Makeup
Marta Calvó Cover Art
Agustí Puig
The reproduction of the artwork on the front cover is thanks to an agreement between Fundació Vila Casas and Fundació CATmón Executive Production Headquarters, Administration and Subcriptions
To Our Readers
Contents
6......... An open letter to President Barack Obama by Francesc de Dalmases Europe
8......... Energy: the European Union and Russia
by Martí Anglada
12........ Ukraine: between Russia and the West
by Natàlia Boronat
The Americas
18........ Obama and the future of Guantanamo
by Emma Reverter
22........ Who is in charge in the Promised Land?
by Anna Grau
Middle East
26........ Reflections on a war in Gaza
by Víctor Terradellas
Africa
30........ Rethinking Africa
by Nicolás Valle
Opinions
34........ Architecture and progress in the Western world
by Pau Pedragosa
38........ Values in a time of crisis
by Salvador Cardús
42........ Miquel Barceló, contemporary art’s scapegoat
by Ricard Planas
44........ The future of religion in Europe
by Fèlix Martí
48........ The geopolitics of interreligious dialogue
by Manuel Manonelles i Tarragó
Language & Culture
54........ Combating the economic crisis through multilingualism
by Antoni Mir
Interview
60....... Joan Triadú
by Eva Piquer
Bussiness and Economics
Fonollar, 14 08003 Barcelona Catalunya (Europe) Tel.: + 34 93 533 42 38 Fax: + 34 93 319 22 24 www. international-view.cat
68........ Understanding the crisis: five views and ten lessons
Legal deposit
Green Debate
ISSN
B-26639-2008 2013-0716
© Edicions de la Fundació CATmón. All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, protocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Edicions de la Fundació CATmón. Printed in Catalunya by
Grup Balmes
by Xavier Freixas
Science and Technology
74........ Perseverance and passion for progress
by Maria Josep Picó
78........ The future still belongs to the car by Pere Torres
A short story from history
82........ A glamorous contribution to the Belle Époque
by Manuel Manonelles i Tarragó
The Artist
84........ Agustí Puig
A Poem
86........ Jordi de Sant Jordi
Published every three months.
Catalan International View
Editorial Board Martí Anglada Foreign news editor at TV3 (Catalunya Television). He has been foreign correspondent in the Middle East, Italy and Great Britain (1977-1984) for the Barcelona newspaper La Vanguardia and United States correspondent for TV3 (1987-1990). He has also been an international political commentator. He recently published Afers no tan estrangers (Not So Foreign Affairs) for Editorial Mina (part of Grup 62).
Manel Balcells (Ripoll, 1958). Doctor specialising in orthopaedics, traumatology and sports medicine. Holds a degree in Health Management from EADA and is a member of a number of scientific societies. In his long career in the health sector he has been medical director of Granollers General Hospital (Barcelona); both director and secretary of Coordination and Strategy for the Department of Health of the Generalitat of Catalunya; councillor for the Department of Universities, Research and Information Society; and consultant for the Catalan Hospital Consortium. Since the 27th of December 2006 he has been president of the board of directors of the Private BioRegion Foundation of Catalunya.
Enric Canela (Barcelona, 1949). Holds a Chemistry degree from the Universitat de Barcelona (UB, 1972) and a PhD in Chemistry with Biochemistry as his specialisation. Lecturer at the UB since 1974, he is professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and head of the department of the same name in the Biology Faculty of the UB. He collaborates in research on intracellular communication and theoretical biochemistry. He regularly publishes in scientific journals of international renown. Between 1991 and 1995 he was vice-president of the Catalan Biology Society. He has been president of the Society for Knowledge since September 2007. Since June 2007 he has been patron of the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA) for the Spanish state.
Àngel Font i Vidal (lleida, 1965). Holds a degree in Chemical Sciences from the Universitat de Barcelona and a diploma in Business Management from EADA Business School. Began his career in an environmental engineering company and subsequently joined Intermón Oxfam where he held the post of coordinator on projects in Latin America, fund-raising and public relations and assistant to the director general. Since 2000 he has been director of the Un Sol Món (One World) Foundation financed by the Caixa de Catalunya (savings bank) where he runs projects for social housing and employment for disadvantaged groups as well as the development of microfinance in Spain, Latin America and Africa. Àngel Font is a member of the Cooperation Council of the Generalitat de Catalunya and was the first vice-president of the European Microfinance Network. He carries out teaching duties related to the management of non-profit organisations at a number of business schools.
Anna Grau Journalist and writer. From 1991 to 2005 she worked as a political journalist in Barcelona and Madrid, where she was the correspondent for the Avui newspaper and numerous programmes for TV3, Catalunya Ràdio, Ràdio4 and COM ràdio. In 2005 she left for New York, where she currently works. Author of El dia que va morir el president (the Day the President Died), Dones contra dones (Women Against Women) and Endarrere aquesta gent (Reject These People) and the essay Per què parir (Why have a baby?).
August Gil Matamala Has been a practising lawyer since 1960, specialising in the fields of criminal and labour law. He has taken part in numerous cases in defence of people on trial for their demands in favour of people’s rights, as well as hearings before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Matamala fought the first successful case against the Spanish state for the violation of basic rights. He is a founder member of the Commission for the Defence of Individual Rights of the Col·legi d’Advocats de Barcelona (the Barcelona Bar Association) and the Catalan Association for the Defence of Human Rights, which he presided over from its foundation in 1985 to 2001. Gil Matamala has also been president of both the Catalunya Foundation and the European Democratic Lawyers organisation. In 2007, coinciding with his retirement, he received the Saint George’s Cross (the highest honour awarded by the Catalan government).
Montserrat Guibernau Professor of Politics at Queen Mary College, University of London. Holds a PhD and an MA in Social and Political Theory from the University of Cambridge and a degree in Philosophy from the Universitat de Barcelona. She has taught at the universities of Warwick, Cambridge, Barcelona, the London School of Economics and the Open University. Guibernau has held visiting professorhips at the universities of Edinburgh, Tampere, Pompeu Fabra, the UQAM (Quebec) and the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Currently she holds a visiting fellowship at the Centre for the Study of Global Governance, London School of Economics. Montserrat Guibernau is the author of numerous books and articles on nationalism, the nation-state, national identity, and national and ethnic minorities in the West from the perspective of global governance.
Guillem López Casasnovas (Menorca, 1955). Holds a degree in Economics (distinction, 1978) and Law (1979) from the Universitat de Barcelona (UB). He obtained his PhD in Public Economics from the University of York (UK, 1984). He has been a lecturer at the Universitat de Barcelona, visiting scholar at the Institute of Social and Economic Research (UK), University of Sussex and at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Stanford (USA). Since June 1992 has been full professor of economics at Barcelona’s Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), where he has been vice rector of Economics and International Relations and dean of the Scool of Economics and Business Science. In 1998 he created the Economics and Health Research Centre (CRES- UPF), which he directed until recently. Co director of the Master’s in Public Management (UPF-UAB-EAPC). In 2000 he received the Catalan Economics Society Award and in 2001 the Joan Sardà Dexeus Award. He is also a member of the Menorcan Institute of Studies, The Catalan Royal Academy of Medicine and a distinguished member of the Economists’ Society of Catalunya. President of the International Health Economics Association and since 2005 one of the Spanish Central Bank’s six independent Council members.
Manuel Manonelles i Tarragó Political commentator specialising in international relations, human rights and democratisation processes. Currently director of the Foundation for a Culture of Peace, Barcelona. He has been special advisor to the Co-chair of the UN High Level Group for the Alliance of Civilisations, as well as advisor to the coordinator of the Secretariat of the World Forum of Civil Society Networks (Ubuntu Forum), which is a member of the International Council of the World Social Forum. He has been an international electoral observer and supervisor for the OSCE and the EU on many occasions, and has participated in several international intergovernmental and non-governmental processes.
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Catalan International View
Fèlix Martí Former president of the International Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs (Pax Romana), from 1975 to 1984; director of Catalonia magazine (1987-2002), a publication printed in four different languages, aimed at disseminating Catalan culture; director of the UNESCO centre of Catalunya (1984 to 2002) and later its honorary president (from 2003). From 1994 to 2002 he was editor of the Catalan editions of the yearly reports of the Washington-based Worldwatch Institute, L’Estat del món (The State of the World) and Signes vitals (Vital Signs). He promotes the Declaration on Contributions by Religions to a Culture of Peace, signed by leaders of the great religious traditions in 1994. President of the Linguapax International Institute from 2001 to 2004 and honorary president thereafter. Wrote his memoirs Diplomàtic sense estat (Diplomat Without a State), published by Edicions Proa in 2006. Was awarded the UNESCO Human Rights Medal in 1995 and the Generalitat de Catalunya’s ‘Creu de Sant Jordi’ (St. George’s Cross) in 2002.
Arcadi Oliveres (Barcelona, 1945). PhD in Economic Science, lecturer in the Department of Applied Economics at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and president of the organisation Justícia i Pau ( Justice and Peace). He is also president of the Catalan Council for the Promotion of Peace, the International Peace University Foundation of Sant Cugat del Vallès, the Federation of Internationally Recognised Catalan Organisations (FOCIR) and the Easy to Read Association. He is an expert on North-South relations, international trade, external debt and defence economics and also lectures on aid and development for a number of master’s and PhD programmes.
Eva Piquer (Barcelona, 1969). Writer and journalist. Works for the Avui newspaper where she coordinates the cultural supplement and the culture section. Has been a lecturer at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and a New York news correspondent. Won the 2002 Josep Pla prize for her novel Una victòria diferent (A Different Victory). Also author of several books, including La noia del temps (The Weather Girl), Alícia al país de la televisió (Alice in Television Land) and No sóc obsessiva, no sóc obsessiva, no sóc obsessiva (I’m Not Obsessive, I’m Not Obsessive, I’m Not Obsessive).
Ricard Planas (Girona, 1976). Journalist, art critic and cultural promoter. Studied Philology and the History of Art at the University of Girona. in 1999 he founded the magazine Bonart, dedicated to the contemporary art scene in the Catalan Countries. More recently he created and directed the Catalan art fair INART in 2005 and 2006. Has worked as the curator for exhibitions by important artists such as Arranz-Bravo, Lamazares, Formiguera, Cuixart, Ansesa and Grau-Garriga. Ricard has collaborated with Ona Catalana, Catalunya Ràdio, iCatfm and Onda Rambla radio stations. Has also worked for the Diari de Girona, El Punt and El Mundo newspapers, among others.
Vicent Sanchis i Llàcer (València, 1961). Holds a degree in Information Science from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. In his career as a journalist it is worth highlighting that he has worked and collaborated on many publications and with numerous publishers; he has been editor and director of El Temps magazine; director of Setze magazine, the Catalan supplement of Cambio 16; and director of the newspapers El Observador and Avui. He has also excelled as a scriptwriter and director on different TV programmes. At present he is president of the editorial board of Avui, content director of Grup Cultura 03 and vice-president of Òminium Cultural. Vicent is also lecturer in the Faculty of Communication Sciences at Universitat Ramon Llull de Barcelona.
Pere Torres Biologist and environmental consultant. After some time spent on research (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), he joined the Government of Catalunya in 1991. He was in turn secretary of the Catalan Inter-university Council (1991-1993), head of the Environment Minister’s staff(1993-1995), general director of Environmental Planning (1995-2000) and secretary for Regional Planning (2000-2003). Since 2004 he has done consultancy work in public management, sustainability and land use planning and has been a regular contributor to the International Institute for Governability and the Cerdà Institute.
Carles Vilarrubí i Carrió (Barcelona, 1954) Businessman. He is currently Executive Vice-President of Rothschild Spain Investment Bank, specialising in key mergers and takeovers in the financial sector on an international scale. President of CVC Grupo Consejero, an equity and investment advisory firm, with a portfolio of shares in consulting and service companies from the world of communications, the media, marketing, technology and telecommunications. President of Doxa Consulting Group, independent consultants on technology, media and telecommunications, leaders in the sector and with a presence in Spain and Portugal. He is a member of the advisory board of the Catalan confederation Foment del Treball Nacional (National Employment Promotion) and patron of the Fundació Orfeó Català Palau de la Música. He has also been a member of the governing council of ADENA WWF (World Wild Fund for Nature), and sat on the boards of the Fundación Arte y Tecnología, Fundesco and Fundación Entorno.
Vicenç Villatoro i Lamolla (Terrassa, 1957). Writer and journalist. Holds a degree in Information Sciences. Currently the president of the Ramon Trias Fargas Foundation. As a journalist he has worked for numerous organisations. He was the editor of the Avui newspaper from 1993 to 1996 and head of the culture section of TV3. Between 2002 and 2004 was director general of the Catalan Radio and Television Corporation. He has contributed to a range of media companies, such as Avui, El Periódico, El País, El Temps, Catalunya Ràdio and Com Ràdio. As a writer he has written a dozen novels.
Francesc de Dalmases (Director) (Barcelona, 1970). He works as a journalist as well as being a logistician and consultant in humanitarian aid and cooperation and development. Has been president (1999-2006) of the Association of Periodicals in Catalan (APPEC); coordinator for the delegation to the Spanish state of European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages (1995-1999); coordinator for the third conference of the CONSEU (Conference of European Stateless Nations) (1999); and coordinator for the publication Europa de les Nacions (1993-1999). He is a founder member of CAL (the Coordinator of Associations for the Catalan language). Has acted as a foreign expert in aid projects in such diverse locations as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Mongolia, Kosovo, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mexico, Guatemala and Morocco. He is patron of the Reeixida Foundation and the CATmón Foundation. President of IGMAN-Acció Solidària and director of ONGC a magazine dedicated to political thought, solidarity, aid and international relations. He is a member of the Cooperation Council of the Catalan government.
Víctor Terradellas i Maré (Editor) (Reus, 1962). Entrepreneur and political and cultural activist. President and founder of CATmón Foundation. Editor of Catalan International View and ONGC, a magazine dedicated to political thought, solidarity, aid and international relations. Victor has always been involved in political and social activism, both nationally and internationally. The driving force behind the Plataforma per la Sobirania (The Platform for Self-Determination) as well as being responsible for significant Catalan aid operations and international relations in such diverse locations as Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Pakistan and Kurdistan.
Catalan International View
5
To Our Readers
An open letter to President Barack Obama by Francesc de Dalmases
Dear Mr. President,
First of all, we would like to express our congratulations on your election to the post of 44th President of the United States of America. As has been said many times, your victory goes far beyond mere percentages and signifies, in America, Europe and a major part of the world, a dose of hope in these difficult times that are marked by despair and political, social and economic uncertainty. We are certain you are aware, Mr. President, that this enormous capital of hope that you have been capable of generating also represents the major challenge of your presidency. There is so much hope and so much need for change in your country as there is in many parts of the world where your country, the United States, has a direct and often severe influence. Knowing how to manage this capital of hope during your time in office will involve setting political and economic priorities, from the first few weeks, and also drawing up a new geopolitical and geostrategic map for the US administration. Our deep respect and recognition of your legitimacy and independence allow us to outline in this open letter some aspects of domestic and foreign policy that we find are essential to making your policies coherent with the programme you 6
outlined during the presidential campaign. As you know, decisions made by the American president have an impact far beyond your borders and have a global significance, for good or for bad. These few lines were written for this reason and it is the reason why they should be read. In terms of domestic policy, you promised to ‘establish financial regulations and rules of the road that ensure this kind of crisis doesn’t happen again’. It is a goal that goes far beyond any specific strategies that allow us to confront the worst financial crisis facing the United States since the Great Depression. You also promised to intervene in the labour market to generate the ‘creation of jobs that pay well and allow families to support themselves’. It is a show of support for the less favoured classes that you wished to complement with health reforms enabling you to ‘reduce the cost of health care and expand coverage’. All these policies are aimed at enabling the collective progress of your society. You completed them with a commitment to a new era in the US education system that will be able to revitalise your ‘public school system to make it fit to face up to the new challenges produced by the twenty-first century’. In international policy, in a specific act of great symbolism you promised us you would close
Catalan International View
As you know, decisions made by the American president make an impact far beyond your borders and have a global significance, for good or for bad
negotiations. This call comes from the Old Europe, which still remembers the alliance and sacrifice that led to the liberation from Nazism and Fascism (even those nations such as Catalunya that were deprived of said liberation and had to endure long military dictatorships). It is the same Old Europe that was divided during the Cold War; the Old Europe that is needed far beyond the devolved military coordination that is NATO and that requires, demands and has to generate a common foreign policy. It is a new Europe that is essential to restore your image and your actions in the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Central Asia; a new Europe that, like America, competes with emerging Asian markets. Above all, it is a Europe, both old and new, that must be a reference point of a certain idea of democracy and respect for human rights.
These represent changes in America’s foreign activities that must be accompanied, again in your own words, by work to ‘reinvigorate international institutions to deal with transnational threats like climate change, that America can’t solve on its own’.
These are goals for you, as well as common goals that count on the initial impetus provided by hopes and expectations that you have had the ability to generate. Now the time for speeches has ended. It is the time for action. We wish you luck (and long may you find more) and that you count us among your allies.
Guantanamo and ‘in a responsible way, put a clear end to torture and restore a balance between the demands of security and the Constitution’. It is an international scene in which you want to ‘effectively reconstruct alliances around the world’. A strategy that has to allow you to ‘pull US troops out of Iraq, and establish new activities in Afghanistan based on diplomacy and the desire to decisively contribute to the political, economic and social development of the region’.
From Europe we should like to add the need for your knowing how to win and maintain the trust of the European Union, in order that you become a leading player in both dialogues and
With respect and our sincerest best wishes.
Catalan International View
7
Europe
The European Union and Russia: a world of energy by Martí Anglada*
Until the expansion of the European Union to 27 countries, European foreign policy was essentially one of expansion. In fact, it was the only policy. The external efforts of the EU were concentrated on its growth and, therefore, focused on its European neighbours (in East Europe and the Baltic, previously under Soviet influence). Following its latest growth, this form of European foreign policy has proven to be very limited. It includes the Balkan states, Turkey and just six other countries: Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and the three Caucasus- Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. To make matters worse, the latter six countries formed part of the Soviet Union. Therefore, any action in this sphere comes up against Russia’s interests and influence. Consequently, the lesson to be learnt from a European foreign policy solely based on influencing those countries that are candidates for EU membership, is that it has reached its limit. It is obvious, now more than ever, that the EU needs an effective foreign policy. It is well known that the foreign policy of a great power, such as the EU is at present, needs to give priority to its allies (the United States and other members of NATO), the other great powers (China, India, Russia and Japan) and the presence of international organisations (the WTO and the IMF). Another priority for attention must be for one’s neighbours, which is to say towards all the countries on the shores of the Mediterranean, the countries mentioned above and, once again, towards Russia. Russia is unique, therefore, in that it fulfils the double condition of being both a neighbour and a great power. Currently, an impetus has been given to a collective presence in the continent that is part of the European colonial heritage, which is to say Africa. The EU’s military missions in Chad and Somalia 8
are an example of such a presence. This is a result of the impact made by the French presidency, now that the EU is beginning to experience the need for an effective foreign policy. However, according to the spokesperson for the presidency of the European Commission, the three major advances in common foreign policy in recent times are: A) that the EU has been key to Kosovo’s impendence, B) that the EU has been the sole mediator in the war in Georgia and C) the ‘Eastern Partnership’ (the six countries mentioned above, headed by Ukraine, all former members of the Soviet Union). Therefore, the elements that Brussels highlights as significant are to be found by looking towards the East, where we always find Russia. In reality, it is the European Union’s recognition of the fact that aiming for an authentic foreign policy always begins with Russia. The journey that the EU is
Catalan International View
undertaking towards global participation always has its first stop in Moscow, where it must pass its first test of planetary credibility.
The journey that the EU is undertaking towards global participation always has its first stop in Moscow, where it must pass its first test of planetary credibility Following the conflict in Georgia in the summer of 2008, the EU announced on the 5th of November that it would resume talks with Russia over the renewal of the treaty that deals with issues such as energy, the structure of the Russian market (a key element if Russia continues with its
goal of entering the World Trade Organisation), organised crime and migration. The picture these issues paint is basically an economic one. Are there other areas of collaboration between the EU and Russia that spill over into areas beyond the economic realm? What is happening in the military arena, for example? In terms of military issues of a more peaceful nature, such as the peace missions, there are positive signs of collaboration between the EU and Russia. They are limited, however, to the administration of the crises, such as in Somalia. This decisively contributes to the fact that all the EU’s missions are conducted under the UN’s umbrella and that the EU is not a defensive bloc in its own right. Indeed, if the EU often carries out missions that could be done by NATO, it is because the UN prefers the EU for this very reason.
Catalan International View
9
Europe
European security is another issue entirely. It is one in which the EU and Russia fail to maintain an effective dialogue. They are, obviously, valid negotiators that have taken on a relative degree of cooperation in the construction of a new architecture of European security, but the negotiations are between NATO and Russia. NATO, of which various members of the EU are not members (Ireland, Sweden, Finland and Austria), and Russia are the true effective interlocutors in terms of security (from the balance of conventional forces on the continent to the anti-missile shield that the Pentagon wants to install in the Czech Republic and Poland). The question, therefore, is: does NATO complicate the EU’s relationship with Russia? The answer is, at present, ‘no’. However, it could cause a problem if NATO does not proceed with a flexibilisation of its ability to operate that gives more autonomy to its European members. Nevertheless, NATO is committed to moving in this direction, one that leads to a strengthening of the so-called ‘European pillar’ of the Alliance. At present, in view of the fact that the EU’s foreign policy is still of an embryonic nature, Brussels does not have the capacity to pressure on Moscow and make demands on it, both of which are needed in order to negotiate with Russia on matters of security. In order to highlight the EU’s pressing need to fortify a common foreign policy towards Russia, it is worthwhile examining the different ways in which Russia and the EU deal with their immediate neighbours. Russia tends to consider a neighbour’s defeat as a victory for itself, as such a situation increases Moscow’s influence, making the neighbour more dependent. The procedure established by the EU, from the treaties of association with countries of the Maghreb to the accords with Turkey, is on the other hand, one of considering that if the neighbour is in a better position, then it will benefit the EU. What the EU is looking for is known as the interactive sphere, in contrast to the sphere of influence sought by Russia. When faced with the sphere of influence that Russia wishes to consolidate from the Ukraine to the Caucasus, it is evident that the 27 member 10
states of the EU (especially the smallest) are unable to develop separate foreign policies. The only way to deal with the problem is from a common EU foreign policy.
At this stage the establishment of a common European energy market cannot be put off any longer Let us examine the most important sector in economic relations between the EU and Russia, namely energy. Its major strategic importance at this historic time means that it is the central issue in relations between Brussels and Moscow. Newspaper headlines all round Europe tell us that Europe depends on Russian gas. While this is true, is it a sufficient reason to justify and strengthen a common energy policy? It appears still not to be so. In fact, while the EU imports 29% of its oil and up to 40% of its uranium from Russia, it only imports 24% of its gas. Gas consumption is increasing, however and since it is transported via gas pipelines (fixed installations) it also creates dependency. Within the EU there are stark variations in the dependency on Russian gas: while Estonia is 100% dependent and Germany 40% dependent, Spain has a dependency of 0%. Moscow’s policy is likewise full of contradictions: the gas it sells to Estonia, while representing the totality of that country’s consumption, represents just 1% of Russian gas exports; Germany, on the other hand, carries more weight, since its imports represent some 29% of total Russian gas exports. Obviously, Spain does not feature on the list of customers. With such diversity in energy relations one thing remains clear: there cannot be a common EU energy policy involving Russia, if first there is not a united energy market in the European Union. At present, the EU is making unified progress in another aspect related to energy: the fight against climate change. This allows one to confirm that the EU is undergoing profound changes in state policies directed towards a common energy policy. The growth of the EU to 27 countries
Catalan International View
means that many small states do not feel themselves able to advance independently towards goals such as saving energy, or more significantly, ensuring energy supplies. They do not have the means to do so alone and seek the refuge of the EU in many policies. Energy problems have, therefore, increased the need for the European Union. They have amplified the necessity of a common energy policy that not only moves forward, but that is led by the larger nations. The urgent need for a common energy market within the framework of the EU is obvious, therefore. There is at present an energy solidarity agreement between the 27 member states of the
Union. However, in order for it to become effective the energy networks of all EU nations would need to be interconnected, thus diversifying energy sources. This is the only true guarantee of energy security for all Europeans. At this stage the establishment of a common European energy market cannot be put off any longer. For those who fear Russia’s reactions, one need only recall one fact: while Russian trade and investment in the European Union only affects 8% of the EU’s economic activity, the EU’s economic activity affects 50% of the Russian economy as a whole.
*Martí Anglada Foreign news editor at TV3 (Catalunya Television). He has been foreign correspondent in the Middle East, Italy and Great Britain (1977-1984) for the Barcelona newspaper La Vanguardia and United States correspondent for TV3 (1987-1990). He has also been an international political commentator. He recently published Afers no tan estrangers (Not So Foreign Affairs) for Editorial Mina (part of Grup 62).
Catalan International View
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Europe
Ukraine: between Russia and the West by Natàlia Boronat*
Some 80% of the gas the EU imports from Russia passes through Ukraine. Consequently, every time commercial disagreements between Moscow and Kiev spark a new gas war, the European continent risks seeing its supplies cut off. As a result, Europe is reminded of the strategic importance of this country of some 46.2 million inhabitants and an area of 603,700 km2 that is highly economically dependent on Russia, despite the fact that its main political leaders look towards the West. Following in the footsteps of the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which now belong to the European Union and the Atlantic Alliance, Ukraine and Georgia have been the next two former Soviet republics to rebel against Moscow. They have opted for the West in an attempt to permanently distance themselves from Russia’s sphere of influence. Both Georgia, in 2003 and Ukraine, in 2004, underwent revolutions that led to pro-Western leaders that are the enemies of Moscow taking power. One of the leaders’ objectives is for these countries to join European and Euro-Atlantic structures. Last August’s armed conflict between Russia and Georgia, for control of the breakaway autonomous Georgian republic of South Ossetia and the clash of interests between Moscow and Washington in the Caucasus (Georgia is America’s ally in the region), were to mark a turning point in Russia’s foreign policy towards countries that form part of ‘the near abroad’. For the first 12
time it sent its troops to invade an independent country and made it blatantly clear that it would defend its interests and its sphere of influence in the post-Soviet arena.
Russia is opposed to the possible future growth of the Atlantic Alliance towards its borders and as well as to deployment of elements of the American anti-missile shield Russia maintained an ambiguous, contradictory posture with respect to the so-called frozen conflicts in Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, that were experiencing de facto independence following the wars of the 90s with Tbilisi’s central power. On one hand, Moscow gave military, political and economic support to the breakaway states and distributed Russian passports to the population; while on the other, it recognised and
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defended Georgia’s territorial integrity. Before Kosovo’s declaration of independence in February 2008, which was opposed by Moscow, the Kremlin had already warned that the independence of this region of the Balkans would create an international precedent and that it would be obliged to strengthen its ties with the breakaway Georgian republics. This is exactly what it did before last summer’s war. Fyodor Lukyanov, Editor-in-Chief of Russia in Global Affairs magazine, believes that it is precisely ‘this lack of a strategy that led Moscow to react to an external impulse, rather than guiding the course of events’. Many Russian analysts feel that the Kremlin, in spite of receiving criticism from the West, did not have any other option but to react against the attack that Georgia’s president, Mikheil Saakashvili, initiated against Tskhinvali, South Ossetia’s capital, on the night of the 7th of August 2008 to defend his country against Russian and South Ossetian intervention forces (until
August’s conflict, the peacekeeping force in South Ossetia was made up of Ossetians, Russians and Georgians). Russia invaded a sovereign country and with its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia’s independence it questioned the borders that were created by the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The Kremlin’s isolation during the first weeks following the conflict did not last long because the West and Russia need each other. Negotiations with Brussels for a New Cooperation Agreement (which more than anything aims to regulate aspects of the energy relationship) were resumed after a short interlude. Relations between Moscow and NATO were also restored. The latter declared in December that it would once more postpone the announcement of Ukraine and Georgia as future candidates for membership. Russia is opposed to the possible future growth of the Atlantic Alliance towards its borders and
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also to the deployment of elements of the American anti-missile shield in Central Europe. Both are actions which Russia sees as threats to its security. An additional factor is Georgia’s importance in the movement of oil from the Caspian Sea to Central Asia (which by this means avoids passing through Russian territory). Moscow condemns the United State’s interference in the region as it threatens Russian interests. In Moscow it is said that Saakashvili decided to initiate the attack in the summer because he believed that he could rapidly control South Ossetia and subsequently Abkhazia and in this manner regain territorial integrity before December. This was when NATO’s summit in Brussels was to decide whether to give Ukraine and Georgia the green light for their future membership. In spite of George Bush’s insistence on speeding up the enrolment of these two countries in the Atlantic Alliance, there were clear signs of differences within the various parties at the summit in Bucharest last April. The US was on one side, with France and Germany on the other, where they considered that accelerating the enlargement of NATO to include unstable Russian neighbours would not increase its military capacity. As a result, influenced by pressure from Moscow, it was agreed not to provide them with the Membership Action Plan (MAP) yet.
Ukraine’s move towards Russia or the West will have a major influence on Europe’s future While at the start it appeared as though one of the consequences of the war in South Ossetia would be the acceleration of Georgia and Ukraine’s entry to NATO, eventually in December, the decision was once again postponed. Between April and December 2008 the international scene had changed a great deal: Russia had considerably damaged Georgia’s military infrastructure and by recognising Abkhazia and South Ossetia, it had dealt a mortal blow to its territorial 14
integrity; the Democrats had won the US elections; and Ukraine, which is severely affected by the economic crisis, is still immersed in an ongoing political crisis that slows down its development. While some 70% of the Georgian population is in favour of NATO membership, in Ukraine the situation is very different. Ukrainian society and its political class are divided between those who are pro-Western and those who are proRussian. The two countries are united by many centuries of common history and share the East Slavic subgroup of Slavic languages. According to a poll conducted by the Kiev-based Razkumov Centre for Political and Economic Investigations, at the end of 2008, some 76.4% of Ukrainians did not support the current leadership. For 47.6%, the year’s political disappointment is the current president, Viktor Yushchenko, thanks to his desire to see Ukraine join NATO and his inability to maintain cordial relations with Russia. According to the same study, 18% of Ukrainians are in favour of their country joining NATO and some 56% are against. In the war between Georgia and Russia, Ukraine promptly sided with Tbilisi. Subsequently it was learnt that they had sold the Georgians large quantities of armaments. Kiev used the conflict in the Caucasus as a warning that the next objective of Moscow’s rage could be Ukraine. For that reason, the president, Viktor Yushchenko, immediately called for the EU and NATO to speed up his country’s enrolment process in these structures, ‘to ensure that what we have witnessed in Abkhazia and South Ossetia is not repeated in Crimea’. Yuschenko also regretted the involvement in the war of the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet, which has its base in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol in Crimea. He announced that Kiev would place restrictions on the ship’s movements. The Russian presence off the Ukrainian coast is controlled by a bilateral agreement that will remain in force until 2017 and which Russia has announced it would like to renew. Ukraine does
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Ukraine
The major pipelines through which gas from Western Siberia reaches Europe
not wish to do so, however, as the Russian Fleet interferes with Kiev’s plans for joining NATO. The Ukrainian parliament, the Supreme Rada, has already prepared the necessary legislation under which the Russian ships would be required to leave by 2017. The Ukrainian Minister of Defence, Yuriy Yekhanurov, declared during last November’s High-Level Consultations between Ukraine and NATO in Tallinn that the presence of the Russian Fleet off Ukraine’s coasts, without any control mechanisms preventing Kiev being drawn into a conflict with a third country due to Russian actions, ‘is a destabilising factor, not only for Ukraine, but for the security of the whole Black Sea region’. The Ukrainian authorities believe that Russia has illegally supplied the inhabitants of Crimea with passports, as it did in the breakaway Georgian republics. However, the Ukrainian constitution does not allow dual nationality. Some weeks
after the conflict in the Caucasus, the Ukrainian defence minister declared that, ‘today the threat to Ukrainian territorial integrity and sovereignty is more evident than ever’, and the only means to guarantee security, ‘is by joining the EU and NATO’. In spite of the decision not to speed up Ukraine’s membership of NATO at present, Washington has promised not to pull out of Kiev. According to reports in the Russian media at the end of December, the US have the intention of opening an office this year in Simferopol (Crimea), which would mean that the Crimean Peninsula and the Russian Fleet will be under American surveillance and the region would clearly form part of the United State’s regional interests. The Crimean Peninsula formed part of the Tsarist Empire in 1783, following the RussoTurkish War in the mid-eighteenth century.
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Sevastopol promptly became the military base of the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet. In 1954 the Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev, in commemoration of the third centenary of the union of Ukraine and Russia, handed over the administration of what had been considered the jewel of Imperial Russia to Kiev. Since the disintegration of the USSR, Moscow has repeatedly regretted the loss of this peninsula of such geostrategic importance. According to the last Ukrainian census of 2001, 58% of Crimea’s two million inhabitants are Russian, 24% Ukrainians and 12% Tartars, a Turkish-speaking people, of Sunni Muslim religion subject to Stalin’s deportations to Central Asia. Some 250,000 have returned to Crimea since the break up of the USSR.
Kyrgyzstan is a key route for drugs originating from Afghanistan and Tajikistan heading for Russia and Europe Before the outbreak of the conflict in South Ossetia, during the celebration of the 225th anniversary of the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet last May, the lively debate surrounding ownership of Crimea once more emerged. Moscow’s mayor, Yuri Lujkov, in a statement he made while in Sevastopol, called for the peninsula on the Black Sea to be returned to Russian hands. Some Russian analysts, such as the political scientist Grigori Trofimov, condemned the ‘radical statements’, of the kind made by Lujkov, since they, ‘could contribute to Russia losing its influence in the region’ and the acceleration of processes which Moscow
sees as anti-Russian, such as Ukraine’s membership of NATO. Ukraine’s Union of Left Forces also warned of the dangers of the radicalisation of national conflicts in Crimea due to the current inequalities and because of the demands by Tartars, who see the peninsula as historically belonging to them. Vladimir Putin, the former Russian president and current prime minister, said that all speculation as to a possible union between the Crimea and Russia, ‘are provocative in nature’ and he also declared that Moscow would not bring the exSoviet republics once more under its control because, ‘we do not hold imperialist ambitions’. Aside from energy, political and diplomatic conflicts, Moscow and Kiev took part in a series of confrontations throughout 2008. They were related to history and religion, thanks to the differing interpretations of a common history, which Russia views as an attempt by the Ukrainian authorities to rewrite the past with nationalistic intentions. Russia, for example, did not wish to take part in the Ukrainian celebration of the 75th anniversary of the golodomor, the famine which occurred during the thirties in Ukraine. It disagreed with Kiev’s definition of the events as ‘genocide’. Months earlier, during the celebrations for the anniversary of the Christianisation of Kievan Rus’ in 988 (the cradle of contemporary Ukraine and Russia), Kiev took the opportunity to call for its own orthodox church, independent from Russia’s. Ukraine’s move towards Russia or the West, if it emerges from the current political crisis and following the presidential elections in 2010, will have a major influence on Europe’s future.
*Natàlia Boronat i Rovira (Salomó, 1973). Holds a degree in Information Sciences from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and in Slavic Philology from the Universitat de Barcelona. Since 2001 she has spent most of her time in Russia. She worked in St. Petersburg as a Catalan lecturer at the State University and in the tourism industry. She now lives in Moscow, where she works as a freelance journalist for different Catalan media organisations and reports on the current situation in the Post-Soviet area.
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The Americas
Obama and the future of Guantanamo by Emma Reverter*
Barack Obama’s first few months in the White House will be both intense and complicated. The new President of the United States will have to deal with the difficult legacy of his predecessor. Cleaning up America’s abysmal image around the world, extricating the country from Iraq, closing Guantanamo and taking new steps to deal with the economic crisis are the most important goals. The prison, which the Bush administration opened in Guantanamo, Cuba, at the start of 2002, presents the worst possible image of America to the world. It is a symbol of the abuses the country has committed since the attacks of 9/11 in the name of national security and the fight against international terrorism. The closure of Guantanamo, one of Obama’s electoral promises, will mark the start of a new era. The president, a lawyer who demonstrated throughout his career a commitment to human rights, has announced that he will close the prison within two years of taking office, ‘in a responsible way’, in order to ‘put an end to torture for once and for all’. During a press conference, the United States Secretary for Defense, Robert Gates, confirmed that closing Guantanamo, ‘is a priority’ for Obama and that the president has formally asked his team to draw up proposals for closure of the prison complex and relocate the prisoners, while still ensuring national security. The director of Amnesty International, Larry Cox, took advantage of Gate’s announcement to 18
send a clear, firm declaration: ‘the current military commission regime at Guantanamo Bay should be dismantled. Any plan to end the illegal and unjust imprisonment at the detention facility must adhere to domestic and international humanitarian standards. Those who face trials must be tried in fair and impartial tribunals such as a US federal court. All others must be returned or resettled in countries, including the United States, where they will not face torture or other ill-treatment’. The international organisation, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 for its work, added that they hoped, ‘this news signals a solid and genuine commitment by the incoming administration that the United States will soon return to the rule of law and begin to resume its role as a champion of human rights around the globe.’ The closure of Guantanamo is a headache. As the experts point out, it will be more difficult to close than it was to open. Opening Guantanamo was relatively easy: the US government has controlled Guantanamo Bay, located at the extreme
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south-east of the island, for over one hundred years, with Cuba powerless to put an end to the openended lease which, according to the treaty signed by the US and Cuban governments, requires the agreement of both parties to be cancelled. It goes without saying that one of the parties, Washington, has no intention of giving up the lease on a key territory from the strategic point of view and that, until the arrival of the prisoners, had been used as a naval base and a means to control and put pressure on the Cuban government. In reality, the economic cost of occupying the bay on Cuban soil is zero, since Fidel Castro does not accept the validity of the treaty and refuses to cash the cheques which the White House regularly sends to their landlord. Aside from the strategic and economic advantages offered by the bay, it also opens up a range of legal possibilities: it is on Cuban land and therefore the Bush administration considered that the US Constitution and legal system did not have a say. This allowed the opening of a detention cen-
tre for ‘international terrorists’, without having to respect the rights and guarantees offered to prisoners by the US Constitution.
The closure of Guantanamo is a headache. As the experts point out, it will be more difficult to close than it was to open On the 11th January 2002 a US army plane landed at the Guantanamo naval base. Aboard the plane were twenty prisoners captured in Afghanistan. The date marks one of the darkest periods in the history of the base. That first flight was to be followed by thirty more. By August of that year the maximum-security prison had more than six hundred prisoners from some thirty nationalities, all males and all Muslims. The White House denied the prisoners the protection offered to prisoners of war by the Ge-
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neva Convention, despite recognising that they were captured on the ‘battlefield’, as part of what is known as the ‘war on global terrorism’. The leading organisations in defence of human rights were up in arms. Throughout the six years the detention centre has been in operation, the world’s media have highlighted cases of abuse and humiliation, as well as the high rate of depression and attempts at suicide by the inmates. Journalists and experts in human rights have called for a trial date for the prisoners or a date for the closure of the prison. Getting out of Guantanamo There is no perfect formula for getting out of Guantanamo and it is unclear what will be done with the 250 prisoners, many of whom cannot be repatriated to their country of origin, as they face torture. One of the possibilities being studied by the Obama administration is to move them to the United States so that they can be tried by courts governed by the Constitution. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) has called for priority to be given to the return of the prisoners to their country of origin, whenever possible, ‘the new administration must unequivocally reject this fatally flawed system, and prioritise the swift return of the hundreds of other illegally imprisoned men at Guantanamo to their home countries or, for those needing resettlement or asylum, to a safe third country’. The CCR has led the legal battle over Guantanamo for the last six years, sending the first ever habeas attorney to the base and sending the first attorney to meet with a former CIA ‘ghost detainee’. They have also been responsible for organising and coordinating more than 500 pro bono lawyers across the country in order to represent the men at Guantanamo, ensuring that nearly all have the option of legal representation. Deciding what type of court should judge the prisoners is another contentious topic. Some legal 20
experts state that criminal courts are most competent. Others believe that military tribunals are the most suited. Meanwhile, others argue that a new legal system for international terrorists should be created. A real change or cosmetic surgery? At present no one dares to predict the impact of the closure: will it mean the closing of Guantanamo as a symbol, or a real change in the detention and interrogation policies of detainees? Will the decision to close Guantanamo also affect other detention centres situated in other parts of the world?
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) has called for priority to be given to the return of the prisoners to their country of origin, whenever possible The physical act of closing Guantanamo is the easiest part. In fact, the majority of military installations are prefabricated units that can be moved to another location in a matter of months. Many experts postulate that returning to the legal and moral situation before the attacks will be more complicated. It would be over optimistic to think that the closure of Guantanamo is the solution to all evils. While the prison on Cuban soil has been the most photographed, it is not the only detention centre for suspected terrorists that the US has opened in recent years. It is precisely the centres with less media exposure, those more remote and obscure, that are the most worrying. The word ‘Guantanamo’ has become a synonym for abuse and torture, but more serious cases of abuse and torture have taken place in other places, such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Gary Isaac, partner of the well-known law firm Mayer, Brown Rowe & Maw in Chicago,
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managed to get 150 American lawyers to sign the Lawyers for Obama declaration and support the Democratic Party’s candidate. Isaac appears to have confidence in Obama’s capacity to bring about a profound change, ‘he takes every chance available to him to remind people that civil rights are a fundamental institution in the United States and that his presidency will respect human rights and build a dialogue with other nations’. International terrorism presents us with many legal and strategic questions, as well as moral ones. The new President of the United States will need to work for cooperation with the international community, unlike his predecessor.
*Emma Reverter is a lawyer and journalist. She published Guantánamo, presoners als llimbs de la legalitat internacional (Guantanamo; Prisoners in an International Legal Limbo, published by Editorial Península, 2004). She has returned to the prison on two occasions to follow up on developments and write this article on the future of the detention centre. Reverter has also published a book on health, Cor i Ment (Heart and Mind), with the cardiologist Valentí Fuster and the psychiatrist Luis Rojas Marcos, as well as a novel, Cites a Manhattan (Dating in Manhattan).
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The Americas
Who is in charge in the Promised Land? by Anna Grau*
What exactly does Barack Obama plan to do with the hot potato that is the Middle East? What exactly did Hillary Rodham Clinton mean when she said that the time has come for ‘intelligent diplomacy’? Are the United States the rulers of Jerusalem, as many who wish to push the state of Israel into the sea believe, or is it the feared Zionist lobby that pulls the puppet strings of the US and the world? Who is in charge in the Promised Land?
One of the most commonly held axioms in world public opinion is that the Jews rule America and America rules the world, with disastrous results for all concerned. The Soviet Union burst like a balloon from being unable to simultaneously manage the war in Afghanistan and internal economic contradictions. Will Barack Obama end up being the American Mikhail Gorbachev if he fails to free himself from the Israeli ‘alien’, this devilish influence, both internal and external, that promotes imperialism and violence? This is an extreme view of the situation, there are others: Europe is a West that has abdicated responsibility, it is softened, resigned and fails to, or refuses to, recognise a threat when faced with one. It spent the thirties flirting with Nazism, the Cold War making out with the USSR and is currently caught with its trousers down before Islam, as irresponsible and frivolous as the girl from a good home that runs away with the neighbourhood crack dealer. If she gets into trouble, she will run back to daddy (or Uncle Sam) so he can sort it out. If it’s not too late, of course. There is clearly an enormous chasm between how these questions are viewed in Israel and the US and in the rest of the Western world. The 22
multitudinous demonstrations against the Israeli offensive in Gaza, witnessed in various European capitals, highlight the extent of a fundamental difference, of a seismic disagreement, that was already noted in all its cruelty with the grave, international wound opened by the Iraq war. The trauma the war has caused on the United Nations has been, and continues to be, irreversible. Rarely has it been so sadly apparent the fundamental futility of the political and legal framework built after World War II. The fact that a few years later all the institutions of global economic control that emerged from Bretton Woods have made fools of themselves only serves to add insult to injury.
At the time of the launch of the Gaza offensive we did not know what side of the fence Obama was on. Do we know now? It is possible that with all of these events, it is not so much the institutions that have collapsed, but rather certain attitudes that hide their shortcomings. It is possible that for all these years the conflicts have remained at a regional level, and global peace and stability have held up, solely be-
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cause the generation that personally experienced the devastating effects of WWII was still alive and politically active. The current chaos may simply be the fruit of the arrival in power of a generation that is less disturbed by the past and more used to ‘the unbearable lightness of being’, as Milan Kundera put it. He is another figure that lately has been exposed: it appears that in the fifties, when Kundera was a young man, he participated in the denouncing of a student and political dissident who, as a result, went on to serve fourteen years of hard labour in Stalinist mines. In the light of this, it is not easy for those in the United States to understand Europe’s proclivity for handing out advice. I witnessed a curious occurrence in New York, some two years ago: the German writer and moralist Günter Grass addressing a Jewish audience answering questions put to him by a Jewish specialist on the Jewish question. The event took place just a short time after Grass had published his memoirs (Beim Haeuten der Zwiebel, Peeling the Onion), in which he confessed to having been a member of the SS when he was seventeen years old. In New York, Grass claimed that, during the war, he never suspected the extent of what was
really happening to the Jews under the Third Reich. He had never imagined that the extermination camps existed until the Americans took him by car to see one. The car’s passengers, who were white, did not say a word to the driver, who was black. ‘Look how racist the Americans can be!’ Grass exclaimed. You have to admit Grass is very brave. It takes real courage to say such a thing. The fact is that it amused the Jewish Americans, especially when Grass confessed to having learnt a great deal, as a German, from being on the losing side. He even dared to suggest that the Americans should not lose faith, that they too could learn a great deal from Iraq. Not immediately, he suggested, ‘it takes some time’. Bit by bit. In light of these events, it is normal for Europeans to be surprised by the power of the Jewish lobby in America: quantities do not suffice in Europe to constitute such a lobby. In other words, there are not enough Jews. However, a bad conscience is not only prevalent in Europe. The American Jewish community feels a certain degree of anguish when it compares its situation to that of the Jews who went to Israel. They see that in spite of achieving maximum military and po-
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The Americas
litical power, scaling the heights of Zionism and glory, the Jews in Israel had seriously lost out in terms of quality of life when compared with the previous European generation. One would need to be a staunch Zionist to prefer scrabbling in the dust in the harsh desert in Palestine and, what is more, being forced to wage a permanent, primitive war with one’s neighbouring countries, to living as the Jews did in the past, assimilated in Paris, London or Vienna. It may well be that the generations that have been born in Israel do not miss something that they have never experienced and would not wish to change their situation for any other. Nevertheless, Zionism was at one time a cul-de-sac for the Zionists themselves, or at least for many of them. In his literary memoir A Tale of Love and Darkness, the writer Amos Oz tacitly lays the blame for his mother’s suicide (when he was only twelve years old) to a depression resulting from her life in Palestine. Hannah Arendt is less tacit in some parts of her account of the trial of Adolf Eichmann —her celebrated essay in which we are confronted with the banality of evil, and, to some extent, of Israel. In spite of Arendt’s European refinement, she appears to shiver and recoil in anguish when confronted by the attitude of some of the members of the tribunal, or the painful task of the translators from German during the trial, in spite of it being the mother tongue, not only of the accused, but also of the vast majority of the inhabitants of Israel at the time. One can appreciate that, while not possessing a guilty secret like those of Grass or Kundera, Hannah Arendt is also subject to mistrust and suspicion, if only because of her strange relationship with the Nazi sympathiser Heidegger. However, while reading Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil one catches a glimpse of the tragic horror of someone forced by circumstances to be a Zionist when their vocation is otherwise. When Arendt realises that a Jew that is attacked for being a Jew can only defend themselves by being a Jew, because all at24
tempts to defend oneself as something else, German or French, will be interpreted as a rejection of the right to defend oneself, the circle of horror is complete: you can choose between being what you had never wished to be, or cease to exist. Can we surmise from all this that, following WWII, the simplest, most fanatic Jews ended up in Israel and the cleverest, or the luckiest, ended up in the US? For this reason, are the Jews of the Promised Land of America in debt to those of the Promised Land of Palestine, where a macabre game of chess is permanently being played out by the world’s avant-gardes of martyrdom?
Israel, by virtue of its size and its location, cannot, or at least believes it cannot, afford to lose even one battle. Pointing this out is hardly a major revelation On the other hand, an unusual phenomenon is taking place: some of the renewed universal hostility towards Israel has to do with the widespread perception that, even when it is in the right, it uses disproportionate force; that it plays Goliath to Palestine’s David. This is in part thanks to enemy propaganda, but also due to ‘friendly fire’. Even taking into account a great deal of ill will towards Israel, there are few countries that work so hard at achieving such a bad image. It cannot be said that Hollywood has not tried to help Israel. Nevertheless, it looks like Tel Aviv has nothing better to do than undermine all Paul Newman’s efforts in Exodus, or Steven Spielberg’s in Schindler’s List, to name but two. They manage to project an image to the world of bloody cruelty, all too often literally, which contrasts with the Palestinians’ consistent story of victimisation. All the anti-Semites I have met calmly assure me in private that Israel’s days on Earth are numbered, while in public they disguise this view with
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The Americas
emotional pleas, howls and pledges of eternal sacrifice. The enemies of Israel like to appear weaker than they are, conscious of the fact that it gives them a positive image. Israel, on the other hand, appears to enjoy doing the opposite. It is the only way one can understand how, during the worst days of the Gaza offensive, after hundreds of deaths, with day after day images on CNN of starving babies clutching onto mothers who have lost their lives to bombings, the Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, had nothing better to do than to boast that he had made George W. Bush, at that time still president of the United States, interrupt a speech to answer his telephone call. He went on to add that he was calling to demand that Condoleezza Rice abstained in the UN’s Security Council vote on Gaza, which in effect is what she did. Wouldn’t Israel be happy to have more friends? Wouldn’t Israel be glad to see the world’s capitals filling with demonstrations in defence of the security of the state of Israel and protesting against Hamas’ missiles? Most probably it would. Nevertheless, Israelis appear to have decided that a good image is a luxury they cannot afford. Israel, by virtue of its size and its location, cannot, or at least believes it cannot, afford to lose even one battle. Pointing this out is hardly a major revelation. Its non-victory against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 was immensely traumatic. It not only affects the Israeli elections, it also causes global uncertainty: the United States apparently failed to intervene and we did not know what side of the fence Obama was on at the time of the launch of the Gaza offensive. Do we know now?
What about the peace? Ah, yes…the peace. That which requires both sides in order to exist, and neither Hamas nor Hezbollah want it to. Even the most stubborn Israelis (Hannah Arendt dixit) must want peace on some level, since their survival depends on it, inasmuch as the survival of Hamas and Hezbollah depends on the war being unending. For this reason, Fatah is, oddly enough, currently the nearest to a source of hope for those that are still obsessed with finding rational, Western solutions to the conflict. However, can we be certain there is a solution? And what if there is no solution? What if we seriously have to assume that what is happening now is what will always happen? That if Israel is strong it will be attacked because it appears cruel, and if it is not cruel, then it will be attacked because it does not appear to be strong? What would happen if all the options really came down to choosing between physical disappearance and disgrace? There are analysts that believe that with the current attack, Israel is doing the US a small favour. Others believe that it did it an enormous favour, softening Iran and weakening it before the Obama administration puts its diplomatic and seductive skills to the test. These are not only the only skills it proclaims to believe in, they are moreover the only ones it has at its disposal, given the Empire’s current economic and military prostration. After having fired on Iraq and Wall Street the guns it should perhaps have saved for other fronts, the world is without a sheriff until further orders. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
*Anna Grau Journalist and writer. From 1991 to 2005 she worked as a political journalist in Barcelona and Madrid, where she was the correspondent for the Avui newspaper and numerous programmes for TV3, Catalunya Ràdio, Ràdio4 and COM ràdio. In 2005 she left for New York, where she currently works. Author of El dia que va morir el president (the Day the President Died), Dones contra dones (Women Against Women) and Endarrere aquesta gent (Reject These People) and the essay Per què parir (Why have a baby?).
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Middle East
Reflections on a war in Gaza by Víctor Terradellas* Photos by Francesc Parés
Once again unresolved political issues between Israel and Palestine have resulted in a bitter, armed conflict where the victims have mainly been the Palestinian civil population and where the most radical stances on both sides have served to reinforce each other. Meanwhile, the roads to dialogue, understanding and mutual recognition have again been blocked. It is the latest episode in an unending conflict and about which we wish to highlight some points for reflection that may allow us to move beyond the taking of sides. At the start of February, the Galician journalist Suso de Toro described Israel as ‘…a historical reality and like a fascinating human experience. The result of the power of will. It embodies virtues of that which is heroic, while keeping in mind that heroism, as a moral category, is complex and arguable’. Seldom does a sentence sum up with such clarity the complexity that faces us when we confront the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While it is important not to forget the origins and causes of the creation of the Israeli state, it is equally important to outline the main goals facing Israeli society in order to end the conflict in which it finds itself immersed. It is true that both sides show clear signs of direct and majority support for their respective political leaders, a clear sign of such support are the results of the recent Israeli elections with the victory of the leader of the Kadima Party, Tzipi Livni, closely followed by the conservative Netanyahu and the surprising results obtained by the ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman. Nevertheless, it is also true that neither of them can aspire to a level of complete collective development while carrying the burden of occupation on the one hand, and insecurity on the other. Both are realities that cannot be compared, but which respectively perpetuate the situation of immobility when it comes to political dialogue. 26
One more battle in a long war? What happened in Gaza and the rest of the Palestinian territories in the last weeks of 2008 and continues to happen in the early part of 2009, does not precisely correspond with the traditional actions and reactions between both communities since the end of the last Intifada. In effect, Gaza represents a qualitative and quantitative advance in terms of the level of Israel’s military response and political unity. However, it also corresponds with Hamas taking up a more extreme position that has driven their provocations to the limit, while enabling a disproportionate response. It has been seen as such not only by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF), but also by the Israeli government themselves. It is worth keeping in mind that Hamas is taking a stance that has not provoked the effective solidarity of the Arab world, beyond the rhetorical reactions that are always to be expected. There have not been any significant political actions or reactions in support of Hamas, with the exception of the threatening, ‘enlightened’ oratory of the Iranian regime and the diplomatic crisis felt by the Israeli diplomatic mission in Venezuela. Fatah’s silence and feeble comments have been of particular significance, highlighting the scale of the deep divide separating the two main political alternatives in Palestine.
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The much-needed democratisation of Palestinian institutions The extreme situation through which the population in the Palestinian territories is living is key to understanding the electoral results and the political equilibrium generated in the territories. In this sense, Gaza is a particularly paradigmatic scenario. The population’s majority support for Hamas is objectively indisputable and consequently, there is no doubt as to the government’s legitimacy. Hamas’ processes, its way of acting and its transparency as a responsible political force in Gaza’s political institutions are another matter, however. A part of the problem is the dangerous mixture of political and religious power. In the case of the Hamas government, as on all sides of the conflict, the two cannot be separated. A more serious issue, however, is the complete lack of transparency and democratic action in the internal processes that affect everyone, from the security services themselves, to the management of educational centres,
health resources, and the aid projects that are carried out in the heart of the territory, with international support.
The extreme situation through which the population in the Palestinian territories is living is key to understanding the electoral results and the political climate in the territories In the impossible dilemma that is raised by the verdict at the ballot box and a government’s democratic foundations, it is necessary to urgently search for a third way for Gaza. International pressure can be brought to bear on its leaders so they take political actions that bring them closer to democratic standards in a dynamic fashion. The hostile pressure of the Israeli government and the humanitarian crisis being experienced in the territory may explain the authoritarian actions of Gaza’s leaders, but in no way can it justify them.
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Middle East
Weakness and opportunities for a Palestinian state Any reticence towards an international treaty which would lead to the construction and recognition of a Palestinian state stems from precisely those undemocratic tendencies and theocratic practices outlined above. While extremist organisations such as Hamas continue to retain the destruction of the State of Israel as an objective, it is also true that the Israeli state consistently fails to define the terms and conditions necessary for the establishment of a new Palestinian state. Both parties realise that, internationally, they have unfinished business and they also appreciate the need to arrive at a hypothetical negotiation process with an advantage. In the Palestinian camp, therefore, Hamas needs to balance its majority social support with a position that is acceptable in the international arena. Meanwhile, Fatah needs to know how to maintain its position as a privileged negotiating partner with Israel without losing the social support that keeps it centre stage on the Palestinian political scene. The third way, led by Mustafa Barghouthi, a doctor and social leader, continues to gain adepts based on political transparency and a rejection of corruption. Nevertheless, the movement is not a serious contender for power, at present.
It is necessary to find an international agreement in order to facilitate a realistic and coherent route map in which neither of the two sides begins at a disadvantage On the Israeli side, it appears as if the only political decisions that achieve consensus in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, are for violent actions such as those carried out in Gaza. They represent actions that the government itself sees as ‘disproportionate’, but which it uses as the best weapon (literally) against Palestinian military 28
attacks on Israeli territory. It is a political and military dynamic, however, that may have its days numbered, depending on how the new American presidency develops. Israel and new American foreign policy In effect, Barack Obama already included questions that directly and indirectly affect Israel in his electoral programme. For this reason, the words of Obama while still president-elect were especially significant, such as when he called for the world to ‘listen to both sides in order to find a solution to the conflict’ in Gaza. The new US president knows that it is not possible to address policy changes in relation to Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran without guaranteeing changes in the form and substance of the Israeli government’s activities, both in the domestic and foreign spheres. No American president has tried to face up to the power and influence of the Jewish lobby since Jimmy Carter’s term in office. Neither, however, has Israel been so economically and politically dependent on the United States. If President Obama has the ability to make financial and military support compatible, without completely alienating this powerful lobby, while at the same time, force new lines of dialogue similar to those represented by the Oslo Accords and the Camp David agreements, then American foreign policy will take a giant step forward. It will not only be true for the Middle East, but will also provide a certain advantage at the start of a new era of relations with the Arab world. Facing up to the humanitarian crisis Beyond the international negotiations and the political options the Israelis and Palestinians aspire to, both sides have the responsibility of facilitating humanitarian activities in the area devastated by the war. Virtually all sanitation, educational and communication infrastructures
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in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed. As a result, the civilian population is facing an extreme situation that needs redirecting, not for political or partisan ends, but from a desire to alleviate the collective suffering of Gaza’s population.
tine, particularly on behalf of European Union members.
For this reason, it is worth emphasising the equal share of responsibility between the Israelis, the Palestinians and the international community. The first have the obligation to acknowledge the humanitarian disaster generated by the conflict. They must facilitate and, if necessary, protect the means of access and areas of operation of the teams responsible for carrying out aid projects. Such an agreement is urgently needed in the case of Gaza and needs to be extended throughout the occupied territories.
Finally, we can assume that in the PalestinianIsraeli conflict, up to now, neither pre-conceived ideas, nor the ideas of one side versus the other have worked. At present, both the defence of the disappearance of the State of Israel and the preservation of the current situation in the Palestinian occupied territories are equally unfounded positions.
On the Palestinian side, Hamas in particular has the obligation to stop the indiscriminate use of the civilian population as human shields for its troops and command centres. Such practices by Hamas’ armed forces in Gaza have been the perfect excuse for a harsh response from a wellmotivated army such as the IDF, that is little inclined to make distinctions between civilians and combatants. The international community needs to take control of aid operations in Palestine. It is not sufficient for it to simply supply the resources, it must also guarantee the success of the projects while protecting them from the endemic corruption of the Palestinian institutions and also guaranteeing their use in a reasonable time-frame thanks to accords and agreements with the Israeli government. There is no sense to the vicious cycle of construction, destruction and negotiation that international cooperation has allowed in Pales-
The search for viable, much-needed dialogue
While violent actions strengthen the respective political forces that feed off them, it is worth remembering the enormous political, economic and social cost of such a prolonged conflict. The perpetuation of the conflict is only possible with explicit and implicit international support for both sides. Precisely for this reason it is necessary to find an international agreement between the leaders of the Arab world, the United States and the European Union, in order to ensure the rules of the game are adhered to and to facilitate a realistic and coherent route map in which neither of the two sides begins at a disadvantage. For Europe in particular it is a magnificent opportunity to demonstrate that, beyond the useless cheques, that are so easily destroyed and forgotten, it is capable of generating successful diplomacy by functioning as an intermediary between the United States and the Arab world. Likewise, Europe could begin to count on the recognition of its role as a negotiator by both Israeli and Palestinian political leaders. *Víctor Terradellas i Maré
(Reus, 1962). Entrepreneur and political and cultural activist. President and founder of CATmón Foundation. Editor of Catalan International View and ONGC, a magazine dedicated to political thought, solidarity, aid and international relations. Victor has always been involved in political and social activism, both nationally and internationally. The driving force behind the Plataforma per la Sobirania (The Platform for Self-Determination) as well as being responsible for significant Catalan aid operations and international relations in such diverse locations as Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Pakistan and Kurdistan.
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Africa
Rethinking Africa by Nicolás Valle*
If No Man’s Land had a capital it would be Burco and deservedly so. The town sits on the banks of the river Togdheer, one of the biggest in the north of Somalia (which is not saying much). I arrived there after a long night travelling through a desert of acacias and copper-red, rocky mountains, which in the dusk appeared like layers of coal. I began my journey in Hergeisa, the capital of Somaliland1, the breakaway, English-speaking state that challenges Mogadishu’s ‘authority’. A minibus regularly makes the journey, taking a whole day to cover the 300 kilometres that separate the two cities. Somalia’s horizon is vast, only interrupted by a handful of villages and the encampments of herders. The driver left me at the door of a modest hostel in a dusty street in the centre and rapidly the word went round that a white tourist had arrived in the city. The next day I was awoken by the police, who conducted a short interrogation and obliged me to hire a bodyguard to accompany me everywhere. He was a discrete young man who promised to protect me for just ten dollars a day. There was only one thing impeding him from carrying out his mission: his Kalashnikov did not have any bullets. I had never before been in the awkward position of having to solve a problem of such magnitude. Where does one buy bullets? In the market, of course. Small-time arms dealers have their own section of Burco’s market, among the fruit sellers and spice vendors. The stalls are well-provisioned with meat, vegetables and even fish. Every day the market attracts cattle herders and farmers from all over the district. There are also shops selling domestic appliances, cosmetics and clothes. Internet cafes and computer stores are in abundance. The car dealers share the pavement with stores selling everyday goods and well-known brands of drinks (a short time ago Coca-Cola opened a new bottling plant in the north of the country). The streets are unpaved and anything which one might call a local administration appears not to exist. Nevertheless, the transport networks operate efficiently, there are taxi and bus companies and the produce arrives punctually in the shops. Burco is in the middle of nowhere. It is the last secure town before arriving in the hostile Somalia 30
of kidnappers and smugglers, of warlords and the Al Qaeda militia, the pirates of the Indian Ocean, the anarchy and chaos. However, in Somalia, when you turn on a tap, water comes out, when you flick a switch, the ligh comes on in your room, in the country with the lowest international calling rates in the world: €0.02 per minute2. Somalia is the most extreme case of the stereotypes we have constructed around Africa: that of a continent that is inflicted with thousands of tragedies, without any initiative, permanently below the age of consent, with men and women that need our guidance and our counsel in order to make do. Our viewpoint, which is common in Europe and the United States, is based on a conception of a feeble continent, the victim of floods and droughts, cyclically affected by hunger and epidemics, with the certainty that it is a poor country ruled by corrupt, ignorant satraps. In short, in such a place, neither
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democracy nor economic prosperity can ever take hold. However, this is only a snapshot. It is necessary to look far beyond this image to see how the majority of African societies evolve on the margins of political and economic power, which is to say they evolve in spite of the establishment. In Somalia’s case it is the women who have taken on the predominant role in the unique local capitalist system. Anything approaching a monetary authority or a price regulating body simply does not exist. Nevertheless, every morning groups of women gather at the gates of the markets with mobile phones to their ears to sound out the supply and demand of the merchandise that has ar-
rived in town that morning. They set the price of the fruit, meat and other basic necessities. Any undertaking in Africa meets with a mountain of difficulties, such as the chronic lack of an infrastructure. However, there are a mountain of willing individuals who refuse to give in: they believe that when things turn truly awful it is simply necessary to move ahead. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the electricity supply does not depend on any ministry or official body. Nevertheless, a small group of business people use diesel generators to illuminate the cities. Collectors pass by each house asking for a modest
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Africa
quantity, affordable for most households. When I journeyed through the east of the country in 2006 power-cuts were minimal, almost insignificant, in a country that is unable to shake off the stigma of civil war. The telephone landlines are virtually inoperative as central government has neglected to ensure the maintenance of the exchanges. Mobile telephones, on the other hand, solved the problem. Vodacom Congo was the first local operator to dare to provide coverage for this country of continental proportions. Border closures due to the war meant it was impossible to import the metals needed to construct the antennas and transmission towers. The company resorted to using scraps of metal to create the first private telephone network. Many of these antennas are still in service in Goma and Bukavu, where they are easily recognisable due to their grotesque appearance, balancing precariously, pointing skywards. Somalia’s women and the entrepreneurs of the Congo put into practice the simple principle of applying African solutions to African problems.
sential to maintaining the speed of the West, India and China’s economic engines. This new race of African citizens ought to be the interlocutors with the European ministries and not the ranks of civil servants and politicians embedded in many of the continent’s societies. Whenever there is a violent conflict or humanitarian crisis, we look for the reactions of the bureaucrats or the foreign ‘saviour’, a blond man or woman who is a member of one of the many NGOs that operate on the ground. We never show the work done by the professional colleges or women’s associations that have been fundamental in the democratic transitions and the fight against sexual abuse and for gender equality. The First World’s television and press conveniently arrive to show the children with the swollen bellies, their mouths full of flies. There is always, always a European or American doctor at their side about to inject them with a life-saving vaccine. We never explain that the majority of doctors that work in Africa are African men and women. In short: blacks save blacks. This evidently fails to be one of our cultural givens.
It is necessary to look far beyond this image to see how the majority of African societies evolve on the margins of political and economic power
The stereotypes inundate African news reports, especially when it comes to explaining the violent conflicts that, according to our viewpoint, would seem to be a form of irrational outbreaks of rage, a form of ‘hooliganism’ that affects African populations, that are seen as politically immature. We ignore the fact, however, that Africa is currently rediscovering its linguistic, cultural and ethnic reality after a century of alienating colonialism. This adventure, this introspection, time and again comes up against the Western anti-ethnic argument: the Africans are barbarians, underdeveloped and tribal, they are a type of primitive being prone to irrational behaviour, victims of their own ethnic hatred, incapable of controlling their nationalistic passions. It is a simplistic, unjust viewpoint held by those that call for the ending of aid to African countries. The image of a drugged or drunken youth bearing a machete fills our TV screens we shrink back in horror. Once more we forget the fact that African wars respond to the same motivations as wars in Asia or Europe: national unrest, the struggle for power and the con-
The people of this continent are not socially unadapted or politically illiterate. The majority demonstrate an enormous ingenuity, creativity and determination in overcoming adversity. They are men and women that are conscious of the responsibility of the colonial and neo-colonial powers in the destruction of the continent’s economic and social framework. However, they do not hold the West or China responsible for all their problems. They are probably keeping an eye on the future of their land, precisely now that Africa has entered the flow of history via globalisation while foreign powers struggle to establish bilateral agreements to exploit the continent’s enormous mineral and oil wealth. Right now, Africa is es32
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trol of economic resources. The means they use to wage war is a different matter. They use whatever they happen to have at hand: a stone, a fist, a stick. Mutilated bodies, people wracked by hunger and desperation, all in contrast to the ‘civilised’ means of killing, from the air, with cutting edge technology and clean uniforms. Politicians, journalists, academics, even aid workers; we have collaborated in the construction of this illusory reality as to the nature of African societies.
The West, meanwhile, persists in maintaining a dialogue with the corrupt elites that hold power Tribalism offers the advantage of not having to explain anything else: African conflicts are accepted as part of the conduct of the black man. Nationalism, according to this viewpoint, is the worst burden the continent must bear, worse than AIDS, drought or famine. It is an argument that quickly comes undone, that fails to explain why in certain, clearly multicultural countries, there have been no violent conflicts, in contrast to what has occurred in the continent’s few nation-states. Cameroon and Burkina Faso, for example, are the countries with the highest levels of ethno-linguistic cultural diversity on the continent. They share the characteristics of the majority of countries in the region: poverty, under-development, authoritarianism and political corruption. Nevertheless, both have avoided chronic conflict. In contrast,
Somalia is an almost mono-ethnic country; in which case it ought to provide almost ideal conditions for economic stability and security for its citizens, the perfect circumstances for the construction of a nation-state according to the Western model. However, the truth is otherwise. Paradoxically, Somalia is the only country on earth without a government administration, without a regular state, without external representation. It is an enormous bounty for the mafias that exist. Somalia, therefore, as homogenous as it seems, is the archetypal ‘absent state’, without civil servants, central bank or an education system. It is a country where you can literally buy a handful of bullets and a kilo of tomatoes at the same market stall. Somalians are not orphans, however. Neither is the rest of Africa; they simply try to transform a society alongside the imposed structures of domination. The West, meanwhile, persists in maintaining a dialogue with the corrupt elites that hold power. In Somalia, for example, they wish to re-establish a conventional state through peace agreements with the warlords. It is a serious mistake, because the chiefs, who are a mixture of Rambo and Al Capone, still control the situation. Nevertheless, in reality they are ridiculous, less than they appear. What has happened is that they have triumphed in a context of territorial and political disintegration. They have simply proven to be the most able when it came to devouring Somalia’s corpse, but this in no way means they are considered legitimate in their country. The inhabitants of Somalia know the warlords are bandits, nothing more than bandits.
*Nicolás Valle (Acehúche, 1964). Journalist for the foreign news desk of TV3 (Catalunya Television). Author of ‘Ubuntu. Estimada Terra Africana’ (Ubuntu. Beloved African Land. Published by Proa, 2008). He carries out a range of academic tasks at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. He previously worked on the foreign desk of the Avui newspaper. He specialises in African current affairs, a continent in where he has travelled extensively.
1. The country almost completely coincides with the former British Somaliland. It declared itself independent in 1991. It is controlled by the Isaaq clan. 2. Mobile Phones. The Economist, 20th December 2005.
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Opinions
Architecture and progress in the Western world by Pau Pedragosa*
What is the current outlook for architecture seen in the light of progress in Western history? The history of Western architecture reveals developments that in only a (very) limited sense can be considered progress. There are at least three basic aspects that have to be kept in mind in order to understand and evaluate architecture as a whole: the technical, the artistic and the social. Can we be certain that architecture has progressed technically, artistically and socially since its origin? It is necessary to analyse each of these three aspects in order to finally evaluate the relationship between architecture and progress in the contemporary world. There is a unanimous agreement that techniques, in existence from the very beginning of humanity, have progressed to the technology and high-tech that current buildings ably display. The improvements that technological progress has brought to our buildings in terms of comfort and quality of life are indisputable. It is therefore correct to claim that architecture has progressed from a technological point of view. However, progress in one area does not imply progress of the whole. Technology is the defining characteristic of the modern era. It has given and still gives shape to buildings and cities. Nevertheless, it is precisely its spectacular nature and the fascination for rapid technological changes that bring to attention its fundamental shortcoming, its incapacity to improve other aspects of our existence. The effect of the rise of technology (inseparable from science) and its omnipresence in all areas of life is what Max Weber, writing at the start 34
of the twentieth century, called ‘disenchantment with the world’. It was a term he used to criticise science and technology’s tendency to reduce our lives exclusively to the very same values technology aspires to: rationality, efficiency and security. According to the philosopher Martin Heidegger, the absolutism of technological progress has converted the world into a homeless place. It is an ‘efficient machine’, leading to Man’s loss of the meaning of the word ‘to dwell’ and it is the work of architecture to make our world, the buildings and cities once more our home. ‘To dwell’ means the complete experience of the concrete cultural and historical world we live in, which is not promoted in the experience brought about by technology1. Can art, the other essential component of architecture, compensate for this unilateral element, overcoming its disenchantment and homelessness, and therefore promote ‘dwelling’?
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The German Pavillion was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona, held in Montjuïc
Contemporary architecture has converted the International Style (Modern) into a new Global Style (Postmodern) that merely provides objects with spectacular, interesting aesthetics that are at the service of technological ostentation Art is just as important as technique, as has been recognised throughout the history of Western architecture. Architecture forms part of the arts and, before Modernity, it was considered the most important since it united all the other artistic genres in an organic whole. This was the case of the Greek temple, the Gothic cathedral, it was still true in the Baroque era and the Bauhaus movement tried to make it so once again for our era, which was already defined by technology. Can we state that art progresses? It seems clear that we cannot, or in any case, it is not clear that we can state that modern art is better than medieval or Greek art. What we can say is that modern art has changed radically with respect to earlier eras. The radical na-
ture of this change is summarised in the Hegelian phrase ‘the death of art’, which means that the way in which art was understood before the arrival of Modernity (up to the Enlightenment) has disappeared to give way to a new concept of art, which is summarised by the expressions ‘aesthetics’ and ‘aesthetic object’. This change is not only a substitution of terminology of the word ‘art’ for ‘aesthetics’, but rather it signifies a triumph, in both theory and practice, of an aesthetic conception of art over an older conception, the Greek and medieval, which we can call ‘ethical’2. If the latter consists of the capacity of art to articulate and make comprehensible a community’s way of living, the aesthetic conception of art, in contrast, maintains that this is produced to exclusively provoke aesthetic experiences in the observer, that it is the object of the aesthesis, of sensations and feelings. This led to the emergence of the fine arts, taken to be those works that purely give aesthetic pleasure. As a consequence and in opposition to these, we find the appearance of applied arts, such as architecture, in which the aesthetic experience has to be reconciled with the functionality of the object, in a tense struggle3. Architecture ends up being divided between a highly technological functional structure and a decorative,
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Business and Economics
Fallingwater, Pennsylvania was designed between 1934 and 1935 by Frank Lloyd Wright and is considered his masterpiece
‘aesthetic’ covering. The equation ‘architecture = technological building + aesthetic decoration’ was to be the object of serious criticism at the start of the twentieth century by John Ruskin and Adolf Loos, among others.
Do we recognise the buildings and the city we dwell in, do we feel as if they are our own and we understand them? The new definition of modern art leads us to consider the third aspect of architecture, the social, precisely because the result of the substitution of the ‘ethical’ art of the past for the ‘aesthetic’ object is the elimination of its social function. From its beginnings architecture has had a social function in 36
the sense that it has given shape and significance to the spaces in which people’s activities, habits, customs and way of life have taken place throughout the different eras of history. They understand and recognise the spaces as their own. Can we confirm that modern architecture’s capacity to give shape to and transmit ways of contemporary life has progressed when compared with previous eras? Do we recognise ourselves in the buildings and the city we dwell in, do we feel as if they are our own and we understand them? The fact that the answer is not clear was made manifest in the middle of the twentieth century by Sigfried Giedion in his key work Space, Time and Architecture, in which he wrote that we find ourselves in a period at the start of a new tradition, the modern one. The principal job of the architect, Giedion argued, is to ‘interpret a valid way of life for our times’4. According to Giedion, the architecture that can accomplish this
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task is the one which will follow and go beyond the modern paradigms of F. L. Wright, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius (exponents of the International Style5). He opposes a ‘type of playboy architecture’, an architecture treated as playboys treat life, jumping from one sensation to another and quickly bored with everything’6. Giedion therefore opposes a type of architecture that interprets the lifestyle of our era and has, in this fashion, a social function, to an architecture that, taking the aesthetic experience to its limits, seeks only to provide ‘spectacular feelings’ in order to avoid boredom, which is to say an architecture that is intéressant. We can summarise the position of contemporary architecture as the separation and autonomy of the three aspects which make up (or used to make up) architectural unity. This atomisation and fragmentation is a reflection of the modern situation in general, a situation that is a result of progress in the West. The spectacular advance of science and technology forms part of the same phenomenon that endows art with an aesthetic autonomy and makes architecture incapable of representing the whole of society with recognisable forms related to a historic tradition that increasingly appears stranger and more distant. The elements that tra-
ditionally formed an organic, centred unity, now develop separately and appears as if they can only be connected through forming a collage. Contemporary architecture has converted the International Style (Modern) into a new Global Style (Postmodern) that merely provides objects with spectacular, interesting aesthetics that are at the service of technological ostentation. However, when aesthetic invention is solely at the service of technology, then architecture becomes indifferent to the historico-cultural place that embodies the different lifestyles and it is thus unable to give individuals the sense of dwelling in a place. Architecture needs to provide an urgent answer to this situation. To this end it is necessary to call into question the current ‘Global Postmodern Style’ through a new appropriation or rereading of the Modern International Style, our architectural tradition. A true appropriation of Modernity has to be able to give form and meaning to the place of the different cultural identities and, simultaneously, articulate this place with the homogenisation of the global space defined by technology. Since this articulation is necessarily tense and conflictive, architecture has to learn how to provide the fragment, the collage, with the creative potential capable of reuniting technology, art and society in one complex, critical unity. *Pau Pedragosa
(Barcelona, 1970). Architect and philosopher. Doctoral studies in Germany (Freie Universität Berlin). Currently professor in the Department of Aesthetics and Architectural Composition at the Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura de Barcelona (Higher Technical College of Architecture, ETSAB-UPC), collaborating professor at the Escola d’Arquitectura de la Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (the International University of Catalunya’s School of Architecture, EsArq-UIC) and the Escola EINA of Disseny i Art (EINA School of Art and Design). He is also a member of the Catalan Philosophy Society of the Institut d’Estudis Catalans (Catalan Institute of Studies, IEC). He has written specialised articles on architecture and philosophy for different scientific institutions: the Institut d’Estudis Catalans, the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Higher Council of Scientific Investigation) and the Organisation of Phenomenological Organisations, among others.
1 HEIDEGGER, M. The Question Concerning Technology. Building, Dwelling, Thinking. Conferencias y artículos (Conferences and Articles), Ediciones del Serbal, Barcelona, 1994. The first article also has a Catalan translation: La qüestió envers la tècnica, in Fites, Editorial Laia, Barcelona, 1989. 2 HARRIES, K. The Ethical Function of Architecture. MIT Press, 1998.
3 KANT, I. Critique of Judgement, §16. Editorial Espasa Calpe (publisher), Madrid, 1990. 5 GIEDION, S. Space, Time and Architecture. 5th Edition. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974, p. XXXIII. 6 International Style: Architecture Since 1922 is the name given to the essay and catalogue from the International Exhibition of Modern Architec-
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ture, organsied by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson at MoMA in New York York in 1932, in which were shown buildings from around the world with certain common characteristics that identified them with the new International Style of the modern era. The most significant exponents were: F.L. Wright, W. Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, J. J. P. Oud and Le Corbusier. 7 GIEDION, S. Ibid, p. XXXII.
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Opinions
Values in a time of crisis by Salvador Cardús*
It is extremely interesting to observe how critiques of economic and political crises usually have a moral dimension, while periods of stability, growth, abundance and calm tend to produce debates with an amoral basis. This has also been the case during the recent financial recession, which has uncovered a social, economic and political crisis of deeper, more serious dimensions. It has affected the very model upon which the social and economic progress of recent years has been based. When it comes to finding the causes of the current crisis, rampant greed and damaging the rules of the game have been seen from the start as the main triggers. In Barack Obama’s solemn inaugural speech as President of the United States of America on the 20th January 2009, he saw weaknesses in the country’s economy as due to a ‘consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age’. In other words, the recession is not only the consequence of the greed of a few, but also the moral weakness of the majority. The American president’s diagnosis is common among the leaders of those nations that have found themselves affected by this same wave of recession, with the subsequent unmasking of irresponsible behaviour, similar to that found in the US financial system. There then follows the condemnation of a supposed collective participation in a growth that is clearly founded on human greed. By the same token, if the common diagnosis sponsible consumerism, such as the savings bank points to a crisis in individual and collective val- that addressed itself to young people by inviting ues, the cure is necessarily one of moral rearma- them to abandon all deliberation and to, ‘see it, ment. In other words, a way out of the economic want it, have it’. Now, however, one can observe hole needs to be linked to regaining all the virtues new campaigns that suggest a move towards more that have supposedly been abandoned: effort, te- moderate consumption patterns, with slogans nacity, sobriety, cohesive solidarity and patriotism. such as, ‘don’t let the recession come into your In effect our political leaders and those that run home’. institutions with responsibilities in the civil realm have, for some months now, called for a return to the great values in order to find a way out of the Ultimately the view based on values economic crisis. With this moral cry they wish proposes and encourages a voluntarfor society to recover confidence in itself and its ist concept of social reality and its leaders. It will be very interesting to observe the possibilities for transformation changes that will occur in the slogans employed in advertising campaigns, as they are always very sensitive to the moral climate of the moment. In this text I do not aim to argue with the Until recently one could hear calls for totally irre- truth or otherwise of attributing the causes of the 38
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recession to the immorality of the few or to collective moral omission. Nevertheless, it is apparent that in these times of economic crisis, when traditional social ties also slowly dissolve, such behaviour becomes more apparent. In particular, I have many doubts as to whether the recession will not also favour other types of behaviour, of an equally immoral and opportunistic nature as the first. Sooner or later, when the recession is over, they may also come to light. It appears as if, whether in times of crisis or growth, the human condition is inevitably associated with what in the Christian tradition are called ‘deadly sins’ and that are found in the moral code of all cultural and religious traditions, with some differences. Nevertheless, what is clear is that a debate on moral rearmament is, above all, a debate that calls for discipline that wishes to reply to passive, resigned
attitudes and, even demoralisation. It urges the population to make an extra effort, while reducing temptations to dissent and protest. Ultimately, theories based on values propose and encourage a voluntarist concept of social reality and its possibilities for transformation. These are essential since additional individual effort is so important, precisely when faced with the failure of the existing norms. From the point of view of the social sciences, such voluntarist conceptions are often seen as suspect. This is not because it is not true that such values would diminish the effects of the crisis or even allow us to find a way out sooner. Rather, the problem is that it is not very clear how the current situation can be attributed to a mere crisis of social values. In other words, the structural causes of
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the recession, which cast doubt on the very model which brought it about, become hidden beneath a cloud of personal and institutional responsibilities. They are real, but should ultimately be considered a consequence of a system that has permitted and even favoured them and not necessarily as the guilty party. At present the voluntarist contribution of the majority of individuals, who through national pride or patriotism wish to reconstruct their country, is certainly a major factor in finding a way out of the crisis, but it is not sufficient. 40
What is also needed are structural measures of a reforming nature that are far greater than that allowed by the sum of individual actions. In these circumstances there is always the temptation to fall into pseudo-patriotic protectionist rhetoric by, for example, calling on consumers to buy products from their own country, but we also need to understand them as strategies to intensify discipline mechanisms. From an economic point of view, in a globalised world, not only are they hard to apply, their results are highly dubious.
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In a crisis there is a correlation between the leaders’ call for discipline and the need to put a positive spin on a situation that a few months earlier would have been seen as unsustainable
the hegemonic social discourses that individuals can identify with or even come to think of as their own and which ultimately are socially useful to them. Certain forms of frivolous conduct, both economically and morally, can very quickly meet with reproval, not so much by the producers and writers, as by the audience themselves.
In a sense that is radically opposed to this voluntarist conception of the role of values, my point of view is that the discourse that refers to values is normally an expression of the system’s structural organisation and not its foundation. This is to say that, in effect, in periods of growth, the values belonging to the hegemonic viewpoint soon reveal their amoral nature. Specifically, that certain values are spread in order that they soften any resistance that may oppose economic growth from a strict moral standpoint. The critiques that accompany periods of uncontrolled wealth creation idolise amoral, opportunistic lifestyles, openly lacking solidarity with the proposal of softening the adverse social ties of an unlimited laissez faire attitude. On the other hand, it is to be expected that this time the current recession will also favour a more critical appraisal of the abuses and exhibitionism of conspicuous consumption. Instead, it will provide greater sensitivity to critiques in favour of what is known as the ‘culture of effort’, towards more austere, moderate conduct. The situation can be summarised by the expression ‘to make a virtue out of a necessity’. Where earlier I mentioned changes that have occurred in advertising, I now suggest we should be on the lookout for the contents of television series. After all, they are in the privileged position of creating
It appears as if, in a time of crisis, there is some correlation between, on the one hand, the leaders’ call for discipline (who need to seek the unconditional support of the population in order that they swallow the bitter pill required to overcome the illness) and, on the other hand, the subjective need to make a virtue out of what is inevitable, in the sense of putting a positive spin on a situation that a few months earlier would have been seen as unsustainable. It goes without saying that a more detailed analysis would require distinguishing between who is capable of producing a discourse on values needed for the crisis and who are its intended recipients. In the same way, it would be necessary to relate the assimilation of this disciplining discourse in terms of its true impact of the crisis among various social groups. Whatever the case, the success of the argument as to the recovery of the values needed to find a way out of the crisis will probably depend on the duration and depth of the recession. If the duration of the economic depression is too long, if its impact is too widely felt, the desire for discipline could become exposed, losing its political legitimacy and provoking the opposite effect to the one intended. In other words, a debate as to the values behind the crisis could exacerbate the mood of a population that feels excessively affected by an impoverishment for which they in no way feel responsible. *Salvador Cardús i Ros
(Terrassa, 1954). PhD in Economics at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Visiting researcher at the University of Cambridge, Cornell University (USA) and Queen Mary College of the University of London. Currently he is Professor of Sociology and Dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences and Sociology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. He has conducted research into the sociology of religion and culture, nationalism and identities. His most notable recent publications include El desconcert de l’educació (The Uncertainty of Education, 2000) and Ben educats (Well Educated, 2003). Currently he is working on the model of the breaking down of the situation of the immigrant in Catalunya and he has published Els terrassencs del segle XX. Immigració, identitat i canvi (Residents of Terrassa in the Twentieth Century. Immigration, Identity and Change, 2005). He acted as curator of the Qui som (Who We Are) exhibition for Terrassa city council.He has been a member of the Catalan Parliament’s Study Commission on Immigration Policies in Catalunya (2000-2001) and president of FUNDACC, Foundation of the Audiences of Communication and Culture (2005-2008).
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Miquel Barceló, contemporary art’s ‘cap de turc’ (scapegoat) by Ricard Planas*
In an era of global and political correctness, the inclusion of the expression ‘cap de turc’ (literally ‘head of a Turk’) in the title, especially now that the European Union is heatedly debating Turkey’s suitability to join the alliance, does appear rather controversial. Obviously it has been done on purpose. It should be said that in Germany alone there are some three million Turkish citizens. It is also worth remembering the expression ‘Europe will be Christian, or it will be nothing at all’, when Christian Europe of 1453 was to be the first to turn its back on Christian Constantinople, with the magnificent church of Hagia Sofia in the background. Mehmed II laid siege to the city, in which a large number of Catalans died trying to defend it. A defeat, something with which we Catalans appear to have a certain historical familiarity, that opened the doors of Europe to the Ottoman Empire and the definitive fall of all that the Roman Empire represented. If we cite the example of Geneva (that medieval semi-goddess who gave her name to a key European city), it could represent a modern-day Constantinople and Hagia Sophia could be the Palace of the United Nations of said capital. It only remains to be said with an effort of literary romanticism that Constantine, the Emperor, who defended the Christian city the last time, is now called Miquel Barceló. His religion, Art, has led him to create a new multicoloured platonic cave that is almost festive, that aims to cover all civilisations and that seeks universal peace. The Ottoman enemies would, therefore, have stood frozen before such an explosion of global integrity and would have called off their siege. Nevertheless it is certain that Constantinople, which currently goes under the name of Istanbul, was conquered and the legions of enemies burnt and sacked it. It is similar to the historians, art critics, and pseudo-critics and others, from political opportunists to ‘firemen’ and other cultural comentators that pass judgment, with greater or lesser depth, on the artistic potency and the current suitability of the mausoleum-work (20 million euros, 1,400m2 of painted area and 35 tonnes of paint in the form of stalactites) that the Mallorcan artist Miquel Barceló has just finished in Geneva. This artist is from the Catalan Countries, born in Felanitx in 1957, a city on an island 42
that until the conquest by Jaume I, was more Moor than Christian.
Simply for stirring up the debate, making the general public think and making art and its agents reflect, the dome can continue to be a good scapegoat The key question: The current crisis and the relevance of contemporary art Constantinople was a symbol that all of a sudden fell. The fall of the Roman Empire, especially in the East, however, was building up over centuries. The crisis of capitalism and the unsustainability of the current model may perhaps be nothing more than the repetition of historical cycles with the same epiphany that was produced by the fall of the Roman Empire and civilisation itself (a term with its own ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’). What is more, the current economic crisis has positive aspects as well as terribly negative ones. The latter are well known to all. The positives are not highlighted very much in the current depressive climate. Among them is the need to rethink oneself and to rethink everything from the start, because there is
Catalan International View
Photo: Agustí and Antònia Torres - ONUART Foundation
something that is not working properly. The art market and the influence it has on art have also led to a rethink of a whole host of issues, even though it depends on which form of art we mean. For centuries it has called for the art beyond the object, the physical form, in the ambit of creators of ideas. These concepts are also in crisis. The current crisis (which is almost a depression), also calls for a reformulation of the limits of avant-garde contemporary art and the limits of contemporary art in general; in the sense that art need have limits or at least some, as José Maria Valverde said, ‘there is no aesthetics without ethics’. However, in the twenty-first century, we need to define what is meant by ethics. This art (or some part of this art) has ended up becoming a new empty science, even though there are some magnificent creations mixed with a lot of insubstantial work. It is clear that in all the self-reflections on contemporary art, one cannot pass over an artist who has obtained a commission of these characteristics. Evidently, what Barceló’s work has meant for the Catalan Countries (and Spain) is a clever use of artistic strategy, of global positioning in the Anglo Saxon or Chinese style. To once more hear a man from
the Catalan Countries speak in his own language before such an international audience, as Lluís Sert did, another Catalan that also left his footprint in Geneva, does not fail to make one emotional. Even if the final result (and the installation needs to be seen in place to be judged correctly) does not fully convince. Perhaps it is because what in reality does not convince is contemporary art, or perhaps it is that this form of contemporary art does not take root. In the stock exchanges of art, with full-on marketing, does superficiality have more importance than any other aspect? The truth is it is difficult to judge its value in light of everything, since the prejudices, both positive and negative, could confuse what is at the heart of the work. The fact is that the Barceló room does not fail to affect people, which can also be said of the ‘clash of civilisations’ (or some equally pompous title). Simply for stirring up the debate, making the general public think and making art and its agents reflect, the dome can continue to be a good scapegoat. It may well have cost 20 million, but when it is compared to the thousands of millions that wars cost it is an insignificant tribute to the heritage of history, of civilisation and of art. *Ricard Planas
(Girona, 1976). Journalist, art critic and cultural promoter. Studied Philology and the History of Art at the University of Girona. in 1999 he founded the magazine Bonart, dedicated to the contemporary art scene in the Catalan Countries. More recently he created and directed the Catalan art fair INART in 2005 and 2006. Has worked as the curator for exhibitions by important artists such as Arranz-Bravo, Lamazares, Formiguera, Cuixart, Ansesa and GrauGarriga. Ricard has collaborated with Ona Catalana, Catalunya Ràdio, iCatfm and Onda Rambla radio stations. Has also worked for the Diari de Girona, El Punt and El Mundo newspapers among others.
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The future of religion in Europe by Fèlix MartĂ*
While religion was seen to have begun an irreversible decline in the twentieth century, currently religious experience appears to have undergone an unsuspected revival. The crisis in the great ideologies has not only failed to erode the prestige of religion, indeed, in many countries the citizens find in faith communities values and guidance that are not offered by political doctrines, nor by the mythologies of progress and welfare. It is also noted how the force of religions is used to legitimise political movements and often to justify the use of violence. Religious traditions once again have a notable presence in the public arena. Moves to confine the role of religion to the private sphere have not been successful: they exercise a regulatory function of an ethical order and they are presented as a guarantee of social cohesion. All of these changes make one believe that the evolution towards non-confessional structures and, in general, secular societies, is still uncertain. Europe is probably the continent with the is comfortable in its religious and non-religious highest level of secularisation. European Chris- pluralism and the fact that the public realm can tian churches have suffered the consequences of be labelled as secular is not seen as a weakness. the critical wave of modernity with respect to re- Secularism in Europe is welcomed by a majorligion. The accusations of Marx, Freud and Ni- ity of its citizens, both by members of the various etzsche against religion as a political, psychologi- churches and those that live on the margins of cal and anthropological factor of alienation are religious communities. highly representative of a new humanism that attempts to overcome the errors that they attribute to the religious culture. Although they recognise Europe is comfortable in its religious the positive contribution that spiritual traditions and non-religious pluralism and the have made to European cultural heritage, there is fact that the public realm can be still a demand for non-religious traditions and an labelled as secular is not seen as a attempt is made to build a consensus of values, weakness myths and beliefs inspired by the world of religions or other sources that can be shared by the citizens. The history of European Catholicism during the twentieth century is highly significant in rela For this reason Europe has evolved in the tion to the changes that the religious conscience sense of secularising state structures and, in par- has undergone in Europe. The key event for the ticular, European political institutions. Europe Catholic Church was the celebration of the Sec44
Catalan International View
The original altarpiece of Sant Climent de Taüll was moved to the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya in order to preserve it adequately
ond Vatican Ecumenical Council (or Vatican II) in Rome, in the sixties. It was to be an impressive attempt at reconciliation with modern culture, which was highly valued by Europeans. On one hand an investigation of the Bible, using modern scientific instruments, allowed renewed interpretations of the Christian message and a promising rapprochement between the various branches of Christianity; theologians dared to think of faith from philosophical positions that were different from the traditional ones that appeared immobilised in the thinking behind the St. Thomas’ doctrine. The new theologians allowed the arming of the faithful with language that was part of modern culture; pluralism was welcomed in the interior of the Church and in this manner dialogue with the diversity of humanity’s religious and cultural traditions was facilitated; a process of transition was undertaken towards a form of government of the Catholic Church in harmony with the democratic spirit. Outwardly there was an affirmation of the
option of serving human communities and especially the poor and marginalized, over and above the desire for power; the Catholic community made its international agenda the fight for justice and peace both on a global scale and internally in each country; it declared that it would work alongside those of goodwill, without asking for favours or privileges in return. In short, the Catholic Church was defining its place in a world that was becoming secularised and it did so without a longing for the models from before secularisation. The decades following Vatican II were characterised by setbacks in many of these areas. The Catholic Church returned to many of its former routines because many of its leaders were frightened of the consequences of the Council’s decisions. Instead of designing a different form of church, they wished to reinforce the existing model and denounce the perils of secularisation.
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They failed to understand the reasoning behind the desertion of many priests and church workers from their institutional work, neither did they calmly consider the decline in conventional religious practices in countries with a Catholic tradition. At the start of the twenty-first century it is clear that the changes in the Catholic Church have not achieved the results desired by its leaders. On the contrary, it would appear that the theological control and the new centralisation imposed by Rome has not attracted believers and non-believers. What is more, the processes of secularisation are running their course without the Catholic Church’s voice being seen as a lucid, credible, disinterested and free point of reference. The Catholic groups that most arouse admiration in society are affected by marginalisation from the institutions and the hierarchy often attempts to discredit the individuals that inspire them.
A new element which serves to complicate the religious situation in Europe, is the arrival of large numbers of people that belong to religious traditions that are different from a Christianity, in dialogue with the European cultural history There is a great deal of sociological data that confirms the decadence of Christian religious institutions and that raises questions as to the future of Christianity in Europe. Nevertheless, hopeful signs can also be observed. The crisis appears more in the institution itself, which is to say its structures, rather than the content, which is to say the message. In every country it is possible to find networks of small Christian communities that are faithful to the precepts of Vatican II. Their vitality is not realistically reflected in the media, which gives preference in both sound and image to the ecclesiastical hierarchy. They live a Christianity at the service of the poor and weak, with no pretensions to political, economic or cultural power. On the other hand, these groups, thanks to their secu46
lar practices and their form of religious celebration, are experimenting with options and structures that could help to define Christianity in the future. A Christianity that is perfectly adapted to secularised societies. A notable interest in spiritual and theological literature generated by writers who are independent of ecclesiastical structures has also been observed. In any case, the ideas and contributions of individuals from inside or outside the institutions inspire confidence since they are non-sectarian and possess a desire to hold a real dialogue with secular society that is without prejudice or naĂŻvetĂŠ. It may be that Europe is currently an interesting laboratory in which to define models of the future of life and religious coexistence in plural societies. A new element which serves to complicate the religious situation in Europe, is the arrival of large numbers of people that belong to religious traditions that are different from Christianity. The presence of Islamic communities in many areas of Europe has raised serious questions, since its adepts do not come from secular societies and even belong to traditions that specifically condemn the views of secularisation. The various forms of Christianity also lived through many centuries with interpretations that appeared incompatible with secularisation, though presently they have distanced themselves from these theologies. It can be hoped that Islam will experience a similar development in Europe. Presumably an Islam that wishes to take root in Europe will become enriched by the contributions of modernity, it will distance itself from extremist positions and it will sincerely accept a regime of religious pluralism and the liberty of conscience. In Europe, Islam will probably show itself gradually in favour of an enlightened interpretation of religion and a model of society that respects religions without a need to theocratise public institutions. It is reasonable to think that European Islam will respect the wishes of citizens with no interest to belong to any religion and it will participate in initiatives aimed at interfaith dialogue that also include nonbelievers as does Christianity. In many European cities this practice is already a reality.
Catalan International View
Sant Climent de Taüll was consecrated on the 10th December 1123 and is one of the finest examples of Catalan Romanesque art
Many Latin American immigrants have also arrived in Europe, originating from Christian communities that are resistant to a critical sense and the reference points of modernity. Their religious enthusiasm is in contrast with the discreet nature of public manifestations of European Christian traditions. Both the believers and non-believers of the host countries observe the degree of their religiosity with some surprise. Their emotional and seemingly excessive piety is removed from the local Christian community’s taste for reflection. Their lack of interest in a more solid religious culture is preoccupying, as is their indifference to projects aimed at theological renovation and the reform of anachronistic ecclesiastical structures. They are churches that could reinforce less enlightened forms of Christianity or evolve as the more open Catholic and Protestant groups have done. The presence of other minority religious
traditions has become a normal occurrence in all European countries and some, such as the Buddhists or the Bahá’í Faith, are achieving a growing recognition. The Europeans believe that their religious experiences are a significant contribution to the future of religion. They believe that up to now their great spiritual traditions have avoided the selection of doctrines and proposals that are incompatible with the intellectual progresses of their own cultures and of humanity as a whole. The tensions that exist within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church realistically reflect the desire of their communities to enshrine the Christian message in the contemporary cultural code and in the lifestyle of free citizens in open societies. It may be that many aspects of the European religious crisis are a prelude to new nascent forms of religiosity. *Fèlix Martí
Former president of the International Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs (Pax Romana), from 1975 to 1984; director of Catalonia magazine (1987-2002), a publication printed in four different languages, aimed at disseminating Catalan culture; director of the UNESCO centre of Catalunya (1984- 2002) and later its honorary president (from 2003). From 1994 to 2002 he was editor of the Catalan editions of the yearly reports of the Washington-based Worldwatch Institute, L’Estat del món (The State of the World) and Signes vitals (Vital Signs). He promotes the Declaration on Contributions by Religions to a Culture of Peace, signed by leaders of the great religious traditions in 1994. President of the Linguapax International Institute from 2001 to 2004 and honorary president thereafter. Wrote his memoirs Diplomàtic sense estat (Diplomat Without a State), published by Edicions Proa in 2006. Was awarded the UNESCO Human Rights Medal in 1995 and the Generalitat de Catalunya’s ‘Creu de Sant Jordi’ (St. George’s Cross) in 2002.
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The geopolitics of interreligious dialogue
by Manuel Manonelles i Tarragó*
Lately we have been experiencing rather unusual events and developments in the context of what we consider interreligious dialogue. They would almost have been unthinkable just a few years ago. They are the result of changes in the religious world, but are also due to geopolitical reasons. Profound changes In November 2007, for the first time in its history, the United Nations General Assembly held a series of debates about ‘Interreligious and Intercultural Understanding and Cooperation for Peace’. It did so at the highest level, as the first activity following the opening ceremony, dedicating two whole days of plenary sessions to it. It counted on the presence of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the participation of more that eighty member states, some of which, in an unheard of step, temporarily relinquished their turn to religious leaders from their country. This took place in an institution, the ‘world’s parliament’, where all of the world’s states are represented and which, since its foundation in 1945, has dealt with religion as the French do, which is to say considering it part of the private realm, which is not answerable to the public dimension and institutional debate. 48
We are also facing the ‘revolution’ (littlenoticed by intellectuals and thinkers of what is called Western society) being conducted in the Muslim world by Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz AlSaud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and consequently King of Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah’s keys The King, by dynastic tradition, is in charge of the two most important holy sites in Islam (Mecca and Medina) as well as leader of Wahhabism, one of the main branches of Islam, which is also one of the strictest. For the last two years, once his position as King was consolidated in a country where succession is decided by family agreement and not through the dynastic line, he has been undertaking a range of actions that until a short time ago were considered taboo in his country.
Catalan International View
Hagia Sophia was used as a Christian church for almost a thousand years, from its construction in 537 until the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, when it was converted into a mosque
That same November, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques travelled to the sancta sanctorum in the ‘land of the infidels’ to meet with Pope Benedict, something that none of his predecessors had dared to do. He did so not only to hold talks, but with the desire ‘to promote cooperation among the world’s Muslims, Christians and Jews’. Once he had made this gesture, the King himself proposed a meeting between the top ulemas and wisemen of the various Islamic schools in Mecca, in May 2008. The aim was to address the issue of interreligious dialogue from a Muslim perspective. From the encounter emerged the Mecca Appeal for Interreligious Dialogue, that in the eyes of the Muslim world and especially in the eyes of the Wahhabist family itself, legitimised the organisation by the World Muslim League of the World Conference on Dialogue. This took place in Madrid, in July 2008, with the participation of
high-level representatives of the world’s major religions. Beyond the media impact of the conference and the presence of a large number of personalities (from Tony Blair to the Reverend Jesse Jackson, together with key ecclesiastical dignitaries and representatives of the main religious denominations), it is almost solely worth noting the words of King Abdullah. He clearly stated that it was divine will that ‘created the various religions. If God had wanted one religion he would have only made one. Man’s role, therefore, is to work with this diversity of divine origin, in order to find peace’. At this point it is vital to understand that if this statement had come from a representative of the Anglican Church, or from a Buddhist or Hindu wiseman, we would receive it with the normality of an argument many of us share
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and have felt for some time. Nevertheless, when it comes from the most influential voice in Islam, however, and one of the most conservative branches of Sunnism, these words take on a significance that is all-together exceptional. To put it into perspective, the same words spoken a few years ago by an imam in any mosque in Saudi Arabia could have resulted in him receiving the death sentence for heresy. In contrast, they now come from one of the key phrases of a speech from someone who undoubtedly has the beststructured and most potent network in Islam. A network that spreads far beyond his own land and neighbourhood, via hundreds of mosques and Islamic cultural centres that the Saudi monarchy have established around the world, from Madrid’s main mosque, via the Grand Mosque in Bamako (Mali), to London, Sarajevo, Dakar, Jakarta and so on. On another level, the recent opening of the first Catholic church in Doha, the capital of the small but influential principality of Qatar, is also a very important development. The event, which was not without a vigorous internal debate, is not only an answer to the characteristics of a country where more than 60% of the population are immigrant workers (largely Filipinos of a strong Catholic faith), but also another example of the fundamental changes centred all over the Persian Gulf and within branches of Sunnism, that are shaking the Islamic world and which may have important implications as time passes. More recent developments At the end of last October, the influential Russian minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, speaking at a meeting of foreign affairs ministers in Kazakhstan, highlighted the need to create a Consultative Council of Religions within the framework of the United Nations and the Alliance of Civilizations Initiative. Minster Lavrov may unconsciously have been making a demand commonly heard from civil society that, for a variety of reasons, has always been regarded with 50
mistrust by some key participants in the arena, such as the Holy See. The outcome, some weeks later, was a new high level meeting of the current session of the General Assembly, this time presided by a Nicaraguan Catholic priest, known as a significant proponent of Liberation Theology, father Miguel d’Escoto Brokmann. This new meeting, the second by the institution in little more than a year (after ignoring the religious issue for over sixty years), was held at the bidding of Saudi Arabia, who wished to add a multilateral dimension to the significance of the Madrid Conference. This lead to a small revolt, particularly among those countries (especially European ones) that adhere to a more secular tradition and those that adhere to strongly theocratic state models. The latter models are all too often applied to the detriment of some human rights.
It is not necessary to repeat, therefore, that we are faced with the reality of rupture and change in the context of a dialogue between religions Another political and geographical dimension occurring around the same time, were the ‘training days’, aimed at imams and Islamic community leaders of Moroccan origin from all over Europe. They were organised by the Alaouite government last November. Hundreds of imams travelled from all over Europe (including Spain, Italy and Holland) to Marrakech for the meeting convoked by Morocco’s Minister of Islamic Affairs. They were to take part in workshops designed to strengthen and maintain the essence of the Maliki branch of Islam (the form most commonly practiced in Morocco) in the Moroccan community that has migrated to Europe. The conference also served to lay down rules, via a conference given by the head of the Moroccan intelligence services, to counter attempts by radical Islamic trends in the Moroccan diaspora.
Catalan International View
The original altarpiece of Hagia Sophia
While it is true that this event was met with indifference (and in some cases the acquiescence) of the majority of the states affected, it did provoke an energetic reaction and condemnation from Holland, which saw it as serious meddling in the country’s internal affairs (some of the participants were distinguished Muslim leaders resident in said country). The event was seen as a subtle attempt by the Alaouite monarchy to extend their influence beyond their frontiers by religious means. The other sides of the coin It is not necessary to repeat, therefore, that we are faced with the reality of rupture and change in the context of a dialogue between religions (the state of intra-religious dialogue is a very different situation), which paradoxically is being led by those that many consider to be the most intransigent. It is necessary to stress, obviously, that a part of what is happening is more the fruit of geopolitical pressures than philosophical, theological and religious imperatives. It is evident that we are faced with a change of direction in the roots of Wahhabism (which is inseparable from the Saudi regime, as was the national-Catholicism of the Franco regime). It is worth remembering, Wahhabism was the intellectual and moral basis of the
most extremist and violent variant represented by Bin Laden, Al Qaeda and their allies. It is clear that Saudi Arabia, or at least a significant part of its elites, is making serious efforts to take distance (externally, but mainly internally) from the dark and unclear links that part of the society maintain with Islamic and Salafist extremism. It does so out of conviction, but also out of political realism when faced with relations with its allies, in order to rebalance regional power in a zone where Iran has increasingly more influence. Most importantly, it does so to ensure an internal stability that is all too often lacking, in a very real way. In the case of Qatar, a similar situation exists. With the actions that have been carried out in recent years, one can make out the skilful, convoluted lines of action of the Emir, who has achieved a political and moral influence in the region in inverse proportion to the size of his small state. When it comes to Morocco, it is working (also in the dual internal and external sense) to become a key factor of stability in the Maghreb, and conscious of the enormous influence that it may have through the large population of migrants it has all over Europe, tries to maintain its ties within the model of Islam promoted by the crown.
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At this point it is worth stressing, without denying the potential benefits these events may have and are having, that these ‘tectonic movements’ cannot be separated from their foundations. In some cases, these are only now beginning to be felt in our country and likewise the whole of Europe. It is a Europe that remains in a form of an intellectual ivory tower, believing itself to be the lighthouse of the world, without realising that the world is undergoing profound change.
All these events are occurring at a time of great crisis in some of the pioneering institutions of interreligious dialogue and ecumenicalism We also find ourselves in what could be called an ‘anti-secular crusade’ of much more potent means and dimensions than may at first be thought. If this were not the case it would be difficult to explain the high degree of complicity with which certain sectors are behaving, such as the most conservative sections of the Catholic Church; and how the great majority of the intellectual suppositions of these processes neatly coincide with the ‘crusade’ against relativism that Pope Benedict has been waging, since the first day of his pontificate. All these events are occurring at a time of great crisis in some of the pioneering institutions of interreligious dialogue and ecumenicalism, such as the World Council of Churches; or when one of the Churches that has always been a leader in this field, the Anglican Church, is facing the dangers of a rupture in a period of internal tensions of
unprecedented proportions. In fact, what is really shocking is that, for the first time, we are facing a situation where the leaders of interreligious dialogue are simultaneously the defenders of the most rigid doctrine at home. If to all this we add the cracks at the heart of the secular, republican model evident in the discourse and behaviour of President Sarkozy during the Pope’s visit to France, it is clear that something is happening and it is not a simple ‘light shower’, but rather much more structural. This without mentioning the influence of Neocon circles in the United States, that while having lost the presidency, have obtained a significant share of power in a large part of American society, obliging various states to present the teaching of creationism against the theories of evolutionism (with its scientific basis). The ‘Madrid Declaration’ made very interesting pronouncements on the culture of peace, making references to the United Nations Charter and other international treaties. It speaks of the diversity of cultures as a divine sign and rejects the ‘clash of civilisations’ theory. The Declaration underlines the need to work jointly (united in diversity) for peace and in defence of the environment; but it also speaks of the need to ‘protect society from deviations’ and the necessity to ‘protect the family from its disintegration’. These are pronouncements that, depending how they are interpreted, would be welcomed with open arms by the more radical sectors of many societies. We must be conscious, therefore, of the various facets of these processes and their possible long-term consequences. Dialogue is positive, but it is also a process that can have ambivalent results.
*Manuel Manonelles i Tarragó Political commentator specialising in international relations, human rights and democratisation processes. Currently director of the Foundation for a Culture of Peace, Barcelona. He has been special advisor to the Co-chair of the UN High Level Group for the Alliance of Civilisations, as well as advisor to the coordinator of the Secretariat of the World Forum of Civil Society Networks (Ubuntu Forum), which is a member of the International Council of the World Social Forum. He has been an international electoral observer and supervisor for the OSCE and the EU on many occasions, and has participated in several international intergovernmental and non-governmental processes.
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Language & Culture
Combating the economic crisis through multilingualism by Antoni Mir *
Job losses, a huge drop in consumption, the credit crunch, a downturn in investments and fear of what the future holds are just some of the manifestations of the pessimism rife among businesses and the general public alike all over the planet, due to the overwhelming impact of the worldwide economic collapse. At first glance, it may seem that there are few opportunities to be seized in such a scenario, but this is not the case. Every day, we hear reports and examples of the ingenuity of small and mediumsized enterprises that have adapted their products and services and come up with original ways to appeal to new markets and customers. According to experts, creativity and innovation are the keys to surviving the economic crisis. Opportunities of the kind in question, associated with creativity, innovation and competitiveness, are also there for the taking in relation to languages (meaning all languages, for the sake of clarity). Languages are set to acquire ever-greater 54
importance as a result of the interrelation and ease of communication characteristic of a networked society, such as that which has arisen from the World Wide Web, the 21st century’s equivalent of the steam engine. Interaction between languages is increasing exponentially, as the people who speak them, to whom they owe their very existence, are nowadays able to travel and communicate with hitherto unimaginable ease thanks to digital technology and new options for transport by land, sea and air. While nobody had ever flown until around a century ago, a billion people travelled by aeroplane in 2006. Having first appeared in 1973, mobile telephones are now used by over 2.4 billion people. There were a mere 156,000 in-
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Itinerant exhibition ‘La Mar de Llengües. Parlar a la Mediterrània’ (The Sea of Languages. Speaking in the Mediterranean), produced by Linguamón – House of Languages
ternet users in 1989, a figure that has risen to a billion in the ensuing twenty-year period. These examples are just the tip of the iceberg.
around the world. Major present-day advertising campaigns convey the message that customers can trust those who speak their language.
Diversity lies at the heart of creativity, which is the prelude to innovation. Innovation, in turn, is vital to competitiveness. As part of the essence of creativity, it is therefore no wonder that linguistic and cultural diversity is increasingly viewed as a source of wealth, an economic driving force.
Investing in languages is good business, particularly during an economic crisis, as languages constitute wealth, both culturally speaking and in a more strictly economic sense. In this time of adversity and even more so in the future of a globalised society, businesses will need to be multilingual to be competitive, and those that do not embrace languages will be left behind by those that do. Every tongue is an added value for each of its speakers and every company that uses it. Providing locally-based staff with language train-
Languages also represent an excellent opportunity to break into a market on a competitive footing. Speaking a customer’s tongue has always been the best way to gain access to markets
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ing and employing native salespeople to research new markets are thus increasingly seen as feasible ways of achieving greater short and medium-term competitiveness. Multilingualism is therefore becoming a strategy that offers businesses a further means of riding out the worldwide economic storm and production crisis, and is consequently a safe investment. There is authoritative support for the view expressed above. One example is a study conducted in Switzerland by the University of Geneva, with financing from the country’s National Research Programme and input from more than 200 businesses, which was presented at the end of 2008. It examined how foreign languages affect professional activity and revealed that entrepreneurs who use the language skills of their directors innovatively, in the search for new markets, provide their companies with extra profits totalling close to 30 billion euros, the equivalent of 9% of Switzerland’s gross domestic product.
Market logic points to an eventual scenario of comprehensive multilingualism, and the technology to make it happen has never been more readily available. Hundreds of tongues feature on the web pages of Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Wikipedia, for instance. Languages are flourishing on the Internet, as the British Council noted in 2005, prior to the boom in online sound and video files (YouTube did not yet exist, for example). It is possible for any tongue to be present on today’s audiovisual internet, through which the entire spectrum of languages are waiting to be discovered, understood and spoken.
In light of this, the notion of using a single global tongue or a handful of international languages (English and several others) for all dealings with others is also beginning to experience something of a crisis. Far from being synonymous with competitiveness, a lingua franca is merely the lowest common denominator. Efforts to understand others are more conducive to unity than the use of a single tongue or just a few languages. In addition, two years ago the European Com- Economic globalisation means that people are in mission warned EU member states that 11% of ever-closer contact and interact more, but identity their 945,000 small and medium-sized enter- and diversity distinguish us from one another and prises were missing out on opportunities in inter- yield a very different form of intangible richness, national markets due to a lack of language skills. with deeper-lying roots. Globalisation and diverIn 2005, the British government recognised that sity are intertwining in an unprecedented fashion, “English is not enough” to do business in an in- giving rise to a new situation in which multilinterconnected, fully globalised and increasingly de- gualism is inevitable for humankind, today and in centralised market. the future. While it may not be possible to predict exactly what the world will be like 200 years from Looking beyond studies, the Internet is a do- now, for instance, it is safe to say that it will be main where languages from all over the world and multilingual. their speakers presently coexist, and tools and resources in a host of tongues spring up on a daily basis. The World Wide Web has revolutionised Investing in languages is good busithe planet, transformed the way in which social ness as languages constitute wealth, relations are conducted and provided new means both culturally speaking and in a of communication. The Internet is changing more strictly economic sense our lives by placing us in a globalised setting, in which it is possible to communicate with anybody equipped with a computer, wherever they may be Languages: an emerging asset in the world. A single click is all it takes to establish a relationship and create business opportuni- Interest in languages and the management of ties. new multilingual environments is growing con56
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Language & Culture
Model of the future headquarters of the House of Languages. EMBT architects EM
stantly, so much so that the United Nations proclaimed 2008 the International Year of Languages (IYL), boosting the resonance of highly positive ideas, such as that of genuine multilingualism, fostering unity in diversity and international understanding. The fact that ‘the United Nations pursues multilingualism as a means of promoting, protecting and preserving diversity of languages and cultures globally’ in accordance with the resolution of its General Assembly is of no little relevance. Through the IYL, the UN not only
encouraged work to raise the profile of linguistic diversity and, consequently, of each tongue that contributes thereto, but also promoted the dissemination of the universal values of languages, advocated working in unison to achieve a more linguistically equitable world, called on institutions, businesses and society to strive to preserve linguistic diversity all over the planet and showed that global awareness of the importance of biodiversity, a notion that happily enjoys tremendously widespread support, goes hand in hand
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with awareness of the importance of linguistic diversity, as the preservation of both is one of the greatest challenges facing humankind. Now that 2008 is over, it is clearly necessary to ensure that efforts to secure an equitable, multilingual world remain on the international agenda. With a view to making a permanent contribution to the dissemination of the values that the UN endorsed through the IYL, Catalunya has created the House of Languages, an international facility due to open in the heart of a hotbed of technological innovation and cultural creativity in Barcelona in late 2010. A groundbreaking initiative intended to nurture development and peaceful coexistence, the House of Languages is Catalunya’s response to the challenge issued by the UN. It is, therefore, no coincidence that the House of Languages was presented to the world on the 17th December 2008 at the UN headquarters in New York as part of the Global Seminar held to bring the IYL to a close.
Now is the moment for the world to stop treating linguistic diversity as a problem and, instead, to look at it as an asset The House of Languages An institution formed by the Government of Catalunya and Barcelona City Council, the House of Languages is a unique cultural undertaking, the first in the world devoted to cultivating, studying and managing multilingualism and geared to specialists and the general public alike. The aim of the project is to create a centre that will serve as an international benchmark, promote humankind’s linguistic heritage and equitable multilingualism, and portray the planet’s linguistic diversity as an asset and the birthright of the entire human race. The centre will also provide services for reaping the benefits of the potential that linguistic diver58
sity and multilingualism have to offer with regard to rights and freedoms, the cultural and socioeconomic prosperity of the peoples of the Earth and the advocacy of democratic governance. The headquarters of the House of Languages are to be built in Barcelona, Catalunya’s main city, in the 22@ district, one of the Mediterranean region’s foremost hotbeds of technology, innovation and creativity, which covers an area of 4,000,000m2. The building itself will be based in the 7,000m2 of Can Ricart, the site of a former textile factory and a fine specimen of Barcelona’s 19th century architecture and industrial heritage, which the Italian architect Benedetta Tagliabue has been contracted to restore. A space of over 2,000m2 is to be devoted to exhibitions in the new centre, which will also house multipurpose areas for independent projects and activities, an auditorium, a media library and a restaurant and shop. The facility will offer wide-ranging cultural content and activities revolving around languages, diversity and communication. Its first stone is due to be laid in 2009. While its new headquarters are under development, the House of Languages is already up and running. The institution’s activities are divided into three major areas: Cultural dissemination, aimed at raising the profile of languages and encouraging positive associations with linguistic diversity. Notable aspects of this line of work include the www.linguamon. cat website, the production of audiovisual material (documentaries, television and radio programmes, etc.) and the institution’s museum of linguistic diversity. Specialised multilingual management services, designed to cater to the growing needs of increasingly multilingual and intercultural societies, the diversity of which requires management with a view to ensuring equality, dialogue, respect and cohesion. Notable aspects of this line of work include the Linguamón-UOC (Open University of Catalunya) Chair in Multilingualism, the Ling-
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uamón Best Practices service, a language learning directory and a multilingual technology portal. New information and communication technologies applied to language communities as strategic tools for the development of networked societies. Notable aspects of this line of work include the online resources Living Maps and Linguamón Audiovisual. As part of its commitment to culture and education, the House of Languages is working on new, multilingual, online audiovisual and ICT resources. Following an intensive two-year development process, Linguamón Living Maps and Linguamón Audiovisual are ready to be unveiled. Created using state-of-the-art cartographic technology, Linguamón Living Maps is the first website through which users can generate an unlimited quantity of language maps. Furthermore, it provides up-to-date information and access to a broad range of online activities for sharing with other users. The Living Maps service is scheduled to become fully operational in 2009, and promises to be a powerful and extremely useful educational resource. Linguamón Audiovisual, meanwhile, is set to become the first social network for boosting the profile of all languages on the Internet. Among other features, it will enable users to dub and subtitle uploaded videos. The www.linguamon.cat website offers information on the languages of the world, international news, an agenda and services for the general public and specialists alike. Its content is available in 21 languages, including Catalan Sign Language for the hearing impaired. The other 20 languages comprise languages that enjoy full legal recognition and are spoken by many millions, and others, such as Guaraní, Tamazight and the Aranese variant of Occitan, which have varying levels of official recognition and smaller numbers of speakers.
‘Glocal’ action and networking Linguamón-House of Languages has established relationships with and works alongside many universities, institutions, bodies and centres for languages and multilingualism. It is a member of various European networks, such as the Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity (NPLD), within which its partners include the governments of Wales, Ireland, the Basque Country and Estonia. It is also one of a number of organisations backing Maaya, a worldwide network for the promotion of multilingualism on the Internet. Furthermore, thanks to the Linguamón-UOC Chair in Multilingualism, it is represented within the European Network of Universities on Multilingualism (EUNoM), the first network of its kind set up in accordance with EU guidelines. Epilogue There is no better time to make changes than during a crisis. Now is the moment to shatter the myth of the Tower of Babel, the moment for the world to stop treating linguistic diversity as a problem and, instead, to look at it as an asset. Awareness of the need to protect the environment is now widespread, having begun to develop after World War II. Awareness of the importance of safeguarding languages will evolve in the same way. In a globalised world where borders are becoming less distinct and the linguistic landscape is shifting, multilingualism represents an exciting chance to contribute to the preservation, study and dissemination of the Earth’s 6,000 languages, as well as to a change in their perception in general, so that they come to be viewed as a source of wealth, communication, knowledge and opportunities.
*Antoni Mir Director of House of Languages
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Joan Triadú ‘The women’s revolution triumphed in the twentieth century’ Interviewed by Eva Piquer* Photos by Xabier Mikel Laburu
Pedagogue, literary critic, cultural activist and one of those people every country needs in order to move forward: Joan Triadú (1921), an irreplaceable figure in the Catalan cultural reassessment in the second half of the twentieth century, has created an account of his life in his autobiography ‘Memories of A Golden Century’. In the preface to your autobiography you state that everything should be done as if it were for the last time. You say that in this way we approach excellence. Is this applicable to everyone, everywhere? 60
Yes, I believe it should be. You should live the imminence of life, the moments. As Joan Maragall says, ‘I would like to stop so many moments of every day, to make them eternal in my heart...!’ I have tried to live in the present.
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greet you, then they leave you alone, another day they’ll call you on the phone...They don’t try to create artificial connections. Shall we meet? Fine. Do we like each other? Then, excellent. But there’s no need to create a conventional friendship or relationship. In England nobody asked me anything about my life, they highly respect the independence of the individual there. I’m rather shy and I learnt to act like they do, which is why I don’t know anything about the private life of many of the people I know. In that sense I’m more English than French, let alone Spanish! The thesis behind your book, reflected in the title, is decidedly optimistic. Is it best to see the glass half full? I gave the book a rather provocative title and it has created a lot of debate. The twentieth century in Catalunya was the century of national, linguistic, cultural, scientific and political conscience. There are so many people who have worked for this country and even those who have died for this country... If we look beyond Catalan culture, do you believe that in the world in general the twentieth century was a golden one? That humanity is better off than ever, in spite of all the issues?
A short time ago you quoted the following line from Mercè Rodoreda, ‘the important things are those which don’t appear to be’. Do you think this way? It’s what Mercè Rodoreda says. I’m an admirer, as are many people. I understand what she’s trying to say. Rodoreda’s characters experience apparently insignificant events that happen quickly and which later have consequences in their lives. I think this is what really happens. But we can’t analyse every event that takes place as a result of our actions. I studied in England for a couple of years and I admire the capacity of the English to live for the moment: when they meet you they
It was a century of wars, but it is the first time in history that Europe experienced more than fifty years without a large-scale war. In the twentieth century there was a lot of tension, but the discovery of atomic energy and the atomic bomb was able to contain and stop some possible wars, in spite of being a threat in itself. The atomic bomb frightens everyone because no one can stop it. It’s not like sending men to the front while I stay in my office. Paradoxically, the discovery of the atomic bomb (but not the dropping of it!) was a good thing for the century. It has meant that in 2008 there is a form of European Union. Undoubtedly there have been tragic, painful, bloody wars, such as in the Balkans, which are the result of peace accords that are poorly organised, badly done, without respecting the liberty of the peoples
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involved. On the other hand, if we pick up a map of Europe in 1900 and one of today’s Europe, you will see that a lot of countries have become independent. I wouldn’t say that by any means we’ve learnt to respect the nationalities and give them the liberty they deserve. Human rights still don’t recognise people’s right to self-determination, but nevertheless, in the twentieth century there was a long list of peoples who obtained collective freedom. All people should have the right to self-determination? Yes, they must have the right. But this right is not recognised because countries that contain potential nationalities always resort to prohibition or the veto. Did we make moral progress in the twentieth century? I believe we didn’t, but in the century there was a victorious revolution. Not the Russian or the French: the women’s revolution.
There will never come a time when everything has been written. There will always be someone who writes because human problems and situations will always exist Are you certain of the victory of the women’s revolution? Revolutions can be victorious to a greater or lesser degree, but one has to take into account that just a short time ago they had nothing. The first girls that tried to enrol in the Universitat de Barcelona at the start of the century needed to be protected. From there to the present day there is a big difference. Nowadays it’s normal for women to have children and to work. In the past, when a women got married she had to give up work. Now the majority of women wouldn’t understand 62
that they’d have to be at home, apart from anything because they need two salaries. Whether this is a good thing or not is another matter. Children need to be with their mother. Morally, therefore, the fact that women work outside the home is a loss. But women have the right to have a profession, and nowadays there are women in all the professions. I’m not speaking about Arab countries, they’re different. Nevertheless, here the women’s revolution has triumphed. Differences in salaries still remain, as do differences in values, but we haven’t done badly. There are always those that pay the consequences of revolutions. In the case of the women’s revolution the price has been paid by the children and the institution of marriage, which is now more fragile. One partner works here and the other works there, each has their own friends and their own worlds, they only meet in the evening. In such a context it’s more difficult for what we used to call a family to function. It appears that education is in crisis and not only here... In Northern Europe and Germany they have reached a situation where the children that enjoy studying and have a certain ability are rewarded. Here there is an excess of education of another kind, in the sense that the child is in charge. There comes a time when good students are embarrassed by their marks and are seen badly by the others. This is cruel and the opposite of what is best. Children have to be loved and they need to be treated as such, but you have to be able to say ‘no’ to them. If the teachers don’t know how to maintain a dialogue with their pupils and if they don’t stop them when it’s necessary, then they aren’t carrying out their duty. The school failure rate is partly due to the fact that discipline is not taken seriously. The pupils are frightening; in certain situations they really are frightening. The teachers are scared of the pupils and their parents. Many parents that are nowadays thirty, forty or fifty years old have renounced their obligations towards their children. Parents have to ensure that their children have everything they need,
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but they also need to establish some limits. In the old days, if you were punished at school you made sure they didn’t find out at home or you’d be punished twice. Nowadays, the kids go home, say they’ve been punished at school, or that they’ve got bad grades and the next day the mother or the father goes down to the school to complain about the grades their child has been given. In short, our schools don’t work. The rivalry between public and private education is irrelevant and out of place, all over Europe it is being left behind, as it’s obvious that the freedom of education has to be upheld. Obviously, the government has to ensure that everyone can go to school. What can we do to ensure teachers regain the respect they have lost? A few days ago a university asked me what I ought to be the ideal characteristics of the teacher of the twenty-first century. I told them that the
teacher has to be cultured, knowledgeable about culture in general, that they are interested in everything. That they shouldn’t be a specialist, much less erudite. A teacher that doesn’t read books and newspapers, that doesn’t have intellectual curiosity, is a bad teacher. If a teacher has a good foundation in culture, if they are a good head teacher, they will regain the prestige that teachers have held in the past. In the old days everyone knew the teacher knew more than the others, even if they didn’t show it. Thanks to the Internet the whole world is available at the click of a mouse. Will this change the role of the teacher? It is already changing. Many schools try to ensure that every child has a computer. I am never against new techniques and technology, but we have to use them to serve us, without making us their slaves. There are people who get carried away
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with the Internet, and even search for things that they are not interested in.
You call for popular culture...
Yes, because it is the foundation on which the culture of any people stands. I come from the bottom, I’m not a pure intellectual, I don’t write for myself, I write for others. That’s why I demand popular culture, such as the theatre, which is the purest expression of literature. All writers aspire to produce a good piece of theatre. We were a long time without theatre produced in Catalan and without theatre a culture is an amputee, with only one leg. Nowadays we have one, both our own as well as via translations, and people go to the theatre. There’s Catalan theatre in Catalunya and also in Valencia, Mallorca and so on. You state that a language is the basis of a national culture. You have shown an admirable loyalty to the Catalan language, even at the worst times. In the first ten years of Franco’s regime writing in Spanish was to lower oneself. I feel that bilingualism is negative. This is what I wrote about Josep Pla: that bilingualism is a way to write badly in two languages. Many people have reproached me on this point, but it turns out that Pla himself agreed with it. It takes a lot to write well in your own language. Can you imagine Mercè Rodoreda trying to say everything in Spanish? It’s not possible. Only a Spanish writer who’s as good as she is could do it. Your own language is the foundation. The proof is the way in which countries such as Italy and France, whose language seems to be in good shape, strive to hold onto it: as soon as another language emerges in some corner, up goes the alarm. It’s understandable because language makes up a nation’s unity. They can say what they like, but that’s how it is.
Is poetry above everything else?
Poetry goes beyond everything else, I think so, yes. But when it comes to giving a complete vi64
sion of literary work there’s nothing like theatre, which has the advantage of being a collective endeavour.
In poetry there are a lot of impostors...
Unfortunately, too many people feel up to writing poems. If you don’t understand a poem, it’s the poet’s fault, as Joan Margarit says?
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We shouldn’t be too accommodating. Poetry requires an interest on the part of the reader and there are poems that need effort. It’s like music: there are people that you wouldn’t ask to listen to a concert by anyone except Beethoven, if they were faced with a more difficult composer they wouldn’t cope. Poetry needs to be felt, not everyone possesses this capacity. Novels are more for everyone, although there are difficult ones as well, but poetry requires a certain sensitivity in order to connect with the poet. There are some things that
can only be said through poetry. I disagree with Margarit, he’s speaking as a poet whose poems can be easily understood. What is the meaning of literature now that everything has been written? There will never come a time when everything has been written, even if the number of dramatic situations is limited. There will always be someone who writes. Nevertheless, nowadays
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literature doesn’t have the same impact on people’s lives. I don’t believe literature will come to an end, because human problems and situations will always exist. Love, death, God, these are all endless themes, they never finish. They lead the writer to adopt one form of literature or another because they need to say something. A true writer is someone who needs to say something, if they do it out of obligation, then it’s no good. The only people who should write are those that can’t live without it.
Maybe. I began writing poetry, but Carles Riba was very honest with me. He said that he found it soft, weak and I told him, ‘I agree, I’m giving up’. I haven’t done any more poetry. I wasn’t interested in novels either and so I ended up being a critic and doing narrative prose. A critic must in first place be their own critic, which stops them from doing their job carelessly.
I’ve always been in favour of creators that begin, even if they haven’t started yet. I’m interested in the avant-garde. I’m not so interested in the values that have already been achieved, what we already have
If the critic intended to seriously generate, create, something which a eunuch can’t do, then he would be the shadow of a eunuch. But if a critic doesn’t set out to create and if criticism satisfies them and they are passionate about it, I don’t see why they are incapacitated.
If one of your grandchildren wanted to become a writer, would you encourage them to do so? I’ve always been in favour of creators that begin, even if they haven’t created anything yet. I’m interested in the avant-garde. I’m not so interested in the values that have already been achieved, what we already have. I encourage those that want to write, but without giving them any certificate. It’s better that they don’t write, than they write without any real interest, in order to be noticed. More than anything I’m a critic with a bad reputation because I’m very demanding.
Would you agree with George Steiner when he states that, ‘a critic is the shadow of a eunuch when compared with a creator’?
Literary criticism fills you with passion...
Very much so. I’ve been very lucky.
In 2007 Steiner said in Barcelona, ‘when I was young a lot of young people were prepared to lose their lives for the wrong reasons like Fascism, Marxism and Zionism. Nowadays, the young don’t even take the risk of being wrong’. Do you agree? Do committed young people still exist? Of course they do! There are young people committed to the nationalist course, to solidarity... some of the younger generation are very healthy, but the most visible ones are those that are not.
There are critics that enjoy criticizing the works they review.
You lived through 40 years of dictatorship. That must affect you a great deal...
It’s better not to say anything than to rip something apart. But if someone asks for your opinion, you have to say what you really think. There are those that tear a work apart in order that they are read. Depending how it’s done, literary criticism can do a lot of harm.
Francoism was very hard, yes, but you have to keep in mind that it was not always the same; it wasn’t 40 years of the same thing. When in 1945 Franco saw his side losing, with Mussolini being shot and Hitler committing suicide, he changed course. In the sixties, censorship changed, many publications began to be translated into Catalan. Francoism began to evolve, even economically.
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Is a critic a frustrated writer?
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We Catalans are victims of an attempt at cultural genocide, but it was a frustrated attempt: they didn’t get away with it. Unfortunately, Franco’s police operated until the last minute. Would you re-live everything you’ve been through? I believe in God and every day, when I wake up, I give thanks for everything I have lived through. I’ve suffered a lot, as has everyone. I’m not ambitious and I haven’t asked for anything, but I have got ahead without asking for it: I went to work in a school and after a short time I became headmaster, I worked for an organisation and after a
short time they made me president…I did have to look for my wife, that’s true, but that also worked out well: she was waiting for me. In spite of suffering for Catalunya, for liberty, for everything that goes on in the world, for the wars, hunger, for the fact that they are celebrating sixty years of human rights and they’re holding the Olympic games in China where there are no human rights or anything. In spite of all this, I still have the will to live. And I hope this is the case for many years to come.
*Eva Piquer (Barcelona, 1969). Writer and journalist. Works for the Avui newspaper where she coordinates the cultural supplement and the culture section. Has been a lecturer at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and a New York news correspondent. Won the 2002 Josep Pla prize for her novel Una victòria diferent (A Different Victory). Also author of several books, including La noia del temps (The Weather Girl), Alícia al país de la televisió (Alice in Television Land) and No sóc obsessiva, no sóc obsessiva, no sóc obsessiva (I’m Not Obsessive, I’m Not Obsessive, I’m Not Obsessive).
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Bussiness and Economics
Understanding the crisis: five views and ten lessons by Xavier Freixas*
As it happened, we are the unwilling, privileged witnesses of a crisis of an impressive magnitude, characterized by record low asset prices, record high growth in unemployment rates and negative rates of growth. What will presumably be referred to in the future as ‘the crisis of 2007’ is a crisis that has grown from the losses in subprime assets into a crash in all financial markets after September 15th, when Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. As this new crisis unfolds, it has become common to think of it as a new type of crisis. Yet, if we take the standard ingredients of a systemic crisis, we are bound to acknowledge that it has the three characteristic ingredients: macroeconomic fragility, contagion and a trigger. So, from this perspective the crisis is a classical one. It is in the specifics of the trigger and in the mechanisms of contagion that we find different, amazing and surprising phenomena that challenge the traditional views. To begin with, macroeconomic fragility has crept in through asset bubbles. Paradoxically, the bubbles, defined as upward deviations from an asset’s fundamental value, have been built in because of the success of monetary policy in channelling liquidity to the markets, keeping inflation at bay and stimulating growth through low nominal interest rates. Macroeconomists have referred to this era of stability as ‘the great moderation’. Yet, in the same way as a period of calm precedes the storm, the great moderation was paving the 68
way for the current crisis. Low interest rates and a lax policy regarding credit, jointly with the myopic perception that the price of housing would never decrease, led to a spectacular increase in real estate, an excessive growth of credit and high financial asset prices. As for the second ingredient, contagion, it has a new, startling dimension. Contrary to what was expected, rather than developing through the banks’ web of interbank assets and liabilities (interbank and OTC), it has been the markets sudden illiquidity that has let to contagion. The link between banks, mutual funds and other financial vehicles has led to liquidity contagion beyond the banking industry. The global economy has led to a worldwide contagion. The liquidity drought has come as a surprise, particularly with a freeze in the interbank deposit markets for the three and six month maturities. It was surprising because, although spreads between the interbank market and government debt rates were expected to in-
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crease, the switch from a perfect market to a ‘no transaction market’ was unforeseen. From that point on, contagion to other markets was unstoppable. Institutions in search of liquidity had to fire-sell other assets and this made liquidity hoarding all the more profitable.
We cannot discard the possibility that banks have played a pyramidal or Ponzi scheme based on their expectations Finally, as is well known, the trigger happened to be the so-called ‘turmoil’ in subprimes, which although initiated in a relatively small segment of the loan market, spread like wild fire. When confronted with a crisis of such magnitude, economists have come up with a number of different explanations that are not mutually exclusive, but indeed complementary. Five of these
views should be considered to build a comprehensive understanding of the current events. First, the origin of the banking crisis could be traced back to the financial intermediaries’ lack of capital. This is the case as banks have engaged in the securitization of assets through their sale to Special Investment Vehicles (SIV). Regulators saw this as improving the safety of the financial industry because in this way banking risks were held by agents in well-diversified portfolios that could withstand a drop in the price of assets. Still, banks did keep some off-balance sheet obligations regarding SIVs, so they were not completely out of their reach. In fact, they were often funded by the issue of short-term debt while their assets were long lived. Nevertheless, the bank had to offer a liquidity facility as a guarantee to investors in the improbable case the market would not fund the SIV notes any longer. As it happened, once liquidity dried, the banks were bound to repatriate the SIV, and this implied not only that they
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needed more capital, but also that they had to take the SIV losses on their accounts. Second, a completely different view would be the opacity of financial assets. This view states that the securitization process has led to the creation of opaque assets that institutions have a hard time valuing. As long as liquidity flowed in the financial markets, financial institutions relied on the credit rating agencies to price the instruments derived from securitization, the different tranches of the SIVs, CDOs, ABSs and the like. Yet, once liquidity disappears and the bubble in real estate is acknowledged, the complexity of the securitized assets makes it impossible for financial institutions to go back to the fundamentals, i.e. the underlying cash flows. Consequently the market freezes and whenever a transaction occurs it happens with spectacular discounts.
The apocalypse of the crisis of 1929 should not be repeated in a world where central banks and governments are not bound to a gold standard Third, it has been observed that when the prices of assets increase and banks’ assets grow, they tend to increase their leverage. The dangerous counterpart of this behaviour is that when banks’ balance sheets shrink, they deleverage by selling assets, which asserts pressure on the price of financial assets at all levels, from sophisticated securitized products to plain stocks. Fourth, although affecting only a fraction of the banking industry, it must be acknowledged that the development of securitization has also led to business models for banks that lack flexibility. So, while standard retail banking is not affected by this type of phenomena, any bank that borrows wholesale to fund its credit operations is in danger of becoming extinct. This is so because, first, these institutions work with high leverage and 70
low margins and second, the wholesale funding depends crucially on liquidity being freely available at a low cost. Once the joint reputation of the banking industry is in doubt, the bank either cannot find funding or it has to face a huge increase in the funding cost and, in both cases, the bank is forced to default. This is of interest particularly because this is the characteristic that Northern Rock, US investment banks and Icelandic banks have in common. Fifth, we cannot discard the possibility that banks have played a pyramidal or Ponzi scheme based on their expectations. The increase in the supply of credit has been perfectly sound, provided the assumption of a rise in the price of assets and in particular, real holds. However, for the prices of assets to keep rising the increase in the supply of credit was required. So, based on such an assumption, both banks and buyers of real estate are right in their behaviour, provided their expectation of rising prices is correct: banks increase lending and the very increase in lending justifies their expectations as it triggers an increase in prices. Of course, at a certain point in time the exponential increase is disrupted, and prices collapse. These five complementary views of the crisis point out to an unprecedented level of complexity of the crisis and at the novelty of some of its main factors. A number of lessons can be drawn from this first crisis of the twenty-first century. Lesson 1: Banks assets are opaque One of the first lessons of the current crisis is that bank assets are opaque. This has formed part of an academic debate for some time, but the current crisis has shown that uncertainty in real estate prices creates an unsustainable uncertainty in the price of subprime loans and in any securitized instrument based on mortgages. The existence of such ‘toxic assets’ in banks assets, if observable, would not have been a major problem. However, banks suddenly stopped lending to each other in the three and six months interbank
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market, and the only possible explanation is the opacity of their assets that led to a generalized suspicion as to the counterparty’s solvency. This lack of transparency was further fuelled by the behaviour of banks that tried to hide their losses, either through sheer ignorance or in a desperate struggle to survive. In this respect, we witnessed banks like Merrill Lynch declare they had accounted for all their losses only to see them make additional write-offs a few days later. A clarification is required here: we do not claim that the opacity of banks assets is caused by the existence of a subprime market or to a market for securitization. The riskiness of banks’ loans, and thus their very solvency can be directly linked to the price of real estate, as developed in the pyramidal view of the crisis. Once a bank uses the market price of the property to make a loan for 100% of the property value, then a drop of 50% on real estate makes the value of the loan depend upon unknown characteristics of income and job stability of the borrower that could have been overlooked in the exuberant phase of the credit cycle. Lesson 2: The regulation of securitization has proven to be a failure The securitization of loans was supposed to be an efficient reallocation of risk in the economy as non bank agents, such as insurance companies and mutual and pension funds could have access to banking assets, diversifying their risk while sharing the risks inherent in the banking industry. Of course the precondition for securitization was that banks would sell their best or their average loans, not their worst ones. To prevent this from happening two mechanisms were in place: 1) credit rating agencies assessed the risk for every type of issue and 2) the originating bank themselves or some third party, such as an insurance company, provided credit enhancement in such a way that, in case of a serious adverse shock in the repayment flow, the investor buying the security would only be marginally affected.
As the market matured, the strength of these two mechanisms was diluted. Nevertheless, the regulatory authorities were unaware of the change in the worthiness of the credit enhancement mechanisms. Lesson 3: Marking to market has led to a myopic assessment of banks’ risks and returns Marking to the market forced banks to consider today’s value of an asset, whether in the trading book or used as collateral in a loan as the basis of computing current profits and losses. An increase in the price of financial assets in the trading book has led, as mentioned earlier, to an increase in banks’ leverage. On the other hand, an increase in the price of collateral has led banks to underestimate the real risk of their loan portfolio and, specifically, to their mortgage portfolio. In both cases, banks have based dividend and bonus distribution on the mark-to-market accounts without provisioning for the increase in the volatility of profits that market-to-market accounting causes. Since it is the responsibility of regulatory agencies to oversee how banks assess their risk, it is clear that regulatory authorities have overestimated the accuracy of the sophisticated internal risk models of the major banks. Lesson 4: The financial system is prone to switches in its equilibrium regimes The initial reaction to the first market movements in 2007 was to consider that we were witnessing a market correction. Nobody holds this view any longer. It is true that ‘spreads’ have soared and the times of low market price for risk are now over. Still, there is more to it than a change in the price of risk. The interbank markets, as well as some segments of the financial markets have frozen, proving the theory of market correction to be incorrect. The best approach is to consider that we have witnessed a switch from a market working as a perfect market, to a market where transactions are almost non-existent.
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Lesson 5: Market discipline, with its role as the third pillar of Basle II, is not the panacea it was expected to be Market discipline, the equivalent of Darwinian survival of the fittest, is important to guarantee the elimination of lame ducks and the efficiency of those institutions that remain or that enter the market. In the new banking regulatory framework of Basle II, this was enthroned as a key principle, with the idea that if banks have to demonstrate their solvency to the market in order to obtain funding, it will lead them to behave cautiously when it comes to their credit decisions. Nevertheless, market discipline depends upon the existence of well-informed market participants that are ready to lend to banks against a fair risk-adjusted return. What we have witnessed is panicking investors who in fact had no information regarding the solvency of banks. Market discipline has therefore backfired and accelerated the banking crisis, as there were no informed investors ready to lend. Banks that have based their strategy on wholesale borrowing have been the ones to suffer the most, because of the aforementioned rigidity of their business model. Lesson 6: Procyclical markets and regulatory mechanisms have exacerbated the crisis The Basle II committee was well aware that capital requirements are procyclical. Indeed, Basle II requires banks to adjust their capital to their level of risk, and consequently, in a downturn, this implies that banks decrease their lending. At the same time and, in our view much more severely, there are two other key elements of banks’ procyclical behaviour: marking to market and the change in credit standards. The first results from regulatory set accounting rules and generates higher profits in an upturn and harsher losses in a downturn so that the higher volatility of a banks’ profits is reflected in the higher volatility of their capital. The second results from market behaviour and precedes the business cycle, with a banks’ loan officer imposing stricter credit standards on their 72
loans at the end of an expansionary phase and the beginning of a downturn in the business cycle. All three elements combine to affect the aggregate credit supply, although each in a unique way. Lesson 7: The Central Bank’s emergency liquidity assistance is much more generous than initially planned Both the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank had standard mechanisms to inject liquidity into the market. The lesson we have learnt is that when facing a systemic crisis these mechanisms loosen up and complementary ones are put in place. The startling result is to observe that central banks also lend against low quality collateral and take unprecedented levels of credit risk, thus replacing the interbank market.
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Lesson 8: The Central Bank’s bail-out policy is much more generous than initially planned In a similar vein, regulatory authorities, in connection with central banks and governments, were committed to bailing out financial institutions only in so far as they were systemic, that is, their failure could lead to contagion in the whole banking industry. In fact, what we have witnessed is that bailing out by the authorities has (fortunately) been much more flexible and they have bailed out financial institutions that were not systemic, with Northern Rock being the main paradigm. In addition, central banks have been forced to acknowledge that critical parts of the banking system appear to be in non-bank entities. US investment banks are clearly a case in point, but even farther away from the banking system are monolines, with the insurance company AIG in particular, whose holding of CDSs made it a systemic risk. Lesson 9: Gatekeepers are no substitute for regulatory authorities As mentioned earlier, regulation of the securitization process has been injudicious as it has given too decisive a role to credit rating agencies. There is nowadays a clear agreement that credit rating agencies have failed in their role, or, alternatively, that regulatory authorities had overstated the role of credit rating agencies as gatekeepers of the financial system. One way or the other, the implication is the same: the role of credit rating
agencies has to be adjusted in a realistic way, by regulating the market for the provision of statistical services or by fine-tuning the role of their ratings of banks’ risk management. Lesson 10: International regulatory cooperation In Europe, the contradiction between the soothing communiqués of regulatory agencies, advocating the power of the European regulatory committees and the letters of mutual understanding among European regulatory agencies on the one hand, and the clear-cut national mandates of the regulatory authorities on the other was already understood. The crisis has therefore made apparent what was already latent. However, the use of the UK antiterrorist law in order to freeze the assets of Icelandic banks operating in the UK was startling. The lesson here is how far Europe is from a well-defined scheme of international regulatory cooperation. To conclude, we should mention that this is only the beginning of the crisis. What now remains to be seen is how international cooperation copes with the real crisis, how some countries will emerge stronger while others will have to face a higher cost for their increasing public debt. The fragility of financial markets is unparalleled. Will the real crisis be commensurate? The apocalypse of the crisis of 1929 should not be repeated in a world where central banks and governments are not bound to a gold standard. Nevertheless, the true extent of the real crisis is still to be seen. *Xavier Freixas
(PhD Toulouse, 1978) is Professor at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona and Research Fellow at CEPR. He is also Chairman of the Risk Based Regulation Program of the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). He is a former president of the European Finance Association and has previously been Deutsche Bank Professor of European Financial Integration at Oxford University, Houblon Norman Senior Fellow of the Bank of England and Joint Executive Director of the Fundación de Estudios de Economía Aplicada (FEDEA), 1989-1991, Professor at Montpellier and Toulouse Universities. He has published a number of papers in the main economic and finance journals (such as Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Econometrica, Journal of Political Economy). He has been a consultant for the European Investment Bank, the New York Fed, the European Central Bank, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, MEFF and the European Investment Bank. He is Associate Editor of Journal of Financial Intermediation, Review of Finance, Journal of Banking and Finance and Journal of Financial Services Research. His research contributions deal with the issues of payment systems risk, contagion and the lender of last resort and he is well known for his research work in the banking area, which has been published in the main journals in the field, as well as for his book Microeconomics of Banking (MIT Press, 1997), co-authored with Jean-Charles Rochet.
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Science and Technology
Perseverance and passion for progress:
the keys to Catalan science by Maria Josep Picó*
The tunnel effect of magnetization constitutes one of the latest outstanding discoveries led by a Catalan scientist. It joins a long line of crucial scientific and technological developments in various fields of knowledge developed in Catalunya. The line stretches back from the Middle Ages to the present day. Last autumn we saw how, for the first time, a physicist from our country, Professor Javier Tejada of the Universitat de Barcelona, was recognised as the discoverer of a new phenomenon in the history of physics: the mesoscopic tunnel effect of the magnetization of molecular magnets. It is a step forward in the study of the properties of elementary particles that explains how the magnetic poles of small magnets, consisting of millions of atoms, at very low temperatures, can change orientation without any energy expenditure. From the classics to modern day scientists, or vice versa, Inventat en Català (Invented in Catalan, published by Mina, Òmnium Cultural, 2008) lists a series of achievements in our science. It does not claim to be a definitive list, but wishes to show the talent in our country in areas where typically we are not seen as leaders, in spite of evidence to the contrary. It is a journey that at the same time opens the way to the biographies of these exceptional people, since the emotional, family context, with all respect for personal privacy, brings us closer to the human value of scientists and helps us to understand their work. What common characteristics are shared by these inventors and scientists across the ages? The question requires us to generalise to an undesirable extent. However, the feeling one gets after reviewing the lives and works of the scientists, from reading about them and interviewing the present day experts, shows us that they all have been and continue to be very persistent in spite of obstacles; they hold a strong belief in the advancement of technology and knowledge; are of an enlightened spirit and passionate for progress, especially that of Catalunya; 74
they often hold a nationalistic political commitment and in many instances they are self-taught. A taste for the classics appears indispensable. A trip back in time via the works of our science historians transports us to the age in which the territory that currently makes up Catalunya was the new Arabic astronomy’s gateway to Europe in medieval times. It is at this time, not without a dose of daring, that we find the audacious Ramon Llull, who created his masterpiece Art, with evangelistic intentions. His celebrated work gathered all areas of knowledge: logic, metaphysics, philosophy, theology, law, medicine and other natural sciences, the liberal arts, mechanics and so on. His innovative method was ahead of its time in terms of the technology used for the computational treatment of data, through using ‘Lullian’ language, consisting of unique figures and alphabets. Another instance is Arnau de Vilanova, physician to kings and popes and an alchemist with a scientific approach, which led him to promote the use of pure alcohol for medicinal purposes. We must not forget advances in that other science,
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2009 sees the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the launch of Ictineu, the first submarine in history
cartography, where the Mallorcan School and the Cresques family were key.
Josep Trueta, while exiled in Oxford developed a method for treating gangrene, thus avoiding thousands of amputations in numerous wars Around the eighteenth century, in a historic period in which Catalunya suffered shortages in economic and political power, two visionaries of the industrial revolution stand out as a paradigm. Francesc Santponç i Roca, when he was director of the Statics Department of the Barcelona Academy of Arts and Sciences, built the double acting steam engine at the request of the textile entrepreneur Jacint Ramon. As for Francesc Salvà i Campillo, he invented the electric telegraph and his work promoted such advances as the static balloon, submarine navigation, transport via ‘a dry canal’ using coaches ‘on rails’ and meteorology: for
44 years (1780- 1824) he took daily readings of the temperature in Barcelona. The preoccupation with health, inherent in the struggle for human survival, has provided an impetus to scientific discoveries in this area in our country to the present day. This is reflected in the fact that biomedical research that has been developed in Catalunya receives international recognition. In the fourteenth century, the doctor and professor of the Universitat de Lleida, Jaume d’Agramunt, wrote a report on the Black Plague where he denounced the lack of hygienic provisions. We also learn of Jaume Ferran i Clua’s fascinating career, in which he faced both successes and difficulties. He was the inventor of the cholera vaccine, the first bacterial vaccine to be used on humans. Ferran i Clua did not hesitate to test the efficacy of his vaccine on himself. Another innovator is Ramón Turró i Darder, creator of the Catalan biological school and promoter of the study of immunology and the hygiene movement. We can take a leap forward to our day to meet scientists who are leaders in the field of biomedi-
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cine: Valentí Fuster, who discovered the factors that cause heart attacks and the value of aspirin in their prevention; Bernat Sòria, creator of techniques for producing insulin using embryonic stem cells; Anna Veiga, the scientific mother of the first test-tube child to be born in the Spanish state and Joan Massagué, the discoverer of genes that cause metastasis in breast cancer. There are many more brilliant names carrying out research such as Lina Badimon, director of the Cardiovascular Investigation Centre (CSIC-ICCC) of Barcelona, or Fàtima Bosch, director of the Animal Biology and Gene Therapy Centre of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
The archaeologist and palaeontologist Eudald Carbonell is the discoverer of Homo antecessor, who is seen as the first European Meteorology, which is currently highly valued in Catalunya, has an extraordinary scientific tradition, as does astronomy. Llorenç Presas i Puig, who can be considered the first scientist to systematically observe the sky, was also the inventor of the hydrometer. What is more, he understood the importance of mathematics and the availability of a series of observations in order to improve the reliability of climatic predictions. Josep Comas i Solà discovered asteroids and comets and was the first director of the Fabra Observatory, while Eduard Fontserè was the father of professional meteorology and the Catalan Meteorological Service. With these meteorologists and astronomers, who showed significant political commitment (Fontserè, for example, was a man of a pronounced Catalanist personality and firmly progressive ideas), we enter the nineteenth century. It was also to be a century in which some geniuses were born. They were to be affected by the happenings of the second half of the century when both in Spain and abroad there were periods of great political uncertainty. In Catalunya, meanwhile, the Renaissance triumphed, where the development of 76
science and technology were synonymous with progress, autonomy and well-being. Narcís de Monturiol stands out in this period. He was a great defender of democratic ideals and the inventor of the submarine ‘Ictíneo’ (despite having studied law), alongside other mechanisms such as a machine for printing registers and a cigarette making machine; Jaume Arbós i Tor, a chemist who invented the apiration gasogen and a means to make the so-called ‘Arbós gas’, which made the illumination of many Catalan cities a possibility, at an affordable price; Rafael Guastavino, creator of cohesive architecture, a system of construction used around the world and which was to triumph in New York; Josep Trueta, a doctor exiled in Oxford following the Spanish Civil War, developed a method for treating gangrene, thus avoiding thousands of amputations in numerous wars. Trueta is one of the main examples of a scientist who is committed to their country and always defended his national identity. In fact, in 1946 he wrote The Spirit of Catalonia, to spread Catalan culture and history in the AngloSaxon world. It would not be fair to ignore the natural sciences, encouraged by the Catalan interest in nature. Pius Font i Quer is a name that stands out. He consolidated the Catalan school of botany, described over 200 new plant species and promoted the Barcelona Botanical Institute. Later, the brilliant Ramon Margalef made an impact as a promoter, with an international reputation, of ecology, limnology and oceanography. Speaking of inventions, it is worth mentioning some which were developed by Margalef for the development of scientific research, such as a machine for making rain or another that imitated the turbulence of the sea, dubbed the ‘mar Galef ’ (with ‘mar’ meaning sea). He was the father of ecology, the formation of which was begun at his father’s bidding. He also sparked an interest in dozens of noteworthy scientists, of which two stand out: Josefina Castellví, the first woman in the world to head an oceanographic base in the Antarctic and Marta Estrada, explorer of the Mediterranean and Polar regions.
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Business and Economics
Grand Central Station NY, a project by Rafael Guastavino
We have two more journeys to make before finishing this scientific expedition. Chronologically, the first was research into life in the past at the hands of Miquel Crusafont (who identified a new geological period between the Middle and Upper Miocene, the Vallesià, and found the Can Llobateres archaeological site) and Eudald Carbonell, one of those responsible for the excavations at the Atapuerca site and discoverer of Homo antecessor, seen as the first European. The second journey, with our gaze fixed on Mars, was
led by Joan Oró, who was born in Lleida and subsequently moved to America, where he worked as a scientist for NASA. He proved why there is no life on the planet, at the same time as he discovered how the key molecule for life, adenine, can be synthesised. The paths of science, Catalan inventions and discoveries, are still well-trodden, as demonstrated recently by Jacek Wierzchos, from the Universitat de Lleida, who showed the world that crystals from a Martian meteorite that fell in the Antarctic may be of biological origin.
*Maria Josep Picó holds a degree in Information Science, a masters in Environmental Management and the National Environmental Journalism Award of 2005. She has worked for various forms of media, such as TVV, Ràdio 9, El Temps magazine and Mètode, a science magazine from the Universitat de València. In 1998 she joined the editorial team of the Levante-El Mercantil Valenciano newspaper, which she left in 2004 to go to Barcelona to set up and head the nature and science magazine Nat, published by Sàpiens Publicacions. She gives classes for the masters in Scientific, Health and Environmental Communication, at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona and publishes articles on ecology, meteorology and opinion pieces for several newspapers in the Mediterranean region for the Editorial Premsa Ibèrica group. She has also published El canvi climàtic a casa nostra (Climate Change in our Country, Bromera, 2007), El planeta i tu. Idees per a cuidar el medi ambient (The Planet and You. Ideas for Protecting the Environment, Bromera, 2008) and Inventat en català (Inventing in Catalan, Mina, Edicions 62, 2008). At present she holds the Chair in the Faculty of Scientific Research of the Universitat de València.
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Green Debate
The future still belongs to the car by Pere Torres*
It appears that in recent years the world of communications has undergone profound changes. The Internet continues to spread, taking on new users, coming into our homes, changing the way we work and remaking social networks. Trains are becoming more important, with high-speed networks connecting the larger cities, lending a more sustainable face to the movement of passengers and merchandise. Airports proliferate, driven by low-cost airlines, globalisation and the desire to travel. These indicators support the idea that we are experiencing a revolution in the world of communications, that we are shaking the foundations of the relationships that existed throughout the last century. We appear to indeed be heralding the future. Without denying the importance of the changes that have taken place and any that may occur in the future, I feel we must not forget a radically transcendental fact: our society depends on the car. Moreover, it will continue to do so for many years to come. This will happen however much we may wish to change the current situation. On what evidence do I base my assertion? On what I find when I look around me. Take a look at our cities, for example: we have built them so that vehicles can comfortably move around in them. It is this simple criterion that determines the width of streets, the layout of junctions, the distribution of the usage of public spaces and the location of shopping centres, industrial estates and public services. Our cities are designed for people to move around by private vehicle, and thereby reach any point conveniently. It is true that recently there have been some signs of change. There are policies that favour public transport over private, more pedestrian areas have been created, there is a tendency to re78
duce urban speed limits and the use of bicycles is promoted and protected in many European cities. There have even been moves to abandon urban planning based on zoning, with moves towards theories based on a sharing of the activities that take place in the same area (residential, economic, entertainment and so on) in order to minimize journeys required by excessive distances. Such policies are to be welcomed. The observation as to the relative importance of the automobile in the city falls short somewhat if we change scale and speak of larger areas. The separation between areas of production and areas of consumption creates an increasing mobility, of both people and goods, that in large part depends on transport by road. There are differences between countries, of course, but transport by road is the major mode for passengers and is very significant for the transport of goods. In 2006, for example, the movement of passengers within the European Union itself resulted in five billion person-kilometres per road, compared with 0.4 billion for trains and 0.5 billion for planes. I feel therefore, that the initiatives are well thought out, but they will not serve to change the structure of cities nor reduce the significance of
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the private vehicle as an expression of individual autonomy. After all, if the car has taken root in our lives to such an extent it is for two reasons: it is both a practical tool and a symbol of individual autonomy. What do our teenagers want when they approach the legal age to drive? To pass their driving test and buy a car, even if it is second hand and in poor condition. The car is a form of emancipation that gives one a greater feeling of liberty.
The car has taken root in our lives to such an extent for two reasons: it is both a practical tool and a symbol of individual autonomy For these reasons, because we have designed our cities and landscapes in the image of the automobile and because we have integrated it into our mental model as an essential element of our well-being (with some exceptions, of course), I am convinced that its future is assured. There may be both at present and in the future, policies that diversify modes of transport, stimulate a combination of modes, reduce the need for compulsory mobility, avoid cities that are too spread out and opt for smart growth. However, these will not work to the detriment of using the car, but rather of abusing its use.
Such abuse can be summarised in three main aspects: the consumption of energy, the environmental impact and the occupation of land. These are the major factors that negate anything positive about the car. They are the elements that, when all factors are taken into account, could outweigh the benefits, producing effects that are globally negative. The question we need to ask ourselves, therefore, is whether or not they are inevitable. If they are, then it is a problem inherent in the automobile. If they prove not to be, then inevitably, the key question becomes how we can best make use of the car. Let us briefly review the situation. The car consumes a lot of energy. In fact, transport is the sector in which the consumption of energy has shown the steadiest growth in previous decades. In recent years energy consumption on behalf of the transport sector has once more risen steadily. Consequently, it takes a larger and larger portion of the energy pie. The cause is an increase in the total number of journeys undertaken, plus a rise in the average distance travelled and, to a lesser extent, an increase in the features offered by vehicles (especially air conditioning). Is it possible to reduce this energy consumption? Yes, to a large degree. It is a question of technological innovation. Another factor to be considered is the inconvenient source of the energy that is consumed:
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petrol derived from oil. As everyone acknowledges, reasonably priced oil has its days numbered and, what is more, it is the main culprit of global warming. If we add to this the fact that the majority of Western countries are beginning to doubt their high external dependence on the supply of this so-called black gold, then we are faced with a highly unfavourable situation. Once more we need to answer the simple question: can we make the wheels on our cars turn with a replacement for fossil fuels? Again we can answer in the affirmative. Technological innovation also offers solutions in this instance.
we combine two types of measures. Firstly, those aimed at building smaller cars that are more energy-efficient and consume alternatives to oil. Secondly, measures related to our lifestyle in order to manage traffic in a manner that avoids the current conflicts. We should not fool ourselves: both are enormous challenges.
The crisis in the automobile industry is related to the persistence of a model of production that is increasingly removed from the needs Nevertheless, cars do contaminate. They do so and possibilities of the future a great deal less than in the past, but the phenomenal increase in cars and the extent of their use means they make a significant impact, particularly in densely populated urban areas. Such contamination is closely linked to the fuel which is used and, therefore, it can be resolved in the same way as the previous point. The problem of noise pollution would continue, but technology could solve it (both through the design of vehicles and roads), significantly helped by improved driving behaviour. However, there are solutions to be found for this problem too. The remaining problem, therefore, is the usage of space. This is a much more difficult problem to address, to be sure, but there are different ways to approach it. On one hand, it is perfectly possible to favour small cars, which possess all the necessary requirements for circulating in an urban environment, while on the other hand it is possible to take steps to prevent every car taking to the road on the same day at the same time. Public transport, telecommuting, staggered working times, these are all effective means of diluting traffic and ensuring the streets are quieter. In short, there is no need to stigmatise the car and erase it from our society. How to go about addressing the problem is another matter: how it should be and we should make use of it. Integrating the car into the more sustainable future we wish to see in all areas of our lives is possible if 80
For this reason it is helpful to examine at this point the other facet of the car society: the production sector. Mid-December last year, the prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, announced a package of measures for the automobile industry. In recent decades this kind of support has received a bad press from orthodox economics. There are still prominent economists that firmly condemn them, warning that the remedy is worse than the illness. Faced with such a situation, Harper presented what seemed like a more solid argument, ‘Across the country there are literally hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of families potentially affected by the distress of this industry’ (The New York Times, 21st of December 2008). The same reasoning was echoed by Bush, Sarkozy and Merkel. Political leaders have been unnerved by the crisis in the automobile industry. Here too a combination of two factors are at work. First, there is the objective fact that, in the majority of developed nations, the sector is highly important, with many consequences for secondary companies. If the automobile industry goes into recession, the effects could be felt in the whole of the productive economy. Second, there is the subjective fact that the automobile industry is a symbol of an industrial model that has brought prosperity, particularly in the second half of the twentieth century.
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Green Debate
The crisis in the sector has been brought on by a sudden and pronounced decrease in sales. This in turn can be put down to various causes, such as a fall in consumption due to the economic situation and difficulties in obtaining credit, the price of petrol, or the fact that many families already have two or three cars. In reality, the industry’s hopes for growth have been linked more to emerging markets than to expanding existing ones. The former have frozen and the latter have shrunk. As a consequence sales have slumped. The situation is so serious that the winner of the last Nobel Prize for economics, Paul Krugman, has stated that the American automobile industry could disappear (La Vanguardia newspaper, 8th of December 2008). Naturally enough, governments wish to take steps to help the sector recover, but what kind of help? Should they return the company accounts to a healthy status and let them carry on producing as before? Or take advantage of the circumstances to restructure the model of production from the base up in order that a ‘different’ automobile industry emerges? Staying with the opinions of Nobel Prize for economics winners: a short time ago Joseph Stiglitz declared himself firmly in favour of the second option (The Financial Times, 11th of December 2008). When Obama was presidential candidate he did so too, while addressing industry executives in May 2007. The crisis in the automobile sector is in reality nothing new. It could be seen coming from a long way off. For years the large companies have been reducing their workforce. They have a notorious production surplus and launch vehicles that fail to meet the needs of new consumers, due to their environmental dimension and impact. The automobile industry as a whole is a victim of the re-
cession, but it is also a victim of its own mistakes. Nevertheless, it is convenient that governments act and inject resources. However, such resources should not be directed towards decreasing financial imbalances, but rather in order to reform the sector. A reform in terms of sustainability, that provides for the manufacture of the sort of vehicles outlined above in reasonable quantities. If there is a public economic commitment (and one is needed), there is also a need for industrial policies that are intelligently guided in order to re-orientate, restructure and, in short, reform the sector in order that it can exist and prosper under new conditions. In addition, there is also a need for private policies that are based on the social responsibility of the management. By corporate social responsibility I do not mean altruistic aid projects or cultural patronage. I refer to the more genuine form of social responsibility a business person might have: to think about and take decisions based on the future of their business, rejecting apparent shortterm benefits if they are based on practices that could be counterproductive (whether socially, economically or environmentally), as they would be practices that in the mid or long term might put the company at risk. There is a need, therefore, to accept and lead the sector’s need for reform, rather than finding reasons and arguments against doing so. Our society is a society based on the automobile and it will continue to be so. However, it may become a different automobile. The crisis in the automobile sector is related to the persistence of a model of production that is increasingly removed from the needs and possibilities of the future. For this reason, in order to deal with the crisis it is basically necessary to resolve this discrepancy. *Pere Torres
Biologist and environmental consultant. After some time spent on research (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), he joined the Government of Catalunya in 1991. He was in turn secretary of the Catalan Inter-university Council (1991-1993), head of the Environment Minister’s staff(1993-1995), general director of Environmental Planning (1995-2000) and secretary for Regional Planning (2000-2003). Since 2004 he has done consultancy work in public management, sustainability and land use planning and has been a regular contributor to the International Institute for Governability and the Cerdà Institute.
Catalan International View
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A short story from history
Murals by Josep M. Sert at the Rockefeller Center, New York. Photo by MMT
A glamorous contribution to the Belle Époque by Manuel Manonelles i Tarragó
Few of the thousands of tourists, office workers, shoppers and journalists from the NBC TV Network that pass through the entrance hall of the Rockefeller Centre in New York know that the spectacular murals that decorate its walls are the work of a Catalan, the painter and muralist Josep M. Sert. Josep M. Sert (Barcelona 1874-1945) was a well-known artist, and one of the most highly paid, who for years worked with and befriended the most glamorous elite of his time. The richness and monumentality of his murals, painted 82
with real gold paint and natural squid ink were –and still are- disputed by the ‘rich and beautiful’ of the Belle Époque, who were seduced by Sert’s scenographies for the Scala of Milan and Russian Ballets of the legendary Diaghilev. Outstanding examples of works he carried out for celebrities he worked for and with include the palace of the Princess of Polignac in Paris, Kent House, Lympne Castle and Wretham Hall near London, the palace of Prince Mdivani in Venice (whose sister was to become Sert’s second wife), the palace of Baron Becker in Brussels, the orato-
Catalan International View
Murals by Josep M. Sert at the Rockefeller Center, New York. Photo by MMT
rio of the Dukes of Alba in Madrid and the March Palace in Palma de Mallorca. In a more public dimension, Sert is the creator of the highly regarded murals in the Palace of Nations in Geneva (now home to the UN offices in Geneva), the Saloon of Chronicles of the Municipality of Barcelona, the panels for the ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York (now owned by the Bank of Santander) and what is considered his chief artistic work, the two colossal sets of complete mural decoration for Vic cathedral -the first being destroyed during the Spanish Civil War. An even more curious example is the work known as The Four Seasons. This piece was conceived and commissioned for the residence of Arthur Capel, a millionaire and long-time lover of Coco Channel. Capel died in a car crash near Cannes before the murals were installed. Once they were suitably adapted, the work of art ended up in the pavilion of the Ch창teau de La Versine, near Chantilly, property of the Rothschild family. During the Second World War the castle was occupied by the German Army and used as General Staff, when the murals were coveted by Marshal Goering, a known art predator. Today most of the pieces composing The Four Seasons can be admired in the Town Hall of Vic, the aforementioned Catalan city where Sert is buried, while
waiting for its final installation at the monographic museum the authorities are planning to dedicate to this glamorous artist.
One of the murals in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York
Catalan International View
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The Artist
AgustĂ Puig
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Catalan International View
The Artist
Agustí Puig (Sabadell, 1957) began his career in the world of art under the influence of the transvangarde and highly influenced by the drawing style of comics and graphic design. His earliest period was of romantic landscapes, ending with him branching into reclaiming the roots of Pop Art. His time spent in New York, in 1992, meant a rethinking of his plastic priorities, where the density of material and gesture accompanied him in many incessant, creative transformations. It is clear, therefore, that we see an artist influenced by the abstract and non-artistic material elements of artists such as Antoni Tàpies and the rapid, vigorous production of expressionists such as Pollock, who through the simplicity and dynamism of the gesture forge a path of introspection. In his work, Agustí Puig adopts the human figure as an absolute protagonist of his creations and he conceives them through the purity of the lines and the nudity of the colour. The larger works are completely taken over by colossal beings that walk under the pressure of our thoughts: large heads that are supported by long, robust
legs that give way to feet of disproportionate size that are kept firmly on the ground. In this way he overcomes the doubts, the fears, the anxiety: fears that are intrinsic to human beings, which help us to find answers to the why of our existence. Expressing himself through the use of materials inspired by nature, such as terracotta, ashes and the colour of ochre and clay, the artist, in the manner of a modern shaman, performs an exercise in self-reflection within his own psyche. He shows himself naked and free of all accessories that hide the universality of the purest values, those which, with the passage of time, have become corrupted and have been relegated to the background. Woody Allen’s latest film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, has brought Puig a lot of media attention as it counted on his artistic input as the creator of the works painted by Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem’s characters. Currently, Puig is exhibiting at the recently inaugurated Espai VolART 2, of the Vila Casas Foundation, where he displays his most recent works. bonart cultural Fundació Vila Casas Ausiàs Marc, 22 08010 Barcelona Tel. +34 93 481 79 85 www.fundaciovilacasas.com
Catalan International View
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A Poem
WITHOUT FRIENDS (Translation by Angela Buxton) Without friends, goods and master, In a strange place and in a strange region, Far from everything good, tired of worry and sadness, My will and thought captivated, I find myself completely subject to an evil power; I see no one who will take care of me, And I am guarded, caught, shackled and imprisoned, For which I blame my sad fortune. I saw times when nothing satisfied me; Now I am content with what makes me sad, And now I appreciate more the light shackles Than before I did the most beautiful embroidery. I see that fortune has shown its power Over me, wanting me to reach this point; But I don’t care, for I have done my duty To all good people in whose company I am. It is nothing for me to suffer all these wrongs Compared to the one which breaks my heart, And every day it makes me crack with hope: I see nothing that can give us a push In preparing our liberation.
DESERT D’AMICS
Desert d’amics, de béns e de senyor, en estrany lloc i en estranya contrada, lluny de tot bé, fart d’enuig e tristor, ma voluntat e pensa caitivada, me trob del tot en mal poder sotsmès, no vei algú que de mé s’haja cura, e soi guardats, enclòs, ferrats e pres, de què en fau grat a ma trista ventura. Eu hai vist temps que no em plasia res; ara em content de ço que em fai tristura, e los grillons lleugers ara preu més que en lo passat la bella brodadura. Fortuna vei que ha mostrat son voler sus mé, volent que en tal punt vengut sia; però no em cur, pus hai fait mon dever amb tots los bons que em trob en companyia.
Jordi de Sant Jordi, Poet and knight (País Valencià, ? - 1424)
Tots aquests mals no em són res de sofrir en esguard d’u qui al cor me destenta e em fai tot jorn d’esperança partir: com no vei res que ens avanç d’una espenta en acunçar nostre deslliurament.
Raised at court, he was a protégé of King Alfons the Magnanimous, who awarded him a knighthood and with whom he was to participate in various expeditions to Italy. In 1423, he was imprisoned in Naples for a short time. On his return to court he became one of the members of the group of courtesan poets of Queen Margarida de Prades. His poetic work, in a Catalan rich with Provençal phrasing, primarily dealing with the theme of
love, uses a form that reflects the influence of Provençal troubadours and shows small influences from Petrarch. Some of his most significant poems are Estramps (Free Verse), Midons (Noble Ladies), Presoner (Prisoner) and Crida a les Dones (A Call to the Women).
Note: the translator of Josep Carner’s poem, published in this section in the last issue, is Professor Enric Bou, Chair in Hispanic Studies of Brown University of Providence. We would like to apologise for the omission of his name due to an editorial error.
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Catalan International View