Contenu du sommaire

Président Reagan's Foreign Policy : Word and Action, by Stanley Hoffmann President Reagan came into power with an unusually coherent and ideological view of the world. If America were strong, it would be respected. However, in spite of some extremist rhetoric on his part, prudence prevailed. There has been no lack of variety in the way his foreign policy has been applied, and there has been an inevitable collision between ideology and reality. Furthermore, foreign policy has not been the first priority of the Reagan Administration. During his second mandate, the choice of men will be the decisive factor. Although American public opinion has to be taken into account, this contains some contradictions. It wants power without risk. Public opinion has a double tendency towards unilateralism and a certain erosion of American intellectual and emotional commitments to the outside world. Internationalism is on the wane and has given way to a self satisfied pursuit of national interest without any felt need to convert other countries to its views. The prevailing idea is that sooner or later what is good for the United States will benefit those not lucky enough to be American citizens.

International Reaganomics Works, by Henry R. Nau According to the author, the domesticist perspective, compared with the globalist perspective, offers the better prospects for international economy during the 1980s. The Reagan Administration has rightfully reasserted, during the last four years, US power to lead the world back to the domesticist triad of world economie rearmament : low inflation, market incentives and freer trade. Strong and domesticist oriented national economies will do more for world economy than any globalist attempt of coordination.

Iran and Iraq Enter Their Fifth Year of War, by Mohammad-Reza Djalili On 22nd September, 1984, the Iran-Iraq war entered Us fifth year and into its fifth phase, which is characterised by a stalemate on the battle front on land and by the « tanker war » in the Gulf. It is almost impossible at the present time to make accurate forecasts concerning the outcome of the war, even after a detailed study of the military conjuncture, economie factors (particularly oil) and the political situation in the two countries. Forecasting has not been made easier by the lack of fundamental change in attitudes of third countries during the latest phase of the conflict. Negotiation, internationalisation of the conflict, the stalemate in hostilities are solutions which would satisfy Iraq, but these do not appeal to Iran, the Arab Gulf States and other powers. Teheran and Bagdad have reached an impasse, yet the absurdity and futility their war is obvious to all.

Ethiopia, Moscow's New African Ally, by Colin Legum Ten years after the onset of the revolution, and in spite of seven years of uneasy relations with Moscow, Mengistu's Ethiopia now possesses the best structured Marxist political System y et seen in Africa ; it presents the best opportunity for the USSR in the Third World since the émergence of Castro's Cuba and the Vietnam People's Démocratie Republic. But with a collapsed economie growth and unsolved nationalities issues that had become sharper than ever, two questions remain : first, what are the prospects of Ethiopia's révolution succeeding in consolidating its power effectively over the whole country ; and, second, how far is the Soviet Union prepared to go in sustaining the Ethiopian révolution ? If one considers that the Soviet concern is not to ensure the success of states seeking the « past of non-capitalism », but to ensure effective and continuing Soviet access to facilities required by its strategie interests, then Ethiopia figures high in the target countries favoured by Soviet military planers.