Le Monde diplomatique 172855 208536249 2008-04-27T15:14:12Z SmackBot 433328 Date the maintenance tags or general fixes {{dablink|This monthly magazine is not to be mistaken for the daily "[[Le Monde]]".}} {{Infobox Newspaper | name = Le Monde diplomatique | image = [[Image:Le Monde diplomatique.jpg]] | type = [[Monthly]] [[Magazine]] | format = [[Berliner (format)|Berliner]] | language = [[French language|French]], editions in translation in [[English language|English]] and 25 other languages | foundation = | owners = | political = [[Left-wing politics|Left]] | headquarters = [[France]]| editor = [[Serge Halimi]] | publisher = | website = [http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/ http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/] | }} '''''Le Monde diplomatique''''' (nicknamed "Le Diplo" by its French readers) is a monthly publication offering analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. Its articles are long, thoughtful, scholarly, and opinionated. First created mainly for a diplomatic audience, as its name implies, it has in recent years taken a critical view on the effects of economic [[neoliberalism]] on the world and its population. It thus includes articles both of a neutral, scholarly nature, and more opinionated pieces which qualify as [[advocacy journalism]]. However, its analysis and articles, because of their seriousness and accuracy, are still read by scholars and people across the entire political spectrum. Since the 1970s, its editorial line has become decidedly [[altermondialism|altermondialist]] and [[left-wing]]. Throughout the [[Cold War]], it had a [[neutralist]] viewpoint, often critical of [[Foreign relations of the United States|US foreign policy]]{{Fact|date=April 2008}}. As of March 2008 the paper is headed by [[Serge Halimi]]. The original French edition has a circulation of about 350,000; sixteen editions in other languages bring the total to about 1.4 million readers worldwide. [[Jean-Marie Colombani]], editor of the daily ''Le Monde'', was attributed by ''Le Monde diplomatique'''s director general [[Bernard Cassen]] as saying: "''Le Monde diplomatique'' is a journal of opinion; ''Le Monde'' is a journal of opinions." <ref> [http://newleftreview.org/A2431 On the Attack], interview with ''Le Monde diplomatique'' 's director general [[Bernard Cassen]] in ''[[The New Left Review]]'' n°19, January-February 2003 {{en icon}} </ref> == 1954 Formation and History == ''Le Monde diplomatique'' was founded in 1954 by [[Hubert Beuve-Méry]], founder and director of ''[[Le Monde]]'', the French [[newspaper of record]]. Subtitled the "organ of diplomatic circles and of large international organisations, <ref> ''« organe des cercles diplomatiques et des grandes organisations internationales »'' </ref>" 5,000 copies were distributed, comprising eight pages, dedicated to [[foreign policy]] and [[geopolitics]]. Its first [[editor in chief]], François Honti, made the newspaper into a scholarly reference journal. Honti attentively followed the birth of the [[Non-Aligned Movement]], created out of the 1955 [[Asian-African Conference|Bandung Conference]], and the issues of the "[[Third World]]". [[Claude Julien (journalist)|Claude Julien]] became the newspaper's second editor in January 1973. At that time, the circulation of ''Le Monde diplomatique'' had jumped from 5,000 to 50,000 copies, and would reach, with Micheline Paulet, 120,000 in less than twenty years <ref name="Amis"> Numbers given in [http://www.amis.monde-diplomatique.fr/article1342.html Le Monde diplomatique depuis 1954...], ''Les Amis du Monde diplomatique'', [[Voluntary association|1901 law association]], September 26, 2006 {{fr icon}} </ref>. Without renouncing its "[[Third-worldism]]" position, it extended the treatment of its subjects, concentrating on international [[economic]] and [[monetary]] problems, strategic relations, the [[Middle-East conflict]], etc. ''Le Monde diplomatique'' took an independent stance, criticizing the [[neoliberalism|neoliberal]] ideology and policies of the 1980s, represented by [[Margaret Thatcher]] and [[Ronald Reagan]]. After the November, 1989 Fall of the [[Berlin Wall]] and the 1990-1991 [[Gulf War]], the newspaper made an important turn, and criticized the "American crusade" <ref name="Amis"/>. [[Ignacio Ramonet]] was elected director in January 1991. ''Le Monde diplomatique'' analyzed the post-[[Cold War]] world, paying specific attention to "ethnic" conflicts – the [[Yugoslav wars|wars in former Yugoslavia]], the 1994 [[Rwandan Genocide]], the conflicts in the [[Caucasus]], etc. – as well as to the new [[information technology]]. After having published a famous editorial in January 1995 where Ramonet coined the term "[[la pensée unique|pensée unique]]" ("single thought") to describe the supremacy of the neoliberal [[ideology]] <ref> [http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/1995/01/RAMONET/1144 La pensée unique], January 1995 editorial by [[Ignacio Ramonet]] in ''Le Monde diplomatique'' {{fr icon}} </ref>, the newspaper supported the November-December [[1995 strikes in France|1995 general strike]] in France against Prime minister [[Alain Juppé]]'s ([[Rally for the Republic|RPR]]) plan to cut [[pensions]]. Three years later, after a proposal in a 1997 editorial by Ignacio Ramonet, ''Le Monde diplomatique'' took a founding role in the creation of [[ATTAC]], an [[alter-globalization]] [[Non-governmental organization|NGO]], which was originally founded for advocacy of the [[Tobin tax]], and which has since spread throughout the world. It now supports a variety of left-wing causes. The newspaper also takes an important role in the organisation of the 2001 [[Porto Alegre]] [[World Social Forum]]. After the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]] and the [[Iraq War|Second Gulf War]] starting in 2003 under the [[George W. Bush administration]], ''Le Monde diplomatique'' continues its position of criticizing the US policy of violent intervention in the Middle East and the [[neoconservative]]' project to reshape the so-called "[[Greater Middle East]]" region. The [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] version of the July 2006 ''Le Monde diplomatique'' sparked interest when the editors ran, on their own initiative, a three page main story on the 9/11 attacks and summarized the various types of [[9/11 conspiracy theories]] (which were not specifically endorsed by the newspaper, only reviewed) <ref> [http://www.diplo.no/avis.php?id=37 11.September - an innsidde jobb?], Norwegian edition of ''Le Monde diplomatique'', July 2006. See also English translation: Kim Bredesen, [http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-07-21-bredesen-en.html Was 9/11 an inside job?] and [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/7/5/152450/0414 other links] </ref> . The [[Voltaire Network]], which has somehow changed position since the September 11 attacks and whose director, [[Thierry Meyssan]], became a leading proponent of 9/11 conspiracy theory, explained that although the Norwegian version of ''Le Monde diplomatique'' had allowed it to translate and publish this article on its website, the mother-house, in France, categorically refused it this right, thus displaying an open debate between various national editions <ref> * {{fr icon}} [http://www.voltairenet.org/article142333.html Pour le Monde diplomatique norvégien, le 11 septembre est un complot intérieur US], ''[[Voltaire Network]]'' * {{es icon}} [http://www.voltairenet.org/article142643.html El 11 de septiembre fue un complot interno estadounidense, estima la prensa noruega] </ref>. In December 2006, the French version published an article by [[Alexander Cockburn]], co-editor of ''[[CounterPunch (newsletter)|CounterPunch]]'', which strongly criticized the endorsement of conspiracy theories by the US left-wing, alleging that it was a sign of "theoretical emptiness." <ref> *{{en icon}} [http://mondediplo.com/2006/12/02conspiracy Distractions from awful reality - US: the conspiracy that wasn’t], by [[Alexander Cockburn]] in ''Le Monde diplomatique'', December 2006 *{{fr icon}}[http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2006/12/COCKBURN/14270 Scepticisme ou occultisme? Le complot du 11-Septembre n’aura pas lieu], by [[Alexander Cockburn]] in ''Le Monde diplomatique'', December 2006 *{{ir icon}} [http://ir.mondediplo.com/article1024.html Iranian translation] *{{pt icon}} [http://diplo.uol.com.br/2006-12,a1465 PODERES IMAGINÁRIOS - A "conspiração" das Torres Gêmeas]</ref> The Norwegian ''Le Monde diplomatique'', did again however mark its difference from the mother edition by allowing David Ray Griffin's response to Cockburn to be published in their March 2007 issue <ref> [http://www.diplo.no/index.php?article=1325 Konspirasjonsteorien om 11. september ]</ref>. == ''Le Monde diplomatique'' SA == The monthly became a [[subsidiary company]] of ''Le Monde [[S.A. (corporation)|SA]]'' in 1996, which grants its complete editorial autonomy from ''Le Monde''. [[André Fontaine]], the director of ''Le Monde'', had already signed a 1989 convention with Claude Julien which guaranteed the monthly's autonomy, but it gained complete statutory, economic and financial independence in 1996 with the creation of ''Le Monde diplomatique SA''. With a donation from Günter Holzmann, a German [[antifascist]] exiled before [[World War II]] to Bolivia, the monthly's employees acquired approximately one-quarter of the [[Capital (economics)|capital]], while ''Les Amis du Monde diplomatique'', a 1901 Law association of readers, bought another quarter. Thus, since the end of 2000, the newspaper's employees and readers retain 49% of ''Le Monde diplomatique SA'''s capital, largely above the [[control stock]] <ref> ''minorité de blocage'' </ref> necessary to control the direction and editorial line of the ''Monde diplo''. The remaining 51% is owned by ''Le Monde'' <ref name="Amis"/>. == Today's Distribution and Advertising == In [[2007]], the original French edition has a circulation of about 350,000. Worldwide there are seventy-one editions in twenty-six other languages (including thirty-eight in print for a total of about 2.2 million copies and thirty-three electronic editions)<ref>To check the latest figures, see * {{fr icon}} [http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/int « International editions »]</ref>. Although ''Le Monde diplomatique'' publishes few [[advertisements]] in order to retain its editorial independence, it has sometimes been criticized for the quantity and nature of the published advertisements {{Fact|date=February 2007}}. In November and December 2003, two-page advertisements by [[IBM]] and a car manufacturer were placed. The issues of February and March 2004 contained advertisements by [[Microsoft]] in a 'social' atmosphere with a picture of children, which led to agitation from [[free software]] activists<ref> * {{fr icon}} [http://www.acrimed.org/article1464.html « Le Monde Diplomatique, publicitaire des multinationales ? »] sur [[Acrimed]]</ref>. ==References== {{reflist}} == External links == *[http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/ French edition] and at [http://www.exacteditions.com/exact/magazine/373/409 Exact Editions] with trial issue * The French edition is accessible [http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb343488968/date from 1954 to 1977] in [[Gallica]], the digital library of the [[BnF]] *[http://www.mondiploar.com/ Arabic edition] *[http://www.eldiplo.org Argentinian edition] *[http://www.diplo.org.br/ Brazilian edition] *[http://www.mondiplomatic.com/ Catalan edition] *[http://www.lemondediplomatique.cl Chilean edition] *[http://cn.mondediplo.com/ Chinese edition] *[http://eldiplo.info/ Colombian edition] *[http://www.masmedia.hr/lmd/ Croatian edition] *[http://www.mondediplo.com/ English edition] and at [http://www.exacteditions.com/lmd Exact Editions] with trial issue *[http://eo.mondediplo.com/ Esperanto edition] *[http://www.mondediplo.fi/ Finnish edition] *[http://www.monde-diplomatique.de German edition] *[http://www.ilmanifesto.it/MondeDiplo/ Italian edition] translated by ''[[Il Manifesto]]'' *[http://www.diplo.jp/ Japanese edition] *[http://www.diplo.no/ Nordic edition] *[http://ir.mondediplo.com/ Persian edition] *[http://www.monde-diplomatique.pl/ Polish edition] *[http://pt.mondediplo.com/ Portuguese edition] *[http://www.monde-diplomatique.ro/ Romanian edition] *[http://ru.mondediplo.com/ Russian edition] *[http://www.monde-diplomatique.es Spanish edition] *[http://www.amis.monde-diplomatique.fr/ ''Les Amis du Monde diplomatique''] *[http://www.acrimed.org/article852.html List of articles published by ''Le Monde diplomatique'' from 2003 to 2006] on [[mass media|media]] questions (on [[Acrimed]] NGO website) [[Category:Newspapers published in France|Monde diplomatique,Le]] [[ca:Le Monde Diplomatique]] [[da:Le Monde diplomatique]] [[de:Le Monde diplomatique]] [[es:Le Monde Diplomatique]] [[eo:Le Monde diplomatique]] [[fr:Le Monde diplomatique]] [[gl:Ignacio Ramonet]] [[it:Le Monde diplomatique]] [[nl:Le Monde diplomatique]] [[ja:ル・モンド・ディプロマティーク]] [[no:Le Monde diplomatique]] [[pl:Le Monde diplomatique]] [[pt:Le Monde Diplomatique]] [[ro:Le Monde diplomatique]] [[fi:Le Monde diplomatique]]