PETRIFICATION OF THE MYSTERY

Alexander K.Ivanov

Until recently there was no doubt about the term "International community, it was a generally accepted concept. We constantly would hear of demands of the "International Community" or what it considered impermissible. However few have asked themselves what the "International Community" stands for. Trusting people saw behind the "International Community" all countries in the world; it was the entity acting in the common interest, a just body, a principled force, a human factor, a carrier of absolute truth in world affairs.

Naturally the International community does not include Sadam Husain and Muamar Kadaffi, neither the ayatollahs in Teheran of the Talibans in Kabul, nor the followers of the mad ideas of "chu-che" in Pyongyang. It was not based on the victims of exhaulted terrorists in Israel, Algiers and Egypt and had nothing to do with the students' corpses on Tyananmen square.

Evidently neither Fidel Castro nor Alexander Lukashenko, president of Byelorussia, fall in that category, not to mention Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

On the other hand King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and As-Sabeh, Emir of Kuwait, people like Gaidar Aliev, Edward Shavarnadse, Members of Politbureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and heads of the KGB in the respective Soviet Republics are seen as "consistent democrats". And of course , Boris Yeltsin , the greatest democrat reincarnate - the former Candidate-member of Politbureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and First Secretary of the Moscow City Committee. In fact he frequently would leave "the International Community" when he declared his opposition to the expansion of NATO or the bombing of Serbia.

Clearly the "International Community" is no fixed concept, it is quite amorphous, rather "pulsatingly flexible" depending on the case , and let us be frank , subject to political considerations.

The developed industrial states (above all the U.S.A. and the westeuropean countries), and their satellites orbiting them - the so called civilized world. are the only fixed and established members

However the question remains as to how civilized is the "civilized world" . Could we consider a world of nuclear, chemical and biological arms, a world of wars, intervention and subversive operations in "unacceptable countries", "punitive air strikes" over their civilian population, absolute breaches of international law, of forced sterilization of "racially and genetically inferior people", the secret irradiation of thousands unsuspecting people a civilized world?

"The International Community" claims that its resolutions to world problems are the only correct ones. Nevertheless recently there has been no efficient decisions and action, which have led to the full liquidation of hot beds of tension and conflict. Diplomacy , dominated by the "civilized world" demonstrated total incompetence, imposes unrealizable agreements with heavy consequences over the population, countries, and regions in crisis.

All this is accompanied by powerful propaganda campaigns, which make use of double standards with full force - identical events with dramatically contradictory assessments. And as the media channels are entirely in the hands of the "civilized world", at also holds the "absolute truth" .

Double Standards

The examples are numerous, yet let us consider a neighboring country. Kosovo has been in the news of international news agencies, yet almost nothing is heard of the 14 year old "secret war" in Southeast Turkey, with over 40,000 casualties. Reprisals against the Albanians and Kurds in both regions differ only in the scale. The beginning of events in Kosovo coincided with an operation of the Turkish Army north of Diyrbakir, with the participation of 40,000 men, led by 24 generals with armoured support, planes, helicopters, and other heavy armaments . No one however said a single word in defense of the Kurdish population.

"The International Community", greatly concerned for the situation of the Albanians in Kosovo, is ready to bomb the Serbs (moreover without the mandatory resolution of the UN Security Council) and is quite tolerant to action in Ankara. "The International Commnity" did not react to the crude breaches of international law, to the encroachment of the sovreignty and territorial integrity of Iraq, through periodical raids of Turkish forces in the northern part of Iraq "in pursuit of terrorists from the PKK (Kurdish Communist Party)". At the same time could you imagine the outcry if Yugoslav forces were to enter North Albania in pursuit of similar terrorists from the Kosovo Army of Liberation? What would happen if Belgrade began speaking of a security zone on Albanian territory (Ankara has been speaking such a zone in northern Iraq for years).

The International community aproaches the Kosovo crisis without any concept. No one can say how fighters from the Kosovo Army of Liberation, would be checked, when their provocations incessantly will block the process. It is not clear how the hard stand of the Kosovo Albanians who will only negotiate for independence, will be overcome . Who the Serbs will negotiate with is not clear, as it is generally recognized that Ibrahim Rogova does not enjoy the support of the majority of organizations of the Kosovo Albanians and above all of the Albanian Army of Liberation. And above all, the final solution of the problems and how it is to be achieved remains very much a question. Evidently a decision based on force, the Dayton type of Agreements is seen as the way out.



Dayton is a Goal

The Dayton Agreements for Bosnia and Herzegovina however are a typical example of the inability of the "International Community" to cope with crisis situations. Reiner Menel , Professor at Berlin University and Koblentz University, and lecturer at the Command Academy of the Bundeswehr called them an illusion. The Dayton Agreements and a mixture of contradictory general obligations and autonomous rights, were evidently drawn up without any idea of the concrete situation. They created an invented "unitarian" state , consisting of two entities : a Muslem-Croatian Federation and Republica Srbska.

The constant antagonism between Bosnians and Croatians clearly shows that the Muslem-Croatian Federation does not exist. Moreover even less does the unitarian Bosnian state exist. The inapplicability of the Dayton Agreements is also clear from the fact that all of them have to be imposed by force. Now Bosnia is practically a protectorate ruled by the representative of the "International Community", the Spaniard Carlos Westendrop. He even imposed a flag and coat of arms of the "federation". And everyone very well knows that should the foreign troops leave the resumption of the war is only a matter of time. This is why foreign military presence in Bosnia is expected to be retained well after 2010. We'll see what happens afterwards.

Cyprus - Vanity Fair

Cyprus is another example of total incompetence of "international" diplomacy. In July last year a meeting began between Glaukos Kleridis , the President of Cyprus, and Rauf Denktas leader of the Cypriot Turks, after a break of three years. The Commission of the European Union considered this moment most suitable to announce its exceptionally wise and timely move - to announce the beginning of negotiations with the Republic Cyprus ( which meant only the Cypriot Greeks) on their accession to the Community. That the proposal was in total contradiction with the requirements of the EC candidates for accession not to have any problems with minorities and their neighbors was totally irrelevant. What was the outcome ? Turkey began the process of "integration" with the Northern Cyprus Turkish Republic, recognized only by the Turkish Republic, which essentially leads to the annexation of the northern part of the island . There is a general aggreement that the Cyprus problem has no solution.

The UN - a Talking shop

Of the lofty aims , proclaimed at the establishment of the Organization of the United Nations and included in its statutes no single one has been achieved. Almost all peace keeping operations of the UN were failures, there is enormous waste and corruption, there is no end of top-level conferences with great promises and protocol and more than modest results. Perhaps it is worth while recalling only the most absurd of summits, which took place two years ago in Copenhagen, with the modest goal to do away with poverty in the world. Eventually we came to the result - the attention of Governments was drawn to the issue. Over 100 million dollars were spent "to draw the attention " to a problem, daily before the eyes of everyone.

Where is the money?

Nevertheless funding is always missing for the solution of all real problems - backwardness, famine, diseases, illiteracy. In fact where is the money which went for armaments during the cold war? Annually the "insignificant" amount of 800 billion dollars was spent at the time. Where is this money now? Maybe they were spent for social needs? Or for doing away with unemployment? Or perhaps taxes have been cut so much, that these sums are no longer gathered? Everyone knows that the truth is somewhere else, but where? In fact the notorious shortages of funding is in no way reflected on the well-being of international officials and international intermediaries - the so called fourth sector. These officials are paid fantastic salaries, fill up first class seats in flights and stay at luxury hotels. About two years ago information was leaked that Albania received about 10 per cent of the "aid" given to Albania. The rest was "eaten up" by various consultants for their advice. Obvious their advice didn't help much. This is the situation practically everywhere.

Actually the qualities of the intermediaries and experts is more than dubious. There are many examples. Although Zbignev Bzezinski made some quite uncomplimentary remarks about Syrus Vance, Secretary of State of the U.S.A. under President Carter, for three years now he has been "working" on the dispute between Greece and Macedonia through the auspices of the UN. Not to speak of the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada , Joe Clark and his colleague from South Korea, who, according to gossip only learnt where Cyprus was situated when the Secretary General of the UN appointed them as his representatives of the divided island.

Who is the "International Community " working for?

Are the main players , who make up the "International Community" and all it stands for united? It is no secret to anyone that no economic interests hold them together. Several times a year mutual threats are exchanged between the most developed countries for the beginnings of a commercial war. Various reasons are there - protectionism, agricultural subsidies, aircraft building, etc. American legislation , turning against companies investing in Iran, Libia and Cuba, caused a sharp reaction to American partners. The contradictions will grow further because of the crisis affecting the industrial world . Clearly the half measures , based on regulatory mechanisms will not succeed in doing away with the crisis. For the present warnings from such authorities such as Henry Kissinger. Michel Camdessus and George Soros , that the present economic and financial system is out of date and does not match the requirements of the new conditions are ignored.

There can be no doubt however, that as a whole the "International Community" functions above all serving the interests of its "main" members and above all the United States. This is evident from all its stands, its "selective ability" for its efforts to concentrate on problems and fields of interests to namely these countries. The approach and action are politically motivated ( which is something condemned in international practice and means a step back from the universal principles in favour of certain interests). What did the "International Community" do to stop the bloodshed in Ruanda and Burundi, where hundreds of thousands victims fell, and according to others over a million ? What does it do to overcome the real world problems - famine, disease, illiteracy?

What is the future before the world ? Prophets have long stopped appearing, and the dreamers a becoming fewer and fewer. Perhaps the day will come when interests will give way to justice, law and real solidarity. When resources will go not for arms and political scrambles? When will the poor simply be a little less rich than the richest. When will the sick have real access to health institutions? When will the world not be threatened with self destruction, when nature will simple be nature, not the environment.

Only them will there be an international community.