Articles by Rene Wadlow

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The Missing 13,000: What Force for Lebanon’s Frontier?

Rene Wadlow August 22, 2006 Rene Wadlow

After five weeks of fighting, starting on July 12, massive destruction and displacement of persons, a cease-fire has been reached on the Israel-Lebanon frontier.  The UN Security Council has decided to increase the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unfil) in place since 1978 to 15,000 peacekeepers who will join 15,000 soldiers of the regular Lebanese Army to control the southern frontier area with Israel in order to prevent both Hezballah rocket launches into Israel and Israeli Army attacks into Lebanon.  The cease-fire and military deployment is a necessary first step in a renewed conflict resolution process which, for the moment, no one is leading. read more

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Beyond the UN Conference on Small Weapons

Rene Wadlow July 25, 2006 Rene Wadlow

It has become broadly accepted that controlling the spread and use of small arms is vital in establishing genuine human security.  The abuse of small arms is directly related to the violation of the right to life. In practice, it is small arms which are killing today both in armed conflicts and in domestic and community violence. 

The multiple dimensions of the problem of the unrestricted flow and wide availability of small arms range beyond the confines of arms control and disarmament.  Nevertheless, it was in the structure of the UN’s disarmament division that "The UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA) was drafted in 2001. read more

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Dwight Macdonald: Godfather of One Editor Journals

Rene Wadlow July 5, 2006 Rene Wadlow

Dwight Macdonald would have been 100 this year, 2006.  Had he lived, he would have been asked to say a few words about the state of the world, about the editing of political journals, and about the state of American culture.  His replies would have been short and satirical.  As he wrote "Great ideas can only be expressed in a great style.  There is no such thing as a clear message delivered in a confused style."  He was a master of the short essay.

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Leopold Sedar Senghor: “Who will teach rhythm to the world laid low by machines and cannons?”

Rene Wadlow June 13, 2006 Rene Wadlow

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Leopold Sedar Senghor, poet, cultural thinker, and first President of independent Senegal.  At a time when the dialogue among civilizations as well as a possible clash among civilizations is on the world political agenda, it is useful to look at the lasting contribution of Senghor in an article devoted to Senghor as a poet and cultural thinker.