Abstract

Editorials

The article presents information on several socio-political developments from across the world. A note found on the body of one of the terrorists slain at the Rome, Italy airport after a murderous rampage triumphantly proclaimed, "The war has begun!" It was wrong. The war began so long ago and has accumulated so many massacres that it is now impossible to imagine first causes, to appoint ultimate blame, to fix final responsibility. Indeed, the war in the Middle East, hardly a two-sided affair but a kind of Hobbesian fray of all-against-all, proceeds by incidents of retaliation and recrimination. It is all no more than madness, but the method in it is supplied by the powerful actors behind the scenes. The recent wave of protests in Haiti could mark the beginning of the end for the government of President J.C. Duvalier, many Haitians believe. The dictator's fate depends in part on continuing economic aid from the United States, France, Canada, West Germany and other countries, which contribute more than one-third of the country's annual budget of approximately $400 million. The donor nations have made their subsidies conditional on Haiti's improving its human rights record.