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Nato plus one
With the attention of the world elsewhere, an historic agreement has been reached on a new plan for giving Russia a full role in NATO affairs. Reports are stating that a breakthrough has occurred over the issue of creating a Russia-NATO council, on which Russia will sit as an equal with member states.
A special NATO-Russia summit in Rome has been scheduled for the end of next month, at which it is expected Russian, American and European leaders will formally recognise the council.
The significance could not be greater. November sees the NATO Prague summit at which expansion plans, long opposed by Russia, will be approved. Now, Russia has got in there first.
But mystery surrounds the agreement. The belief is that Berlusconi, a big chum of both Bush and Putin, effectively brokered the deal. As late as 10 April, official Russian news agencies were talking about serious problems, and a dialogue that is not developing as positively as might have been hoped.
But on 12 April, two days after Putin had visited Germany and complained that Russia was not being allowed to take part in Alliance decision-making, Berlusconi was announcing an historic agreement, telling reporters that The historical nature of this event is that it is the first step towards the total integration of the Russian Federation into the Atlantic alliance. All of a sudden, and against their own expectations of a few days earlier, Russia had got a decision-making role in NATO affairs.
But the Italian Premier was quiet on how agreement had been reached. What is known is that Putin had the support of Schroeder and that after a rush of telephone diplomacy, Bush came out supporting the Berlusconi plan. To observers, this apparent shift of position by the Bush administration came as a surprise. Only a month or two earlier it had rejected a British proposal that in content appeared very similar to Berlusconis.
It is thought the new body will be known as the Council of 20. Its remit will include international terrorism, organised crime, peacekeeping operations and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Island tension
Following a peace deal, agreed last week in Dakar between President Ratsiraka and self-declared President Ravalomanana sealed with the approval of Kofi Annan the crisis in Madagascar entered a new and hopefully more positive stage this week.
The agreement centred around a recount of the December poll, subject to Ravalomanana giving up his title of President, despite the widespread belief that he won the election outright. Ravalomanana has welcomed the process as a confrontation of votes, and if the recount is inconclusive, has agreed that a referendum be held in the next six months, with the assistance of the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity.
Other crucial factors include the composition of the High Constitutional Court (HCC). Shortly before the December election, the incumbent President changed the judges. This act was declared illegal last week, and Ratsiraka has agreed that a new recount can go ahead under the control of the old HCC judges, now re-installed. He also promised to lift the barricades erected in the capital Antananarivo, that have prevented basic commodities, such as fuel, from entering the city.
However, despite the recount going ahead as scheduled, reports suggest that there is little sign of the agreement being implemented. Ravalomanana has expanded his rule to the islands province of Fianarantsoa, with the appointment of a new and supportive governor, and is generally thought to be gaining the upper hand.
And in Antananarivo, Ratsirakas blockades remain intact. Loyal Governors are saying there will be no removal until opposition activists the people Ravalomanana appointed as his ministers leave ministry buildings.
If the Dakar peace deal is to hold, promises must be kept.
One week, two sackings
Two important heads rolled this week under the US axe.
The first was José Bustani, chairman of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Bustani was ousted in an emergency vote in the Hague, carried by forty-eight to seven, with forty-three countries abstaining. But it was US pressure that lost him his job.
The Brazilian planned to encourage Iraq to join the OPCW, thereby securing the chance of arms inspections in the country. But the US who supported Bustanis re-appointment a year ago, with Colin Powell leading the cheers launched a campaign against the chairman two months ago, accusing Bustani of bad judgement and poor management, and threatening to withdraw their dollars from the organization, thereby effectively sinking it.
Some argue that US disapproval of Bustani stems from its desire to attack Iraq. It is thought that if Saddam signed up to the chemical weapons convention, the case for war would be made much less persuasive.
Head number two belonged to Dr. Robert Watson, who until last week was chair of the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC). Outspoken on climate change, Dr. Watson is seen by many environmentalists as the victim of a forcefully executed US campaign against him, orchestrated by the friends of oil in the White House. The IPCC was instrumental in formulating the Kyoto agreement, famously rejected by President Bush. Critics point to a White House memo of last year in which ExxonMobil questioned whether Dr. Watson could be replaced.
At a meeting in Geneva, government representatives voted seventy-six to forty-nine for the US-supported and less-outspoken Dr. Rajendra Pachauri to take over the chair. Im willing to stay in there, said Watson, working as hard as possible, making sure the findings of the very best scientists in the world are taken seriously by government, industry and by society as a whole.
Popstar PM
Strange goings on in India. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, clearly fed up with the humdrum of governance, has sought to make his name in the pop charts.
An unexpected career move? Well, no, Vajpayee has long been known as a moonlighting poet, and has even been published in Pakistan. But now, the PM is seeking to take his talents to the next level. His moving musings have been put to music and recorded by Jagjit Singh, one of Indias leading romantic crooners.
The album, on commercial release, is entitled Samvedana (Sensitivity). But one track in particular has hit the airwaves and networks. It is called 'Kya Khoya, Kya Paya' (What Ive lost, What Ive gained), and is said to have nothing to do with the recent elections in Uttar Pradesh. Described by the BBC as a mournful introspection, there is little expectation that it will light the fires of global youth culture. Still, MTV have been repeatedly playing the video, which includes Bollywood action hero Sharukh Kahn, as well as Mr. Vajpayee himself.
According to the BBC, the video is a slow-paced affair, labouring on framed poses of Mr. Vajpayee doing nothing at all except either writing at his desk or looking troubled. Meanwhile, heartthrob Sharukh Khan appears even more distressed by the affair, staring out of a window, his face awash with tears.
The Diary doesnt like to pre-judge these things, and we are sure the pop-venture has nothing to do with recent bad press for the Indian PM, but it sounds as if the King of Pop (whoever he is this week) can safely keep his crown. Meanwhile, the world can breathe a sigh of relief that Mao isnt around in the age of multimedia. It doesnt bear thinking about.
The bard of Belgrade?
Meanwhile, the Diary hears from Alix Kroeger in Belgrade that the city is readying itself for the premiere of a new play Situational Organisations, set to hit the stage in the autumn. Its author, one Radovan Karadzic.
Karadzic, better known for his poetry and alleged genocide, has been in hiding since the end of the war. But this week, his play, Sitovacija, which has been described as a light comedy, was launched in his absence. In fear of arrest, the author left the launch in the capable hands of the International Committee for the Truth About Radovan Karadzic.
According to Kroeger, the committee have detailed the dramatic effort as making fun of petty politicians, power-loving megalomaniacs, false patriots, and manipulative carpetbaggers. That should empty Karadzics address book.
Committee Chairman, Kosta Cavoski, said that the power-loving megalomaniac was enjoying good health and spirit, revelling in a life of good humour, irony and satire.
The wheels of justice
Lost baggage
American Airlines are not having a good time of it recently. The latest bad news comes in the form of a ten million dollar lawsuit, filed against them by Joe Dabney, a Californian retiree, who accuses the company of having lost his wife.
Last December, while changing planes at Dallas Fort Worth airport, Margie Dabney, Joes other half, went missing. Mr. Dabney is claiming gross negligence on the part of the airline, that is. Mrs. Dabney suffers from Alzheimers disease, and was travelling with her husband to Los Angeles, from Indianapolis, via Dallas (the scenic route, one presumes).
After Margie tried to open a door during the flight, an escort was requested to escort in Dallas. But nobody showed. As a result, during the changeover she became separated from her wheelchair husband, who has not seen her since.
The only sighting of Mrs. Drabney came a couple of days later, when a construction worker spotted her on the airport tarmac. Mr. Drabney is unimpressed with the ten thousand dollar reward offered by American Airlines.
Quotes of the week
I am confident that France will reconfirm its European values, and I am sure that, even in the future, France will be one of the strongest foundations of European democracy.
Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission.
The mask has fallen. He is the candidate of the left. I will be the candidate of the people.
Jean-Marie Le Pen, reacting to the news that leftist leaders are appealing to their supporters to back Jacques Chirac in the second round of the French Presidential elections on 5 May.
A brother-in-arms.
Filip Dewinter, chief of the Flemish Vlaams Blok party, on Jean-Marie Le Pen.
A great patriot.
Russian nationalist, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, on Jean-Marie Le Pen.
[Its] all about exterminating the Jews, Americans and other scum.
Zakhar, aged fifteen, telling Time magazines Yuri Zarakhonivich about a neo-Nazi rally he is attending in Pushkin Square, Moscow.
Contact the Diary editor: dominic.hilton@opendemocracy.net
