Suchergebnisse

This brief article is a discussion of the life and work of Czeslaw Milosz, a recently deceased, well-known Polish poet and dissident political figure. The author discusses his legacy and significance for the Polish generation of dissidents, as well as his personal encounter with the great poet.

An interview with Adam Michnik considers European intellectuals' various responses to the Second Gulf War. Michnik asserts that he & other Polish intellectuals supported the US-led war against Iraq for various reasons, eg, the government headed by Saddam Hussein was a totalitarian regime & Poland remained a strong ally of the US. The extent to which Michnik's experience with totalitarianism & existence as an anticommunist & antifascist revolutionary influenced his support of US aggressions against the Hussein regime is then pondered. After defending his support for the George W. Bush administration's utopian approach to establishing democracy in postwar Iraq, Michnik discusses European non-supporters' perception of the US-led attacks as a violation of international law & a manifestation of US global hegemony. Despite support for the US-led attacks against Iraq, Michnik claims that the Bush administration has adopted a fundamentalist approach to justifying its military actions & stresses that the use of religious ideology to explicate one's actions is indeed dangerous. Michnik also expresses concern that the US's postwar strategy for stabilizing Iraq will prove ineffective. J. W. Parker

Poland, whose citizens always considered themselves European, for
more than a decade has been free to decide her own fate. Just like
other European countries, we recognize the freedom of the individual,
democracy, private property and tolerance as the fundamentals of
civilization. Also, like the rest of Europe, we are struggling with the
problems of unemployment, corruption, increasing economic inequality, and
populism. We need a united and safe Europe, able to oppose international
crime, terrorism and corruption. The fight against these pathologies
cannot lead to the egoistic isolation form the nations of Eastern Europe
and blindness to the issues that have global dimensions. We are against
anti-Americanism and against the political and economic confrontation
of Europe and the United States. Europe and the United States should
strive to reduce world poverty, corruption and suffering.

Offers remarks on the pursuit of democracy in Central Europe's postcommunist societies, from the perspective of one having lived there during the communist period.

El horror de Jedwabne

Résumé « J'accuse » de Zola dans L'Aurore fit prendre conscience au monde de la presse de l'importance de sa mission, laquelle justifia le meilleur et le pire. La liberté de la presse impose aux journalistes une réflexion permanente pour éviter de tomber dans les pièges d'une licence dévastatrice. La transparence et le secret autorisent un jeu cruel si le journaliste qui se sent investi d'une mission d'information oublie d'exercer son droit de libre arbitre. Or, cette liberté, il ne peut l'exercer au bénéfice de la vérité et du bien public que s'il respecte la dignité de l'homme, sa propre dignité, mais également celle de ses adversaires.

Zola's famous statement -- "I Accuse" -- has made the world of journalism aware of the importance of its mission, which has justified the best as well as the worst. Freedom of the press forces journalists to a constant reflection in order to avoid the traps of a devastating limitless liberty. Openness & secrecy lead to a cruel game when journalists who feel they have a mission to inform forget to exercise their free will. But they can exercise this freedom for the benefit of truth & the common good only if they respect human dignity, their own dignity but also the dignity of their adversaries. Adapted from the source document.